Viewing violence

by Madeline Levine

Study after study has shown that viewing media violence encourages aggression, desensitization, and pessimism in children. Most parents know that such violence is harmful to their children, but how harmful? And what can they do to help? Since children's exposure to violence in the media is not likely to end anytime soon, Viewing Violence offers parents clear answers and solutions to the problems created by media violence. Psychologist and mother Madeline Levine looks at the history of television and movie violence in the United States. She translates into everyday language the results of over four decades of research on the effects of media violence -- research that up until now has been inaccessible to most parents. Using a "developmental approach," Dr. Levine helps parents understand that children at different ages think about, understand, and experience the world in very different ways. An appreciation of these differences in how children "see" things is critical if parents are to m