Apr 17, 2008 1:54 pm US/Eastern
Learn How To Deal With Media Violence & Your Kids
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Today, between TV, video games, and social networking sites, the average child spends more than four hours a day in front of some type of screen.
WBZ
It's a fact of modern life. We live in a media saturated society, and many of the images we are subjected to are violent and highly sexualized. Many of them are seen by children, and that worries many parents.
Today, between TV, video games, and social networking sites, the average child spends more than four hours a day in front of some type of screen. Lesley University professor Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Ed.D has written a new book, "Taking Back Childhood: Helping Your Kids Thrive in a Fast-Paced, Media-Saturated, Violence-Filled World."
She believes "parents don't always know how children have been affected by media that they have seen." She adds, "I think that impact is very serious, for one thing, it makes children feel scared and confused and anxious. It gives them the wrong set of messages about who we are as human beings, and how we work together."
Dr. Carlsson-Paige has a unique perspective on this issue. Not only is she an acclaimed educator, but she is also the mother of one of Hollywood's biggest action stars, Matt Damon. "Matt and I have been talking about violence in the media since he was a little boy. We completely agree that violence should not be marketed to young children."
She is happy that Damon won't allow his image to be used on any toys. "And thankfully, because if he did, there would be a whole line of Jason Bourne toys, which is a PG-13 movie that should have been R, marketed to little kids. It gives children the message that this movie is for you and it confuses parents."
What she says children really need is open ended play. "Children aren't getting the opportunity to cultivate their imaginations, and their creative thought process, like they need and society needs for them to develop."
Although she agrees it can be hard to tell a child no, Carlsson-Paige says what's most important is how a child is told no. She encourages parents to start a dialogue with their children very early.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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