Jay Alan Samit wrote in the magazine "Multimedia
Producer," "We live in a world of escalating violence." Much of it, he says, is with children, living in
a world of video games. Let's face it, everyone, including the kids, are endlessly inundated with senseless violence,
from live neighborhood experiences to TV, movies, and video games. There seems to be absolutely no end to it.
(As reported in, "Good-bye, America?")
The Scripps Howard News Service reported that,
according to an important study by researchers at the Stanford University Medical School, "Cutting back the amount of time
grade-schoolers spend watching television and playing video games can make them less aggressive toward their peers."
Now, what does that mean to you and me?
Are we in agreement as to what's been happening? What do you think can be done about it?
You can get involved, you know, from your
own neighborhood, all the way to the national level. What do you think about that? Have you thought of joining
a responsible group that's trying to make a positive difference or perhaps starting a group of your own?
You might want to consider joining the Parents
Television Council. This is a national organization that can supply you with program addresses and contact names
and the same for the sponsors. If you want to take the initiative you can really have an impact here. (See this
organization's listing on one of the resources pages of this site for full contact details.)
You can also work through local Parent/Teacher
Associations and, sometimes, directly with individual schools. There are all sorts of important interactions that need
to be established between the adults and our children in each and every school across America.
We're talking about the identification and
inclusion programs for the kids who are at risk, the development of "self-worth" programs, the teaching of ethics in the schools,
putting together local informational programs through community meetings and media cooperation (if you can get it).
If you have any friends at all who care about
how things are, you have the beginning of a small group of people that can reach out and grow and get many others in your
community involved. Yes, you can be that much of a positive influence and more.
This is very important. This is about
our children and our future and our nation's future. You're not going to just sit there now are you?
