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I was the watching the looney tune marathon today and i saw suprised by the level of violence in the show. And then i thought "kids need to be exposed to violence like this today to harden them for real world rather then these wussy little shows we got on know"
What do you guys think?

I think the main issue is parents letting their kids be taught by the TV or video games. The amount of violence within a program or video game is irrelevant provided the child has a involved upbringing, and by that I mean that parents actually take the time to tutor their kids and not just sit them in front of a box and let TV solve all their answers.

I regular play very violent games and TV programs and they do not affect me in the slightest, I enjoy watching them or hacking people violently in a game but thats where it ends because I know the difference between what is acceptable and not acceptable in the real world.

I agree that there is a limit, for example you can't expect a 8 year old to play gears of war and NOT be affected by it, it is a very violent game with swearing galore. But kids do need to see violence and the consequences of it and be able to talk with parents or even teachers if need be, so that they can understand it.

I'm willing to bet that all these kids who have gone out and done violent things haven't been encouraged by games and TV, but were already twisted without a proper understanding of what they are doing.

/
Its 1:30 in the morning so I'm hoping I'm not talking gak

EDIT: have noticed I contradicted myself in the first and third paragraph, to tired to edit properly

Oh well if no one teaches them what the "real" world is like, then they will have to make the experience themselves...and thats certainly not a good thing...

A lot of "New age" parents I know are just lousy parents, letting their kids do as they please, letting them have what they want to just shut them up, not ensuring their kids are getting inappropriate material like 18certificate games etc. Then they complain that their kids are uncontrolable.

I am in no way saying parenting is easy, but come-on! it can't be that difficult to instill some ideals to your youngins and say no every once in a while.

I feel I'm dragging the thread off topic slightly so I apologise, I just feel these two subjects are very closely linked.

When you look back at violence years ago compared to nowadays its vastly different. I image that most kids of this day an age would be unaffected by most of the things aired on TV 30years ago?

Its partly our technology leap allowing us to show things far more graphically and safely than you could years ago, like soldiers wearing bloodpacks that explode to simulate getting shot in TV shows and such. But also that violence is getting more sociallably acceptable on TV. I couldn't imagine a film like "Fight Club" would be aired 30years ago if it was around then, not mainstream at least.

hellsguardian316 wrote:I am in no way saying parenting is easy, but come-on! it can't be that difficult to instill some ideals to your youngins and say no every once in a while.

QFT

I like to think of myself as a good parent because I can say "No!" to my girls. My sister seems to lack this ability. Yes sis, I understand, your kid is being a little gak. But giving him what he wants isn't going to fix that... Grr...

The degree of my discipline is hand smacks, time out, and using my "daddy voice." I am not afraid to put Zelda on time out, wherever we happen to be. In the mall, restaurant, or even at the beach. I have been called a monster for making her stand in the corner on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, for talking back to me after hitting her sister. I could give two gaks less. She hit her little sister, then talked back to me. I am not going to reward that kind of behavior with a roller coaster ride...

I let my girls watch TV, but only movies I have watched first, and educational TV that we watch together. I can then provide context for things that might confuse her.
Like saying, "Oh, that wasn't very nice, was it?" etc. It is a parent's responsibility to make sure children know that just because they saw it on TV doesn't mean it is OK, and to teach them what is right and wrong.

I remember being about eight years old and being annoyed cause my mum wouldnt let me play 15+ games.

Not because of the violence, but because I somehow couldnt tell the difference between the real world and games.

Which Is utter bull.

I think hellsguardian hit the nail right on the head it is all a matter of actually teaching your kids between right and wrong. Now to some degree yes you shouldnt let your kids play or watch certain things but a little violence shouldnt be a bad thing. It is like the OP stated it just hardens them.

tblock1984 wrote:

hellsguardian316 wrote:I am in no way saying parenting is easy, but come-on! it can't be that difficult to instill some ideals to your youngins and say no every once in a while.

QFT

I like to think of myself as a good parent because I can say "No!" to my girls. My sister seems to lack this ability. Yes sis, I understand, your kid is being a little gak. But giving him what he wants isn't going to fix that... Grr...

The degree of my discipline is hand smacks, time out, and using my "daddy voice." I am not afraid to put Zelda on time out, wherever we happen to be. In the mall, restaurant, or even at the beach. I have been called a monster for making her stand in the corner on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, for talking back to me after hitting her sister. I could give two gaks less. She hit her little sister, then talked back to me. I am not going to reward that kind of behavior with a roller coaster ride...

I let my girls watch TV, but only movies I have watched first, and educational TV that we watch together. I can then provide context for things that might confuse her.
Like saying, "Oh, that wasn't very nice, was it?" etc. It is a parent's responsibility to make sure children know that just because they saw it on TV doesn't mean it is OK, and to teach them what is right and wrong.

And this is what I call a good, caring, involved parent.
Sorta like mine.

I remember having to write an essay on video game violence in relation to real life violence a year ago.
I was like "WTF?"

Violence in tv is not a bad thing, as long as the child knows the difference between real life and the fake suff on tv.
Same for video games.

You don't want your child growing up thinking The Hills is real now do you?

It is pretty well established by psychology research that younger children do not have the capacity to distinguish between fantasy and reality (in a broad sense.)

This is because they have not developed the cognitive methods necessary to do so. This effect doesn't switch off automatically at age 3, or 7 or whatever.

Consequently, some care should be taken about exposing youngsters to in-game and in-movie violence.

A different but related topic is the acceptability of violence as a form of entertainment. The casual acceptance of violence may affect the ethical development of children.

garret wrote:I was the watching the looney tune marathon today and i saw suprised by the level of violence in the show. And then i thought "kids need to be exposed to violence like this today to harden them for real world rather then these wussy little shows we got on know"
What do you guys think?

if the salt mine was good enough for me its good enough for the kids.

Funny how a lot of scenes from old cartoons were terribly bloody (Tom & Jerry has a lot of axes and shotguns) yet as a kid, neither me, my brothers, or anyone else I know thought it over-the-top or thought of trying any of those things.

I also played Carmaggedon when I was like, 12 or something.

People always have to find something to blame, it's never up to the parents or themselves. I did a lot of crap (still do) but never showed any violent behavior or the need to physically/psicologically abuse other beings. Also, we tend to learn from our mistakes, but something parents always need to teach is COMMON SENSE.

Honestly, some of the parents today might wish it came bottled, but having a kid is a huge responsability and it isn't up to the TV or daycare school to meet that responsability.

The level of violence isn't blood or gore, but I never thought once of trying to shoot a shotgun or axe a kitten because I saw it on a show.

Then again, I'm European.

Just kidding. And sorry for the long 2 cents.

Loony Toons are too surreal for violence in them to mean anything.

People go into dresser drawers and come out of drawers from a completely different dresser, if that doesn't mess your kid up seeing a rabbit shooting someone in the face isn't going to.