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Abstract
In the United States, exposure to media violence is becoming an inescapable component of children’s lives. With the rise in new technologies, such as tablets and new gaming platforms, children and adolescents increasingly are exposed to what is known as “virtual violence.” This form of violence is not experienced physically; rather, it is experienced in realistic ways via new technology and ever more intense and realistic games. The American Academy of Pediatrics continues to be concerned about children’s exposure to virtual violence and the effect it has on their overall health and well-being. This policy statement aims to summarize the current state of scientific knowledge regarding the effects of virtual violence on children’s attitudes and behaviors and to make specific recommendations for pediatricians, parents, industry, and policy makers.
- Abbreviation:
- CI —
- confidence interval
Media violence is woven into the fabric of American children’s lives. As recently as the year 2000, every G-rated movie contained violence, as did 60% of prime time television shows.1 In 1998, the most comprehensive assessment of screen violence was completed. It estimated that the typical child will have seen 8000 murders and 100 000 other acts of violence (including rape and assault) before middle school.2 The 1998 report was limited to television, which was appropriate at the time, because it was the primary platform exposing children to violence. Today’s children experience screen violence on many different platforms, including computers, video games, and touch-screen devices, in addition to longstanding platforms, such as televisions. Increasingly, media researchers and pediatricians refer to children’s “media diets” as a way of conveying the amount and type of media that is consumed. Like food diets, media diets can be healthy or unhealthy, balanced or imbalanced, or healthy in quality but unhealthy in quantity.
[For more go to http://pediatrics.aappublicati...07/14/peds.2016-1298]
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