How Media Violence Touches Children
“The televised images of hijacked planes making their deadly arcs on Sept. 11 gave parents a special worry:
how would their children react to the sight of the planes plowing, over and over, into the twin towers?
Some may have breathed a sigh of relief to hear recent reports that many kids were less
upset than had been expected.” Dr. Michael Rich
is not relieved.
“I think the reason kids aren’t bothered that much by the recent images is they’re desensitized,” he said. “We don’t know how this is
going to play itself out. Will it show itself in hopelessness and depression years later?”
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Pediatrician Testifies on Impact of Sexuality in Media
Dr. Michael Rich, Director of CMCH, represented the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Public Education at a Senate forum on July 26, 2001, where he testified on how sexually explicit media impact young people.
Young people tell me that the media is one of their leading sources of information about sex, said Dr. Rich. Each year television and movies offer 14,000 sexual portrayals, of which only 165 deal with risks of pregnancy, HIV, or other STDs.
» See Dr. Richs Bio