socialmedian: Child safety expert says TV cartoons should be given violence rating

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Child safety expert says TV cartoons should be given violence rating

Source: guardian.co.uk Society

Nov 08, 2009

Summary

Programmes 'ignore consequences of dangerous behaviour'

The violence portrayed in children's programmes such as Scooby-Doo and Batman should be more realistic, an international expert on child safety will tell the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents this week.

Children's television should be given cinema-style ratings that encourage parents to choose programmes where characters sustain realistic injuries, according to Dr Karen Pfeffer, a senior lecturer at Lincoln University and an international mentor for the World Health Organisation.

"I have looked at whether television's portrayal of risky behaviour affects children and have found evidence of children imitating dangerous TV behaviours, evidence of a positive correlation between amount of TV viewing and injury rates and evidence that TV viewing can affect children's perceptions of risk," said Pfeffer, whose paper, "Risk and injury portrayal in boys' and girls' favourite television programmes", will be published this month.

Risky behaviour was portrayed with the least realistic consequences in cartoon

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