Gun Play and Greed:

The Marketing of Violence to Children

Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Ed.D.

Professor of Education, Lesley University

 

The marketing of violence to children got off to a running start in 1984 when the Federal Communications Commission, under the Regan administration, deregulated the broadcasting industry.   At that time, it became legal for the first time in history to use TV programs to market toys and other products to children.  The toy and television industries quickly joined together to market toy-linked TV shows to kids.  And by 1985, all of the top ten best selling toys, most of them violent, were linked to television.

Since deregulation, the marketing of violence to children has expanded beyond just TV and toys to include Hollywood movies, videos, computer games, foods and other products, books and fast food tie-ins.  As media have become concentrated in the hands of only six or seven major media conglomerates, it's become easy to market single themes such as Hulk, Spiderman, and Ninja Turtles to children across many media outlets simultaneously.

Shooting and kicking, fighting and killing provide action packed scenarios that excite and appeal to young children who are drawn to graphic action.  Soon after deregulation, and consistently since then, teachers have reported an increase in violence in children's play and behavior.  In one National survey of teachers’ reactions to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, over 90% reported that they felt the Power Rangers were contributing to increased levels of aggression among the children in their classrooms.[1]  Teachers describe how children imitate the violence they've seen on the screen in a kind of "scripted" play that is repetitive and unchanging.  This is worrisome because children's play--when it is healthy and meeting children's needs--looks different in every child and continually evolves and changes.  The repetition and imitation of violence teachers observe increases even more when children play with single-focus violent toys and videogames that are linked to the TV shows and movies they see. 

In the summer of 2000, six major medical groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association got together and issued a joint statement on the effects of entertainment violence on children.  After reviewing hundreds of studies they found an overwhelming causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children.  They also found that children who watch a lot of media violence can become desensitized to violence in real life.[2]   This is worrisome because research tells us that the roots of violent behavior are established when children are very young—the American Psychological Association has concluded that patterns of aggressive behavior at age 8 are highly predictive of aggressive behavior in adulthood.[3]

Merchandising campaigns draw children into a culture of violence from a young age.  In September of 2000, the FTC published a landmark report that showed how the entertainment industry routinely markets violent entertainment to children who are under the ages considered appropriate by the industry's own rating systems.  The report described a host of unethical marketing practices used to draw children into violent entertainment.  One common marketing practice is to market violent toys and products linked to movies rated PG-13 or R to children as young as four years of age.  This was done with Godzilla, Tomb Raiders, Starship Troopers, Small Soldiers, and Spider-Man, to name just a few.   Children segue seamlessly from the violent toys to hand held electronic games and then to violent video games.  Often parents buy the hand helds without knowing they are gateways to more violent media.

Video games are fast becoming a favorite activity outside of school for even young children, often replacing more creative and socially interactive forms of play.  Many of the most popular video games, even those played by young children, are violent.  A mother told me recently that her 8-year-old son was "suffering socially" because he didn't have video games at home.  She finally bought him Pokemon, which she described to me as "very violent."  She said her son now plays every day at home with his 5-year-old brother.  This is a story I commonly hear from the parents I interview.  They buy video games because of the peer pressure their children experience.  And once the games enter the house, younger children are playing too.

The many parents I talk with say that violent entertainment media is a mighty and pervasive force, too strong to combat, hard as they try.  It is so much harder to be a parent in the marketing culture of today and parents can't do the job alone.  Everywhere they turn, children are bombarded with messages about violence that undermine the lessons parents are trying to teach.

We need measures that will help parents and children to withstand the marketing of violence to children.  Specifically, we need:  

·        Public education campaigns that will help parents better understand how entertainment violence is harming their children and what they can do about it.

·        An FCC that protects children from entertainment violence.  The ban on program-length commercials (the link up of toys and TV shows) that existed prior to deregulation in 1984 should be reinstated.

·        The creation of an independent ratings board, one that operates outside of industry control, to provide age-based ratings for TV programs, movies, video games and toys.

·    A Federal Trade Commission that implements regulations limiting the marketing of violence to children, especially young children.  The FTC should be empowered to implement and enforce the many recommendations listed in its 2000 Report on the Marketing of Violent Entertainment to Children. 

 Nancy Carlsson-Paige EdD (ncarlsso@lesley.edu) is a professor of education at Lesley University and a researcher at Lesley's Center for Peaceable Schools.  She is the author of five books, one of them for children, and is currently working on a book for parents.