|
Home > It's A Legal Matter > Quick, change the channel!
Quick, change the channel!
By Jeff Terrill
Fort Wayne Reader
2017-03-06
(editor’s note — this article originally appeared in FWR #276)
When I’m watching sports on television, I like to flip channels during commercial breaks. Not only am I trying to watch as many other games as possible, I’m also attempting to skip the ads. I get it. Advertisements make the television world spin. My problem isn’t with the commercials for cars or pharmaceuticals. My problem is with the promotional trailers for the networks’ own prime time dramas and crime shows.
It’s the middle of the afternoon and I’m watching a game on TV with one of my kids. Next thing I know, the network blasts us with a preview of one of its top prime time shows. A gun held to a head, dead bodies, a needle injection, people gagged, tied up and blown up all within a thirty second promotional trailer.
According to a University of Nebraska study conducted several years ago, the average TV watching child views 8,000 murders and more than 100,000 violent acts before the sixth grade. That same study found that the average eighteen year old has seen 40,000 simulated murders. Check out the names of some of the most popular TV shows: Criminal Minds, How to Get Away With Murder, Person of Interest, NCIS: New Orleans, CSI, CSI: Cyber, Law and Order: SVU, The Mentalist and Stalker. Any doubts about the subject matters of these shows? My kids are in bed when most of these shows air, but the promotional trailers run throughout the day.
With all the graphic programming and video games out there, I’m surprised kids aren’t growing up to be even more violent. Even animated children’s movies are filled with violence. One recent study published in the British Medical Journal and entitled “Cartoons Kill” found that murders occurred at almost three times the rate in animated movies for children as they did in dramatic films for adults.
Lawmakers have done little to reduce children’s exposure to violent acts within the home. In Indiana, a person who batters his or her spouse or significant other within the presence of a child commits a Level 6 felony. A level 6 felony is punishable up to 2.5 years in jail. However, the push, scratch, kick or slap that leads to the majority of battery charges almost seem minor when compared to the extreme and graphic depictions of violence in movies, TV and video games.
The next time I’m watching a game on TV with one of my kids, I’ll be on the lookout for these ads. With my ever improving remote control skills, maybe my kids will only see 20,000 murders by the time they turn eighteen.
-------------------------
Jeff Terrill is a partner/shareholder with the law firm of Arnold Terrill Anzini, P.C. Mr. Terrill represents clients accused of crimes throughout northeast Indiana. You can contact Mr. Terrill with any questions or comments at his office at 260.420.7777 or via email at jterrill@fortwaynedefense.com. Learn more about his firm at www.fortwaynedefense.com. This article expressed opinions and observations of the author, is not intended as legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the author and the reader. Please consult a qualified attorney with any legal questions or issues you might have. Thank you
|
