The media have redefined how we are supposed to treat one another. And too many of our kids have learned the lesson. When the norm becomes threat, and intimidation, then the extremes shift as well. They take the form of kids torturing and killing their peers. A major cable television network had a marketing slogan a couple of years ago that its account executives used in selling commercial spots to companies.
Any channel can deliver eyeballs.
It's the battle for hearts and minds that makes the influence of media one of the issues we have to address to make sure there are no more Littletons. David Walsh, Ph.D. is the founder and president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, a Minneapolis based non-profit dedicated to maximizing the benefits of mass media on children through research and education. It does not endorse censorship in any form but believes the responsible use of media requires reliable information that will lead to informed choices. Walsh is the author of Selling Out America's Children and the American Medical Association's Physician Guide to Media Violence.