The goal of this activity is help children identify the values that are important to their families and to compare them with those promoted by the media, especially television, video and computer games, toys, and games. In Selling Out America's Children , author David Walsh, Ph.D., examines the extent to which essential morals and values are missing in today's youth. In the days before television and video games, children learned primarily by observing and imitating parents, other family members, and members of the community. In the past few decades, television and video games have grown in prevalence in our society. Given this, it makes sense that much of what children are learning comes from the media.
Media can be entertaining and educational.
However, the goal of media is not to raise or educate our youth. The goal is to make money and the way to make money is to keep the viewer's attention and to keep them watching from commercial break to commercial break. A variety of techniques are used to gain and keep the viewer's attention, including the use of violence, sex, and humor. The average American child will witness 200,000 acts of violence on television before he or she is eighteen years old. Though watching acts of violence and committing them are two different things, studies have shown a connection between violent entertainment and violent behavior.