Violent entertainment is a public health hazard.
To back up that claim, the Kansas Republican touted a joint statement from the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. To the average person, that sounds pretty impressive. But to anyone familiar with the research in this area, the statement is puzzling. Jonathan Freedman, a University of Toronto psychologist who recently completed a review of the scientific literature, counts about 200 published studies that have tried to measure the impact of TV or film violence on aggression. It's so blatantly out of line.