Out of the Mouths of Babes

There is so much talk around Media Violence and kids.  Basically, from day one, your child will get exposed to some form of violence via the media.  Whether it be Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd going at it or a simple Atari video game (though I'm sure they are obsolete).  Whatever it is, you can't escape it.  In fact, the more you try to shield your child from it, the more they will be drawn - like moth to a flame.  So instead of holing up somewhere under a rock to prevent your young one from pretending to play war games, take the time to:

1. learn about the type of media you're exposing your child to,
2. limit how much time they are exposed to it, and
3. talk about the consequences of the actions they see.

Now, I give three easy ways to help your child understand the violent world that they are experiencing and be healthy about it but know if you are talking to a 3 year old, its not always that black and white.  Take for instance, my conversation with my tyke as we watch young, tainted Anakin Skywalker and Obi One Kenobi in their final fight scene from Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.

Son:   Mommy!  They'll get hurt!

Me:   They will get hurt.  You're right.

Son:   Fighting's not nice, right, Mommy?

Me:   Right again.  Fighting is not nice.  People get hurt and we don't want to hurt anyone.  Especially people we love.

Here is where the scene shows the buildings falling down into the turbulent sea of hot lava and I say...

Me:   And fighting makes a mess.

Son:   YES! (with two hands in the air as if he's made a touchdown)  I love mess, Mommy!

We were on YouTube so the scene ended and I decided it was time for a breather.  Let's call up those cute, impish Ewoks and their tribal festival scene at the end of Return of the Jedi.  Just so the vision of blue light sabers won't continue buzzing in his head.  Then its time for a story and off to bed.

My husband and I occasionally introduce snippets of our childhood favorites using YouTube so I think we practice steps 1 and 2 (knowing what our kid watches and limiting his viewing).  But the discussion piece we'll just have to keep plugging away at.

This is just a little encouragement to work with your child on understanding their media world.  No one said it would be an easy job, but someone's got to do it.