B
Bennie_P
Guest
Are not these protest with the use of images usually done as organized campaigns that are accompanied with press releases to the news media prior to the actual protest? Thus the protestors are giving prior warning to the public, even though the news media may ignore those prior warnings? In order “not” to promote the pro-life movement?med.umich.edu/1libr/pa/pa_rrmov_hhg.htm
How do children respond to violent movies?
comm.tamu.edu/research/commmatters/p7.html
Understanding the roots of violence and fear
capalert.com/violenceinentertainment.htm
Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children Congressional Public Health Summit
webmd.com/parenting/guide/violent-images-impact-kids-differently
Violent Images Impact Kids Differently
nctsnet.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/edu_materials/talk_children_about_war.pdf
Talking to children about war and terrorism
mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/TraumaticEvents/children.asp
Parent Guidelines for Talking with Young Children about War and Terrorism
naccp.org/associations/460/files/Little%20Listeners%20-%20handout.pdf
Little listeners in an uncertain world
All of these do discuss the need for calm reactions and talking about unintentional exposure to graphic images of death with young children ----as damage control not as a desirable educational strategy. They all also acknowledge that the original exposure is not a good or desirable or neutral thing for very young children (depending on the article that is defined as under 6 or under 8).
I pointed out on other threads that the Catholic schools and Catholic prolife groups sex ed curricula do not even mention the word abortion until around the 5th grade. They are not advocating showing these pictures in Sunday School to preschoolers.
Over and over it seems to me the justification for using these images indiscriminately is “we must show these images in every possible venue because we want to and what we want to do matters more than anything else”. Nowhere have any of the supporters of using this particular tactic in this particular way been able to provide any concrete evidence that this tactic used indiscriminately is more effective in reaching their goals than using the same tactic while showing a reasonable level of respect for young children.
I do not generally consider it the most morally desirable choice to intentionally expose young children to situations to which the best possible response is damage control as a means to achieve a goal, especially when other methods exist to reach the same goal.
As in the example I pointed out, it isn’t the occasional inadvertent exposure to a child that could not be predicted despite one’s best efforts that is the issue. It isn’t the showing of these images to children by their parents or with their parents’ support. It isn’t the showing of these images to teens and adults. It is the deliberate choice of venue and method that guarantees that large numbers of young children can reasonably be expected to be exposed to these images without their parents’ consent that is the problem.