Our rule in the house is, you must be 17-years-old to watch a rated R movie. My teen sons are often trying to convince me that rated R movies will not hurt them. Once in a while, I cave in, only if I have seen it before and I know there is no nudity. But I wonder sometimes what all that violence they watch can do to them.
I was raised in a house that did not censor anything I watched. I still remember the first time I ran across a rated R movie. It was about a zoo keeper that was attacked by a crazed tiger. The tiger tore the zoo keeper's arm off. I still remember all the blood, and have been afraid to let my leg hang over the side of my bed ever since.
Even still, I don't think watching those violent movies made me a violent person. I have never felt the urge to cause pain on another person in my life and I watch rated R movies all the time.
My worry is the nudity and sex in films. I worry that my children will get the wrong impression about what sex really means. Movies make sex seem so casual. It really desensitizes the act.
But what can parents do? There is violence and sex in movies that aren't rated R. There is violence, nudity and sex innuendo in cartoons even! Sometimes I want to throw away the television for fear of what my children may flip to.
Has television really poisoned our children? Or maybe I am just overprotective.
Previous studies show that the effects of violent video media increased aggression and lessened sensitivity toward violence acts. But rated R movies are effecting our children in more ways than we realize.
A research group at Dartmouth found that teens that watch Rated R movies are three times more likely to consume alcohol and smoke tobacco. It's true! Teens that watched rated R movies were more likely to smoke cigarettes.
So the rule will stay the same at my house. Even though I feel that violent movies haven't changed me, it is still not worth the risk.
To read more about the study go to
No comments:
Post a Comment