ople. Dr. Villani then did another study that concerned the violence seen on the broadcast news coverage and its impression on developing youth. Her study showed that there was no prevalence of intense negative emotional reactions to news coverage of the Persian Gulf War. However, young children showed a greater sense of fear when examined by their parents concerning actual violent events, like the Gulf War. This means that children were able to distinguish, for the most part, fantastical events of violence from those based in reality. Dr. Villani also found that reports of natural disasters, robberies, and murders greatly increase feelings of anxiety, stress, and fear in younger children. The repetitive nature of visual coverage that is found on television of these violent events may cause children to believe that the same events occur over and over again. From these numbers and bits of data, psychologists have come to the conclusion that there must be a positive correlation between violent exposure and behavior. The American Psychiatric Association has advocated the lessening of objectionable content on television for many years. The APA has always encouraged the voluntary restraint of questionable content by the major television networks and cable stations. However, the networks go for ratings, and in todays society violence and sexuality brings in big money. So the request of voluntary restraint by the providers of televised entertainment has gone unheard. The APA now believes that the government should take a more active role, and advocates regulatory actions should be pursued under the allowance of the Constitution. Now that we know the watching of violent content greatly effects how one behaves, where should society draw the line on what is objectionable and what is not? In an interview conducted by Charles Feldman and Paul Vercammen for CNN news on March 26, 1998, actor Bruce Willis, star of such violent blockbusters like the ...
