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Christian Living

Family Matters 10/24/14

Is Parental Exposure to Sex and Violence Affecting Viewing Habits of Kids?


Most of us want to do the right thing when it comes to raising our children. So what if I told you that your viewing habits concerning sex and violence in movies may be impacting your children in a negative way?

The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania conducted a study with 1,000 parents. In the study, parents were shown multiple clips of sex and violence from films. This repeated exposure led to more acceptance of both sex and violence in movies. Parents became desensitized by viewing.

And because parents become more desensitized in these areas, they allowed their children more access to this content. When children and adults see repeated images of sex and violence, they become less empathetic to the suffering of others as well as desensitized.

Additionally, other studies note that this repeated exposure leads to more aggressive responses to conflict. And we have some evidence to suggest that desensitization transfers from fiction to real life.

In terms of sexual content, other research notes that exposure to sexual content may also lead to early sexual initiation.

So parents think twice. Do you really want your children exposed to violence and sex at young ages or repeatedly exposed at any age? If not, one way to prevent this is to decrease your own exposure to images of sex and violence.

Maybe you aren’t aware that your own viewing of such content is affecting you and relaxing your standards with your kids. What the new study found is that your viewing tends to make you more lenient in what you allow your kids to view.

As a result, your exposure could be affecting your judgment. So maybe the place to begin is to limit your own viewing. Once you stop watching those sexual and violent images, you will have better judgment on what you allow your kids to watch. And this is a good thing!
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