Can pretend violence affect kids in the same way as real violence?
Research tells us that exposure to televised or film violence is like smoking. Here’s how the analogy goes: Although some people may smoke for years without exhibiting any obvious ill effects, that doesn’t mean that smoking is not bad for their health. At relatively low levels in relatively healthy people, the insidious and harmful effects of smoking may not be noticeable right away. However, if you examine a large sample of people, you’ll find that the damaging effects of smoking — or effects of watching Hollywood violence — are there and that they get worse over time. Also, children who have first-hand experience with real violence in their lives are more immediately and severely affected by make-believe violence. Can aggressive play get violence out of kids’ systems? Kids who develop a pattern of real aggressive behavior seem less able to engage in fantasy aggressive behavior. For example, if they start acting out violent fantasies with Power Rangers, their play tends to escalate in
