Why should parents be concerned about content in films?
The link between kids’ experiences of media content and their attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors (including misperception of risks and imitation of the risky behaviors) remains limited to correlation, not causation. Nonetheless, today’s kids spend more time exposed to and learning from the media than they spend in school. The messages in the media represent potentially powerful influences, and images of teens drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, using drugs, and engaging in risky sexual and other behaviors fail to convey the long-term consequences of bad choices. Parents must recognize the role of media as teachers in their children’s lives, pay attention to the messages, and talk to their kids to help them make good choices in real life. Children’s exposure to media provide many opportunities for parents to talk with kids about life’s risks and strategies for managing them.
