The first-ever Surgeon General's report on youth violence was recently released by Dr. David Satcher, a Clinton appointee who still holds his position in the Bush Administration. The report hardly made a ripple in the public debate, but what caught my attention was the press reports regarding what wasn't in the report, rather than what was.
In a press conference when the report was
released, Dr. Satcher was asked about media violence, and he responded that the media is not a major influence on youth violence. As someone who has read dozens of studies and reports about the impact of media violence on children and society, I was surprised to hear this. It sounded eerily like a
recent report on ABC's 20/20 claiming that media
violence does not cause violence and may actually be good for kids.
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