Educational Tools/Resources
Federal Trade Commission Consumer Response Center:
The FTC accepts consumer complaints about media violence, including complaints about the advertising, marketing, and sale of violent movies, electronic/video games, and music. Use the FTC complaint form, available at:
http://www.ftc.gov, or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) M-F 9am-9pm ET.
Note: Complaints regarding the content of television programming should be directed to the Federal Communications Commission at :
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html.
TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board:
(The Board is responsible for ensuring that the ratings are applied with accuracy and consistency to television programming.) Complaints about a television show's program rating may be made to the board via mail, phone, or e-mail:
TV Parental Guidelines
Post Office Box 14097
Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202-879-9364
Email: tvomb.usa.net
Reports/Publications
Counseling patients on mass media and health
- https://www.aafp.org/afp/2004/0601/p2545.htmlThis article in the June 1, 2004 issue of the journal American Family Physician reviews the health risks associated with media exposure and describes the physician’s role in screening patients with a “media history” and providing preventive counseling.
- American Journal of Preventative Medicine from2009: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7039734/.The study looked at looked at the associations among male youths’ gender attitudes, intentions to intervene, witnessing peers’ abusive behaviors, and multiple forms of adolescent violence perpetration though surveys done in community settings.
- The Influence of Media Violence on Youth(2003). This article in the December 2003 issue of the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest reviews the empirical research on how media violence affects youth and interventions to mitigate the effects.
- Television and Growing Up: The Impact of Televised Violence(1972). This early report from the Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior concludes that viewing violence on television does affect some children, causing them to be more aggressive.
Links to Other Resources
- Pamphlet and fact sheet from the New Jersey Government about Media Violence and the Youth put together by the Media Violence working group
- Center for Public Integrity
Offers Media Tracker, a searchable database containing ownership information on American media companies, investigative reports, and other resources
- Common Sense Media
Offers information for parents to make informed media decisions, reviews of children's movies and other media, research reviews, and links to helpful organizations
- Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
Provides a rating system that helps consumers choose the games that are right for their families, and a search page to look up any video game and view its rating
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- Parents' Place offers information for parents about the communications their children can access, including children's TV laws, programming, channel blocking and other information