Television: Ending Mayhem

How many killings will the average American child see on television as he grows from age five to 15? No one knows for sure, but a frequently cited study done by the National Association for Better Broadcasting* estimates that a child will see some 13,000 violent deaths during those formative years. With the increase in the number of violent crimes committed by juveniles becoming a national nightmare, concern about the relationship of TV violence to teen-age violence has sparked a plethora of studies. In 1972, the Surgeon General issued a $1.8 million five-volume report concluding that yes, indeed, TV carnage can cause aggressive behavior in some children. Since then, the National Institute of Mental Health, all three networks and various foundations have sponsored their own studies. The Rand Corp., given a $150,000 grant to organize the available research, compiled a bibliography of 2,300 assorted papers and reports.

Sensory Overload. Most of them conclude that there is a significant link between TV violence and child behavior. Will the mayhem ever end? Perhaps. CBS recently prepared a "violence tabulation" showing that brutality on TV has been decreasing lately. It may be a consequence of good policy and good business at work. Violence is getting boring, and some advertisers think it may not be selling their products. Says Arnold Grisman, an executive vice president of J. Walter Thompson, the world's largest ad agency: "What shocked us yesterday does not shock us today ... violence dominates our time—but at the same time we keep escalating the violence scale." Pointing out that the public was heading for a "sensory overload," Grisman declared that his agency is recommending to its clients that they stop advertising on violent TV shows.