But with violence prevalent in all forms of media, what can you do to help protect your children from these dangers? The Center for Successful Parenting suggests the following:
Keep your children's bedrooms free of media -- no TV, video games or computer.
Reduce your children's exposure to violent content in movies, TV and video games. Prevent exposure completely to children under seven years of age.
Keep your TV in a common family area, and make TV viewing a family activity.
Keep the TV turned off before school in the morning.
Review video games before buying them, and do not purchase violent ones. For video game reviews, visit www.moviereports.org.
Review movies before allowing your children to see them. Visit www.moviereports.org for a list of movie reviews based on the content, such as violence, sexual content and language.
Do not allow your children under 17 years of age to view an "R" rated movie.
Do not let your children have unlimited access to the Internet. Be sure to monitor their online activity.
Inform the parents of your children's friends about the importance of reducing the exposure of media violence to children. Let them know what your child is and isn't allowed to watch or play when at their friends' houses.
