In response to the February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, President Donald Trump established the Federal Commission on School Safety to review safety practices and make meaningful and actionable recommendations of best practices to keep students safe. The Commission conducted field visits,…

This booklet was written to provide an understanding of aggression and violence in youth. Its purpose is to help parents, professionals, and other concerned citizens prevent or reduce these potentially dangerous behaviors. The introduction notes that many experts agree that aggression and violence are on the rise in America. The first section of…

Play is essential to children's healthy development and learning, and toys are the tools of children's play. Noting that parents are constantly faced with decisions about what toys to buy and what toys to avoid, this guide is intended to help parents promote their children's creative and constructive play by making informed choices about toys, and…

Television is a pervasive part of American culture and has the potential to make significant contributions to children's development. The quality of children's programming is the responsibility of the television industry, parents, educators, and society, all of whom must work together to control violence on television. (SM)

Most children spend more time with media than in school and much more time with media than in meaningful conversation with their parents. Recent research demonstrates how the media act as powerful influences on children's development--on their behaviors, attitudes, language, and values--from the earliest ages. This booklet is intended to help…

Based on the view that violent behavior is learned and often learned early in life, this pamphlet shows parents how they can help protect young children from getting involved with violence and increase that child's chances for a safe and productive future. The pamphlet cautions parents that early learning is powerful and that children learn how to…

Four aspects of violence in the lives of U.S. children are of great concern today: children are involved in violence at every level, there are no safe harbors for many children, family violence is frequent, and society accepts violence as part of its culture. (SM)

Using the violent events that took place at Columbine High School in 1999 as an example, this book serves to inform teachers, administrators, school resource officers, and concerned parents about school violence. It can be used to help develop a response and prevention plan to handle threats and violence in schools. This book is a guidance manual…

This program provides a new framework and approach for breaking the cycle of blame surrounding violent imagery in the culture and promotes an informed and rational public conversation about the topic. The goals of the program are to: (1) reduce exposure to media violence; (2) change the impact of violent images that are seen; (3) locate and…

Discusses children's access to information through the media and parents' responsibility to protect them, noting what parents should know and how they can learn more. One sidebar examines parenting in the information age. Another sidebar describes how three states are helping parents use critical viewing to take charge of their televisions. (SM)

Many believe that America's children are exposed to negative messages by the media--violence, irresponsible sex, and materialism--making it difficult for parents to teach traditional values. Noting that what motivates parents is the desire to teach their children right from wrong while what motivates society is financial profit, this book explores…

This workshop kit consists of: (1) "Leader's Guide"; (2) "Handout Masters"; (3) special issue of the journal "Media & Values" on the theme "Children and Television: Growing Up in a Media World"; (4) "From Awareness to Action: Media Literacy for the '90s," a booklet on the basics of media literacy. The kit is designed for a four-part study of the…

Developed in response to requests from a variety of family support professionals, teachers, and parents, this sourcebook offers information on preventing violence in children at different stages of development. The introduction provides a rationale for the development of this sourcebook, discusses parental influence, and describes how parents can…

Ever since television became a daily staple of U.S. family life, its influence on children has been the subject of study and debate. No aspect of the debate has been more heated than violence in the media. But a growing knowledge base has shifted the focus of the debate from whether media violence contributes to violence in real life to what can…