Findings over the past twenty years by three Surgeon Generals, the Attorney General's Task Force on Family Violence, the American Medical Association, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other medical authorities indicate that televised violence is harmful to all of us, but particularly to the mental health of children.( Violence in Entertainment and Its Effect of Society) .
The controversy is not whether or not media violence has a negative effect on younger viewers, but whether there is a correlation between fictional violence and actual violence. Throughout history, art has reflected violence, but is it valid to say that violence reflects art? Most scientists do agree that increasingly violent media has negative effects on the minds of younger-more impressionable audiences. .
In 1989 the results of a five year study by the American Psychological Association indicated that the average child has witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence on television by the time he or she has completed sixth grade. In further studies it was determined that by the time that same child graduates from high school he or she will have spent 22,000 hours watching television, twice as many hours as he or she has spent in school.(Violence in Entertainment and Its Effect of Society) .
Despite these brief studies the long-term effects of violent programming have had minimal amounts of research. Comparing this to the amount of trillions of dollars of revenue generated by the industries themselves, the massive amount of money in which they spend developing new violent games and the money in which they spend advertising clearly makes for an unbalanced and ultimately harmful ratio. In today's free enterprise society, where the consumer is looking for the best at the lowest price, competition among companies is great.