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Fact Sheet || What the Experts Are Saying What the Experts are Saying "From a law enforcement perspective, I have become convinced that there is a direct link between violence on the screen and violence in the streets. Based on research evidence as well as my own experience, I can tell you that the constant barrage of violent messages that children are exposed to is directly related to the alarming increase in juvenile aggression, crime and violence. I am glad to see an organization that is taking action to try and make our children feel safer in today's world, and I can only hope that we can convince more parents to join the efforts of The Lion & Lamb Project." Joseph Curran, Jr. "Children's exposure to violence in the mass media, particularly at young ages, can have harmful lifelong consequences. Aggressive habits learned early in life are the foundation for later behavior. There can no longer be any doubt that heavy exposure to televised violence is one of the causes of aggressive behavior, crime and violence among young people in our society. Years and years of research have shown that aggression is a learned behavior - and our culture has become very efficient at teaching this unhealthy behavior to our children. Fortunately, however, aggression can also be unlearned. I applaud the work of The Lion & Lamb Project in helping parents realize the extent of this problem, and providing needed solutions." Leonard Eron, Ph.D. "As an educator, I am deeply concerned about the way violent toys and programs are affecting the play and behavior of young children. Several national teacher surveys show that in today's classrooms, many children have stopped playing creative make-believe games: instead, they are using toys - especially those marketed through the media - to imitate the violence they see on television. Not only are these children hurting each other in ways that young children never did before, but they are learning every day that violence is the preferred method of settling disputes. The Lion & Lamb Project offers much-needed assistance to parents who want to raise peaceable children in these violent times. Parents can't do it alone." Diane Levin, Ph.D. "If our goal as parents was to raise children to be murderers, how could we do it any more effectively than we are doing now? We take youngsters in their most impressionable years, systematically desensitize them to cruelty in front of the television set, and - with the help of 8,000 state-of-the-art murder scenes by the time they finish elementary school - teach them that killing is just good, clean entertainment. I am glad to see a local organization that is taking this issue seriously." Linda Jessup "Contrary to popular perception, violent video and arcade games are not 'harmless' forms of children's entertainment. Research suggests that younger children become more aggressive after playing games which reward anti-social behavior such as killing, maiming and destroying. Some children who spend more hours than average playing these games score lower on academic tests and on measures of mental health. Finally, the claim that these games improve eye-hand coordination has not been confirmed by research." Jeanne B. Funk, Ph.D. "Violence is a language, a sound that always captures our attention and always too late. And whether we like it or not America needs to look into the mirror and recognize that our culture seems to glorify violence. From television to movies to comic books to video games, violence is too often part of the daily life of the American child." U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley
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