Summer is here and with that comes a lot of children being alone while parents work.
It is part of our everyday life and as it looks now.
Came across a number that made me puzzled, an average 13-year-old has seen about 8,000 murders in his/hers lifetime. At first I thought it was a mistake, but then I started to count.
It was never told the type of murder or whether it was television only. So once I begun conting I figured out that there may well be confined to the TV, otherwise I would have thought video games as well. Especially after what my students tell what happens in the games they play, and many of them play games that play have age limit 15 or 18. I always tell when the chance is given, that there is a purpouse of the age limit and that it is designed to be held. Soon enough, your are old enough to become adult, but there’s no rush.
Well now, off to my own calculation.
Count backwards
If we assume the figure of 8000 and divide it by 7 (I pulled off the first few years), we get about 1143 murders a year. Take this number of 1143 and divide by 365, and we get more than three murders a day. If we take in account the figures showing our average time watching TV, it is 3 hours / day (DN 15 June).
In my calculation, it is easy to see how easily a child coming up in three murders per day. Especially if I add many of the popular programs on TV, such Vampaire Diarys, CSI NY, where there may be more murders per series.
It’s far too easy for our children to see the murder even at a young age. We can help each other to lower the average.
My point is that we adults need to even greater extent, limit the type of television our children watch, or be there when the programs are broadcast (worse alternative) to explain what happens to the child. Mostly to help the child tell the difference between reality and fiction.
I suggest you bring a ball and go outside and play with your kids instead, or do crafts with paper, kids will appreciate you a lot.
Have a lovely mid-summer and remember, song first, then snaps.
/ Patric