TV ratings for kids' shows don't reflect aggressive content

A new study by psychologists from Iowa State University and Linfield College has found that TV ratings don't accurately reflect the aggressive content found in shows popular among children -- even cartoons. They found higher levels of physical aggression in designated children's programs (rated TV-Y and TV-Y7) than among programs for general audiences (rated TV-G, TV-PG, etc). The study, which is published online in the March/April issue of the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, was the first to report a link between viewing TV verbal aggression and a child's resulting verbal aggression. The results also showed exposure to televised physical aggression was associated with a variety of negative behaviors in the fifth-grade girls.