DURST: Television Violence

A study commissioned by the National Cable Television Association found that violence on TV was so bad, they had to avert their eyes when they sent out the results. Their conclusion? Don't watch TV, but if you have to, don't watch cable TV, except Xena. And if you have to watch cable besides Xena, whatever you do, please, please, don't get HBO. Of course a lot of times, even people who get HBO, don't get it, especially Dennis Miller. But the ones who do, see a lot of violence. Think of Saturday afternoon at a K-Mart check out line during shift change, only worse. The NCTA study found 92 percent of pay cable networks contained violent content, and that probably doesn't include any of the fights that Don King promoted. The study also concluded that age based TV ratings don't provide adequate information about the violence, and in the case of Jerry Springer it doesn't even come close to explaining the psychic damage of seeing relatives talk about your bowel movements in front of a studio audience carrying notes from their therapists. Let's be honest here, TV doesn't make kids violent, it just teaches them better techniques. It's a learning tool.