ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by examining the moral panic around children’s media usage and explores whether we are primed to fear new types of media; we will reflect on Plato’s concerns that the written word creates forgetfulness in learners, and more recent concerns that violent games contribute to a violent society. The chapter explores some of the perceived negative impacts of viewing media violence and makes links to social learning theory, critiquing Bandura’s classic Bobo doll experiment. It discusses measures, such as the watershed, that have been put in place to shield children from accessing violent content, and it assesses the role of factual and evaluative mediation in supporting children to understand violent materials.
