The Great American Cop-Out
Jon Katz: Media Rant, Wired News
http://www.wired.com/news/news/wiredview/story/7320.html
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If spreading ignorance and misinformation were an indictable
offense, our jails would be stuffed with journalists, preachers,
politicians, academics, and pompous intellectuals, all of whom have joined
forces in our time to suggest that the young are being decivilized and
endangered by the information revolution - especially by TV, film, music,
and the Internet.
[...]
A bevy of medical researchers recently conducted a massive federally funded
study called the Add Health Project. They presented their findings last
month in " Protecting Adolescents from Harm: Findings from the National
Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health," which was published in the 10
September l997 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
[http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/journals/archive/jama/vol_278/no_10/oc7240.htm]
Young or old, anyone who loves popular culture and is even peripherally
involved in new media needs to get hold of this study, hide it in their
room or locker, and smack their parents, teachers, politicians, and local
newscasters upside the heads with it, when appropriate. Save it for PTA
meetings and university cocktail parties. Whip it out at local school-board
meetings when Johnny finally gets to the Playboy Web site on the school
computer.
Although it is profoundly significant to American families, you will not
see this study on the front pages of papers, or leading the local newscasts
that have trumpeted Net and pornography, rap and violence, or media and
teen-danger stories for decades now.
[...]
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Regards
Irene