Why TV
Is Good

 

We don't know about you, but we're sick of people blaming TV for everything from violence to teen pregnancy. Not that we condone reckless sex and violence. Far from it. But these things are growing less prevalent all the time. Here are the facts:

Sexual content on television more than tripled from 1989 to 1999 on a per-hour basis. Likewise, sexual and violent material and coarse language combined nearly tripled during the same period. UPN's WWF Smackdown! alone was responsible for about 11 percent of the sex, cursing, and violence on TV in 1999. Meanwhile, in real life...

Crime: Murder rates nationwide fell off a cliff in the mid-90s and dropped another 1.1 percent last year. Also last year, the FBI reports, burglary fell ten percent, auto theft dropped almost eight percent and larceny fell by about six percent.

Drugs: Among high school seniors, use of stimulant drugs dropped from 22 percent in 1975 to 15 percent in the mid-90s. Even cigarette smoking is down: In 1965, 42 percent of adult Americans smoked. Today it's just 25 percent.

Teen Pregnancy: The teen-pregnancy rate fell 19 percent from its all-time high in 1991 to 94.3 pregnancies per 1,000 women in 1997 - the lowest level since the government began collecting this data.

School Violence: After Columbine in 1999, 70 percent of parents in one poll said they were "much more" or "somewhat more" concerned about their children's safety at school - but kids are more likely to be struck by lightening than to die violently at school.

Source: Stuff, 10/01



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