Purpose:

• to investigate whether or not Congress's findings on violence and children are accurate.
• to make students more aware of how the ratings system and television violence affect them

Activities:

1. Have students read "The Ratings System." Discuss Congress' findings on television and children.

2. Read the definition of violence located at the top of this page.

3. Students will then investigate whether or not Congress's findings are accurate. Develop a one sentence hypothesis predicting the outcome of their research.

4. Prove or disprove the hypothesis by
   • logging information about their television viewing
     • What programs do you watch each day?
     • How many hours of television do you watch a day?
     • How many acts of violence did you see on television?
     • About how many acts of violence per hour do you see?
     • Does television violence make you behave more aggressively?

   • and compiling the data into a class chart

5. Analyze the results in small groups and present to the class. Were the Congressional findings accurate? Is the ratings system the best way to combat the problem of violence on television? Post results on the TV Ratings BBS.

Questions? Comments? Post them to the Teacher's BBS.