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About Us

Fact Sheet || What the Experts Are Saying
About the Executive Director
|| Lion & Lamb in the News


Fact Sheet

What is The Lion & Lamb Project?

The Lion & Lamb Project was an initiative by parents for parents, providing information about the effects of violent entertainment, toys and games on children's behavior. The Project's Parent Action Kit details specific steps parents can take to reduce their children's exposure to glorified "entertainment" violence.

Due to the fact that The Lion & Lamb Project no longer exists, they now only provide the resources available on this website.

Is it just for parents?

No. The Lion & Lamb Project, and all the info contained on this site, is for anyone who is concerned with the welfare of our nation's youth: parents, teachers, day care providers, social workers, psychologists, grandparents and others.

There are children killed in the streets everyday. Why focus on media violence and pretend violence?

Street violence and "'media" violence are closely linked and cannot be separated. Research shows that young children exposed to violent TV programs play more aggressively than children not exposed to such programs. This aggressive play has consequences: the level of aggressive play of eight-year-old children can be used to accurately predict the level of aggression of these same children as adolescents and adults.

What's wrong with watching violent media and playing violent games? They don't actually hurt anyone, do they?

Actually, they do. Hundreds of research studies over a period of 40 years - involving almost 250,000 viewers - show irrefutably that viewing violent programs and playing violent electronic games have negative effects on children's behavior. For example, a long-range study involving 875 children showed that early viewing of violent television programs was positively related to later aggression - including violent criminal offenses, spousal abuse and child abuse. The average child watches 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence on television before entering the seventh grade.

Isn't some level of aggressive play normal in children, especially boys?

Yes, aggression is part of human nature. But research has shown that violence is a learned behavior. As every parent knows, children learn by imitation. Children accustomed to watching TV "super heroes," who solve every problem in an aggressive and violent manner, naturally assume that violence is the preferred solution to almost every problem.

But isn't aggression largely a product of personality and family influences?

This is only partially true. For example, a study conducted by Leonard Eron, chair of the American Psychological Association's Commission on Violence and Youth, showed that boys who at age eight were not aggressive but watched violent television programs were significantly more aggressive 10 years later than boys who acted aggressively at age eight but were not allowed to watch violent programs. Clearly, violent television programs had a long-term negative impact on the behavior of the less-aggressive boys. Similarly, the more aggressive boys moderated their behavior without the constant stimulation of violent messages.

When it was active, what did The Lion & Lamb Project do to stop the marketing of violent toys and entertainment to children?

The Lion & Lamb Project provided parents with information they could use to bring about change in their own homes and communities. In addition to the Parent Action Kit, Lion & Lamb offered a series of parenting workshops to help parents learn more about the effects of violent messages on children's behavior. Lion & Lamb also sponsored a number of activities around the country -- such as Violent Toy Trade-Ins and Peaceable Play Days - in conjunction with parent groups, PTAs, day care centers and other organizations. The purpose of these events were/are to organize local communities around the issue of nonviolent values and nonviolent play.

How can parents get involved in the work of The Lion & Lamb Project?

Parents can get involved by sharing the information found on this website with everyone they know (send them this link right now!); and setting up events such as Violent Toy Trade-Ins and Peaceable Play Days.

 

 



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