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Jayme Westrom When Jayme Westrom started her first teaching job at a Montessori school in Howard County, MD, she quickly noticed a disturbing phenomenon in the children’s playground activities. Jayme describes an “abnormal level of aggressive behavior” in the children’s play. Then she began to notice a distinct pattern: Almost without exception, the aggressive behavior on the playground was a direct imitation of what the children were seeing on television and in movies at the time, such as Digimon, Pokemon, Power Puff Girls, and Power Rangers. “In each of these shows, there was an imaginary conflict that was ‘resolved’ through pretend shooting or actual physical pushing, shoving, kicking and even punching,” Jayme observed. By simply watching the children, Jayme says it was “very apparent which children spent regular time in front of the television watching violent children’s programming” and which ones had been sheltered from it. Jayme’s observations were confirmed when she discussed the children’s viewing habits with their parents. Jayme felt she should address this issue somehow—but didn’t feel she could confront parents without any research backing up her observations. A fellow Montessori colleague told Jayme about The Lion & Lamb Project and suggested she start her journey there. At the conclusion of her first year of teaching, Jayme contacted Lion & Lamb to learn how to take action based on her observations. She attended Lion & Lamb’s Workshop Leader Seminar in February 2002 and describes it as an “eye-opening experience” which quickly confirmed her observations that this type of aggressive behavior was caused by media violence. “Finally, I was provided with research evidence about media violence and its effects on children,” Jayme says. “It was not until I had this irrefutable evidence that I knew what I was observing on the playground was not a healthy expression of emotions.” Now that she had the facts and the research behind her, Jayme felt qualified to talk to parents about these issues. She also spoke with the other teachers at her school and encouraged them to speak to parents about media violence. Jayme proceeded to organize a Violent Toy Trade-In at her Montessori school where they collected a total of 60 violent toys that were used to create a peace sculpture. She says she “was amazed by the type of things kids brought in—huge toy rifles, violent video games, all types of Pokemon items.” She was particularly surprised because these types of toys are not consistent with the Montessori philosophy of peace and nonviolence. The Violent Toy Trade-In “really opened people’s eyes,” says Jayme, and helped them realize that they did not need to buy these types of toys for their children. Since then, Jayme has moved on to a new Montessori school and continues to talk about media violence with parents at her new school. Jayme believes that parents aren’t always fully aware of the detriment to kids’ growth posed by media violence. She thinks that this vital link between exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior in children is not always apparent to parents who become accustomed to their own children’s behavior, and don’t necessarily realize that many children do not engage in aggressive play. Parents have been very receptive to Jayme’s message because she always presents it out of concern for their children—which makes it easier for them to understand. Jayme’s work has produced a change in parents’ attitudes: Parents are now looking for solutions. Jayme feels that one of the best outcomes to grow out of her contact with parents is a spirit of camaraderie—parents are relieved to learn that they are not alone in their struggle to protect their children from media violence.
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