{"id":1396,"date":"2017-10-27T09:21:44","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T06:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abyadaswad.com\/_en\/?p=1396"},"modified":"2017-10-27T10:07:56","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T07:07:56","slug":"kids-who-see-guns-in-movies-may-be-more-apt-to-play-with-firearms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abyadaswad.com\/_en\/kids-who-see-guns-in-movies-may-be-more-apt-to-play-with-firearms\/","title":{"rendered":"Kids who see guns in movies may be more apt to play with firearms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watching movie characters use guns may not necessarily make kids more likely to pick up a weapon themselves, but it may mean children who play with guns are more apt to fire them, a new experiment suggests.<\/p>\n

For the experiment, researchers had children watch a 20-minute clip from the PG-rated films \u201cThe Rocketeer\u201d or \u201cNational Treasure.\u201d The kids were randomly assigned to watch either an unedited version of the clip, or a version in which scenes showing guns were edited out but the action and narrative of the film were not altered.<\/p>\n

After watching the movie, the children were taken to a different room with a cabinet full of toys and were told they could play with any of the toys and games in the room. One drawer of the cabinet contained a real 0.38-caliber handgun that had been modified so it could not fire, although the gun\u2019s hammer and trigger were still functional.<\/p>\n

During 20 minutes of playtime in the room, the movie scene kids saw didn\u2019t appear to influence whether they found the gun or handled it, researchers report in JAMA Pediatrics.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear why the movies didn\u2019t appear to influence whether children picked up the guns to play, said study co-author Brad Bushman, a psychology researcher at Ohio State University in Columbus.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut those who did handle the gun held it longer and pulled the trigger more times if they saw a movie with guns than if they saw a movie without guns,\u201d Bushman said by email.<\/p>\n

\u201cPast research has shown that kids who see movie characters smoke<\/a> are more likely to smoke<\/a> themselves, and kids who see movie characters drink alcohol<\/a> are more likely to drink alcohol <\/a>themselves,\u201d Bushman added. \u201cMovies with alcohol<\/a> have a warning, and movies with cigarettes<\/a> also have a warning, and I think movies with guns should have a warning too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related:\u00a0Mental Disorders, Poor Diets and Tobacco Make the World Sick<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

When kids did grab the gun, the ones who had seen movie characters with a gun pulled the trigger roughly three times on average, the study found. By contrast, the children who hadn\u2019t see a gun in the movie rarely, if ever, pulled the trigger at all.<\/p>\n

In addition, half of the kids who had observed movie characters using firearms held the gun for 53 seconds or more, the study found. When kids had not seen a gun in the movie scene, half of them held the gun for about 11 seconds or less.<\/p>\n

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The experiment included 104 children between 8 and 12 years old who were either related or friends. They watched the movie scenes in pairs and then went to the playroom together afterward.<\/p>\n