Be careful little eyes what you see...

48% of America's Minors Exposed to R-rated Entertainment: Dartmouth College Study
By Jenna Murphy
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, August 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A newly released study by Dartmouth College experts reveals that movie ratings are ineffective when it comes to barring minors from R-rated (18+) films.
Dartmouth researchers found that approximately 22 million of America's young people between the ages of 10 and 14 (12.5%) have viewed one or more restricted films. The most alarming numbers were recorded for the film Scary Movie with an estimated 48% (10 million) of this same age group having viewed the film despite the 'restricted' rating.
The online, family-friendly film reviewing site, Screenit.com, gives "Scary Movie" an "extreme" rating (the highest possible) for sexuality, violence and profanity.
"Our data reveal a disturbingly high rate of exposure among 10-14 year olds nationally to extremely violent movies," says Keilah Worth, the keynote author of the study and post-doctoral fellow at Dartmouth Medical School and at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center's Norris Cotton Cancer Center. "In Britain, no adolescent would be admitted to these movies unless they were 18. The R-rating in this country is clearly not preventing our young people from seeing them."
It is no secret that exposure to violence as entertainment leads to eventual desensitization. In a joint statement, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry confirmed that violence in television, in music, in video games and in movies increases violence among children. "Its effects are measurable and long-lasting," the four groups say in a statement. "Moreover, prolonged viewing of media violence can lead to emotional desensitization toward violence in real life."
Dartmouth Researchers were able to pinpoint that Black youth from families with a lower socioeconomic status were most at risk for early exposure to R-rated films.
"No expert in child development would advocate for subjecting children as young as 10 to this level of violence, yet the study shows that such exposure is commonplace in this country," says James Sargent, the senior scientist on this study and a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School.
"We should re-think the current movie rating system, which has been in place for 40 years, and was designed when kids could only see movies in theaters. Ratings need to be more prominent on all movies, whether they are seen in theaters or purchased in the store, and we need clearer messages to parents. Pediatricians and child advocates should instruct parents to strictly abide by the movie-age guidelines and to closely monitor movie viewing."

I work in a middle school and these stats are dead on. I am amazed at how many of my 12-14 year olds come in on Monday mornings, or other mornings for that matter, having seen the newest raunchy R-rated movie. Our kids are playing sex and violence filled video games, seeing every kind of foul and perverted thing in movies and yet we wonder why they act the way they do. I know I sound "old fashioned" but have you seen the unbelievable way kids, especially young girls, dress today? Our kids are maturing faster physically today than they are emotionally. They are dressing in ways that their emotions and minds cannot respond to. The amount of skin that is visible in middle school is more than ever should be allowed. There is a direct correlation. We must protect our children from allowing all sorts of trash into their minds because it is our thoughts that control our actions. Thoughts lead to actions, which lead to habits, which eventually turn into lifestyles. The line from the children's song, "be careful little eyes what you see," seems to carry a much heavier meaning to it nowadays. Be aware of what you see because it will affect you.