Wendy Fontanazza, the mother of a five-year-old stated, "After watching Cartoon Network, my son became aggressive towards other children and began using his had as a gun." (Interview, Fontanazza) These cartoons fail to show the consequences of violence. As a result, children learn that there are few, if any, repercussions of committing a violent act.
Although cartoons are the most popular viewing for young children, they are not the only violence on television. Many children are subject to other television shows that are not suitable for them. Many parents fail to monitor what their child is watching because they do not think that their child will watch those shows or do not think it will harm them. On daytime T.V. you can now view such movies as "Casino" or "Scarface" while the parent is still at work. According to Madeline Levine, a psychologist and author of Viewing Violence: How Media Violence Affects You Child's and Adolescent's Development, "In New York City, a grammar school child sprayed a Bronx office building with gunfire and explained to an astonished police sergeant that he learned how to load his Uzi-like gun because [he] watches a lot of television" (Levine, 31). And yet people wonder where these children get their views. This is not the only act of violence copied from television. Four girls sexually assaulted a nine-year old with a discarded beer bottle imitating a scene from Born Innocent, a movie viewed on television (Levine, 31).
James P. Steyer publicizes other examples of children and teens copying media violence in the book The Other Parent. He informs the reader that "Michael Carneal learned his murderous techniques from the movies Basketball Diaries. After he watched the film, he mused to a ninth-grader friend, "Wouldn't it be neat to go in the school and shoot people you don't like," like in the movie" (Steyer, 70). Another example Steyer uses is an honor middle school student in Moses Lake, Washington.