While media moguls and toy manufacturers want to spread the belief that children know the difference between play and reality, they ignore the fact that all child development experts understand - that play is reality for young children. Youngsters learn from their play experiences how to understand their world and who they want to be in that world.

"Violence is a language, a sound that always captures our attention and always too late. And whether we like it or not America needs to look into the mirror and recognize that our culture seems to glorify violence. From television to movies to comic books to video games, violence is too often part of the daily life of the American child."
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley
Comments made to U.S. Congress, March 25, 1998 following the school shootings in Jonesboro, Arkansas

"Children's exposure to violence in the mass media, particularly at young ages, can have harmful lifelong consequences. Aggressive habits learned early in life are the foundation for later behavior. There can no longer be any doubt that heavy exposure to televised violence is one of the causes of aggressive behavior, crime and violence among young people in our society. Years and years of research have shown that aggression is a learned behavior - and our culture has become very efficient at teaching this unhealthy behavior to our children. Fortunately, however, aggression can also be unlearned."
Leonard Eron, Ph.D.
Chair, American Psychological Association's
Commission on Violence and Youth

"If we had a clear-cut objective of raising a generation of assassins and killers who are unrestrained by either authority or the nature of the victim, it is difficult to imagine how we could do a better job," he writes "The inflicting of pain and suffering has become a source of entertainment and vicarious pleasure rather than revulsion. We are learning to kill, and we are learning to like it."
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
Military Historian and Author of On Killing

The following powerful statistics paint an appropriately dramatic picture, illustrating the depth of influence wrought by violent toys and media:

As concerned citizens and parents, we work hard to instill positive values in our youth. We want our children to grow up healthy and to know the difference between right and wrong. Yet our efforts may well be undermined by the messages that mass-marketed violence send to our children.

If we do nothing in response to the increase in violent experiences available to our youth, or worse - if we knowingly or inadvertently provide our youth with the tools of violence - we are implying approval and actually encouraging the new, more intense levels of violence, allowing our society's norms to shift. Essentially, we are teaching our youth that violence is OK, that it is an acceptable method of resolving conflict, and it is a form of entertainment.

The Mothers Peace Movement provides a voice to the otherwise "silent majority" who recognize that a regular diet of violence creates a dangerous environment for our children. MOM is committed to heightening awareness about the effects of toy and media violence. We provide information and support, empowering parents to eliminate the powerful influences that not only desensitize youth toward violence, but encourage and promote violent behaviors.

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