Developmental psychology, along with (I hope) common sense, suggests very strongly that 4 years olds are not 14 year olds. Which cleverly dodges the question a

Developmental psychology, along with (I hope) common sense, suggests very strongly that 4 years olds are not 14 year olds. Which cleverly dodges the question at hand. Cartoon violence and/or sex: harmful to kids or not? The big problem with most of the psych studies indicating "harm," for some definition of harm, is in the controls. Typically they'll sit some kids down in front of an Xbox for a measured period of time, and monitor them for signs of aggression and aberrations in empathy. The control group consists of another group of kids sitting in the next room playing with crossword puzzles. The control groups in these studies should consist of kids running around outdoors playing Cowboys and Indians, but that never, ever seems to occur to the psych majors. It's almost as if they initiated their studies to demonstrate a preordained conclusion, or something.