As part of our unit on Violence, we will be encouraging children to become more aware of physical and emotional violence in the television programs that they watch. Often children are not aware of the number of cruel or unkind acts they see on their favorite shows. By counting and discussing these acts, we seek to help children become aware of screen violence and its glamorized portrayal.

In the next week, your child will be bringing home a tally sheet to complete. Choose a program that your child enjoys watching and sit down with him or her. Your child is to count the number of acts that "hurt" someone, either physically or emotionally. In dealing with emotional violence, your child is looking for verbal confrontations where the victim might feel "sad" or "scared." Please help your child place a check-mark in the appropriate place.

To prepare your child for classroom discussion, you might consider the following:

1. Who commits the violent acts?
2. Who is harmed by the violent acts? 
3. How would you feel if someone did this to you?
4. Did this seem real to you? Why or why not?
5. Could the problem have been handled differently?

Thank you for your help. Please feel free to call me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,