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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, January 27, 1992                   TAG: 9201270206
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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PSYCHOLOGIST: LIMIT TV

During prime-time network television, children see an average of six acts of violence each hour - most of them involving guns.

Stephanie Pratola, a clinical psychologist, advises parents to limit and monitor the amount of TV violence children see. In some cases, she advises families to pull the plugs on their sets - to shut off the endless mayhem and to open their lives to other experiences.

But few families can give the tube up. Pratola says their reactions are similar to drug withdrawal: irritation, anger, agitated behavior and cheating by watching TV at a friend's house or the health club, "and denying that they cheated."

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