Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, December 19, 1994 TAG: 9412210069
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BARBARA F. MELTZ BOSTON GLOBE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
``Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' are everywhere, on everything, from lunch boxes to boxer shorts. Our kids - girls as well as boys, 9-year-olds as much as 4-year-olds - want whatever they can get their hands on.
This is the bind for us as parents: These items aren't so good for our kids.
Anecdotal as well as scientific evidence is beginning to pile up on the negative side when it comes to the impact Power Rangers - the TV show and the paraphernalia - is having on our children. It's led New Zealand and two of the major networks in Canada to ban the program. Locally, teachers see evidence that Power Rangers interferes with normal childhood development. One researcher, early childhood educator Nancy Carlsson-Paige of Lesley College in Cambridge, Mass., says it threatens to undermine children's mental health because of the way it influences their play.
The program, aired on Fox, stars six high school students who ``morph,'' or metamorphose, into high-tech superheroes and use sophisticated weapons and martial arts to defeat evil powers. Fast moving, colorful, full of special effects, it's easy to see why it is the country's No. 1 kids' show.
There are other reasons kids like it so much. ``The show pits good against evil in simplistic, black-and-white terms,'' says developmental psychologist Chris Boyatzis of California State University at Fullerton.
Such simplicity makes the world a lot clearer and that, he says, ``appeals to kids of all ages who are struggling in real life with the shades of gray.'' Boyatzis has just completed the first scientific study of the impact of Power Rangers on children. It shows that those who watch the show are seven times more aggressive in their play than those who don't.
Another attraction, a reason the show holds the interest even of preteens, is that the Power Rangers are not cartoon characters but real people. In fact, nice, courteous teen-agers who never fail and never get hurt.
``Children are pretty powerless in the world,'' says Boyatzis. ``That these characters are everyday kids who transform into superheroes, well, kids love it.''
That's also much of the problem.
Psychologist Dorothy Singer says, ``The message they get is, `OK, you nice kid, you right there in your house, you can be powerful, too.''' Singer is codirector of the Yale University Family Television Research and Consultation Center and is well-known for her work on children's play.
As a result, kids are imitating Power Rangers more than they have any other superheroes, says Singer.
Micki Corley, head 4-year-old teacher and codirector of the Preschool Experience in Newton, Mass., says that's true in her classroom.
Last spring, she and her colleagues began noticing that children's play was more physically aggressive than ever, much more so than when Ninja Turtles was at its peak. ``Even girls do Power Rangers. They hardly ever did Ninjas,'' she says.
Children have always used play to channel aggressive energy; that's what they are supposed to do, she notes. But Power Ranger play is different.
``They are confused by it. They mimic the movements without understanding the consequences,'' says Corley. ``I see kids saying things like, `If I'm the Red Ranger, I'm not really Joe hitting Mary. I'm Tommy or Zack hitting someone evil.' But it's Mary who is hurt and Mary who cries. You can see the confusion on their faces. They'll say, `But I didn't do that!'''
Corley's theory is that Power Rangers throws a wrench into what is an already difficult developmental task for preschoolers: distinguishing between real and pretend.
But Carlsson-Paige says even the 9-year-old is in jeopardy.
``He may know real from pretend,'' she says, ``but he's still carrying around the messages the show imparts: that violence is the best way to solve problems; that everything is either good or evil; that the world is a dangerous place and you need to arm yourself to be safe.''
Kids, of course, are quick to point out that there are some good things about the show. They're right.
``The characters show respect for adults. They are likable people. There is always a moral,'' says Marilyn Droz, director of research for the National Coalition on Television Violence, a watchdog organization.
In fact, the program labels the morals at the end of each show (in case you didn't catch it on your own). Recent ones included fire safety and the importance of thinking for yourself. Indeed, says Boyatzis, ``If Fox would get rid of the violence, it could be a great show.''
As it is, however, the morality touches don't begin to compensate for the amount and intensity of the violence, according to Boyatzis. In his study, 70 percent of the kids who watch the show say the fighting is what they like best. Carlsson-Paige, who lectures nationally on the effects of media and toy violence on children, says anecdotal evidence from around the country suggests kids don't absorb the moral.
Droz's organization has documented the violence: In an hour of Power Rangers' programming, there is an average of 211 acts of violence. ``Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' averages 92 violent acts per hour and a typical Saturday morning cartoon hour generally has 25 violent acts per hour. A typical hour of an adult show has six acts of violence.
Combine that with Power Ranger play, and Power Ranger paraphernalia, and the result is that our kids are being socialized by Power Rangers, asserts Carlsson-Paige.
by CNB