Table of Contents

Contents: List of Contributors Acknowledgments1...Toxic Lessons: Children and Popular Culture Diane Ravitch and Joseph P. Viteritti2... Teaching amid the Torrent of Popular Culture Todd Gitlin3... Socializing Children in a Culture of Obscenity Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn4... The Problem of Exposure: Violence, Sex, Drugs, and Alcohol Stacy L. Sith and Ed Donnerstein5... Equipment for Living: How Popular Music Fits in the Lives of Youth Peter G. Christenson6... Music at the Edge: The Attraction and Effects of Controversial Music on Young People Jeffrey Jensen Arnett7... Video Games and Aggressive Behavior Craig A. Anderson8... Violent Video Games: Who's at Risk? Jeanne B. Funk9... The Effects of Cutting Back on Media Exposure Thomas N. Robinson10... The Contradictions of Parenting in a Media Age Kay S. Hymowitz11... The Role of Government in a Free Society Newton Minow and Nell Minow Index

Promotional Information

Parents and educators too often feel that protecting children against the corrupting influences of the popular culture is futile. This incisive collection of essays offers a helpful understanding of the toxic nature of today's media and some real solutions for providing children with needed guidance. The book is the rarest, and most valuable, form of critique: it exposes an alarming condition that we have come to accept as inevitable and then shows how we can fight our way to a healthier future. -- William Damon, Director, Stanford Center on Adolescence, Stanford University

About the Author

Diane Ravitch is a research professor in the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University and holds the Brown Chair in Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. She served as Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Education from 1991 to 1993. Her most recent book is The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn. Joseph P. Viteritti is a research professor of public policy in the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. His most recent book is Choosing Equality: School Choice, the Constitution and Civil Society. Together, Ravitch and Viteritti co-chair New York University's Program on Education and Civil Society and have edited three books, including City Schools: Lessons from New York, also available from Johns Hopkins.

Reviews

The expert authors of various chapters in this collection offer evidence of how damaging this stuff can be: from Todd Gitlin's explanation of how the pace of pop culture makes it almost impossible for kids to sit still for traditional classroom lessons to Peter G. Christenson's assertion that teens use song lyrics to frame their identities. -- Susan Reimer Baltimore Sun Mrs. Ravitch and Mr. Viteritti, who are both affiliated with New York University, have assembled an interesting group of scholars to discuss the effects that violent media have on children... The authors remind us that caring parents are the best early warning system against teenage crime. -- Martin Morse Wooster Washington Times