September 26, 2015

Movie Ratings

Are movies getting more violent? And if so, is the movie ratings system still effective at helping parents make the right choices for their kids? Then, a recent study of college graduates reveals a disturbing trend- one that could impact our nation’s future.

Episode Segments:

InfoTrak: Movie Ratings Brad J. Bushman, PhD is Professor of Communication and Psychology, Margaret Hall and Robert Randal Rinehart Chair of Mass Communication at Ohio State University Dr. Bushman’s research found that gun violence in movies rated PG-13 has more than tripled since PG-13 was introduced in 1985. In fact, he found that today’s PG-13 films depict more violence than R-rated movies. Dr. Bushman explained why parents should be concerned. He said the patchwork of different rating systems for TV, movies and video games is confusing for parents and should be standardized.
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InfoTrak: Family and Business Stewart D. Friedman, PhD, , author of Baby Bust: New Choices for Men and Women in Work and Family studied two classes of Wharton School of Business students, and found stunning results: the rate of graduates who plan to have children has dropped by nearly half over the past 20 years. He outlined the reasons for this disturbing trend and explained why this could be a huge problem for our society. He also offered some potential solutions.
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InfoTrak: Drinking on Campus Chris & Toren Volkmann, co- authors of Our Drink: Detoxing the Perfect Family offered their perspective on college drinking, as a mother and son who personally suffered the effects. They discussed warning signs of excessive drinking that both parents and college students should be aware of, and talked about the changing attitudes on college campuses.
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Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

Stewart Friedman Stew Friedman has been on the Wharton faculty since 1984. He became the Management Department’s first Practice Professor for his work on applying theory and research to the real challenges facing organizations. As founding director of the Wharton Leadership Program, in 1991 he initiated the required MBA and Undergraduate leadership courses. He is also founding director of Wharton’s Work/Life Integration Project. Stew’s most recent book is Baby Bust: New Choices for Men and Women in Work and Family ( Wharton Digital Press, October, 2013). Prior to that was his award-winning bestseller, Total Leadership: Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life (Harvard Business Press, 2008), which has been translated into six languages. The program it describes is his challenging Wharton course, in which participants complete an intensive series of real-world exercises designed to increase their leadership capacity and performance in all parts of their lives by better integrating them, while working in high-involvement peer-to-peer coaching relationships and completing much of the activity online in a cutting-edge social learning environment. Total Leadership is used by individuals and companies worldwide, including as a primary intervention in a multi-year study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, on improving the careers and lives of women in medicine. More About Dr. Friedman

Brad J. Bushman Brad J. Bushman is a professor of communication and psychology at The Ohio State University, where he holds the Margaret Hall and Robert Randal Rinehart Chair of Mass Communication. He is also a professor of communication science at the VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He studies the causes, consequences, and solutions to the problem of human aggression and violence. He also studies the impact of the media on prosocial behavior. His research has challenged several myths (e.g., violent media have a trivial effect on aggression, venting anger reduces aggression, violent people suffer from low self-esteem, violence and sex on TV sell products, warning labels reduce audience size). (One of his colleagues calls him the "myth buster.") He has about 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals, including in the top scientific journals (e.g., Science, Nature, PNAS). His research has been featured on television (e.g., ABC News 20/20, CBS Evening News, Discovery Channel, Jim Lehrer NewsHour, Showtime Penn & Teller: Bullshit!), on radio (BBC, NPR, CBC, ABC, CBS, NBC News Radio) in magazines (e.g., Scientific American, Newsweek, Time, Health, Sports Illustrated), and in newspapers (e.g., New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, The Times of London). More About Dr. Bushman