TORONTO – Films targeted at teenagers have more scenes of gun violence than films rated R in the U.S., according to a new study released Monday.
Researchers from Ohio State University and the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania studied gun violence in the 30 top-grossing movies from 1950-2012.
The study, Gun Violence Trends in Movies found rates of gun violence in movies with PG-13 ratings in the U.S. tripled between 1985 and 2012, while overall levels of violence have doubled since 1950. The PG-13 rating was implemented in 1984 by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
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Movie ratings in Canada, which vary from province to province, are different from those of the MPAA.
“It’s disturbing that PG-13 movies are filled with so much gun violence,” said Dan Romer, a co-author of the study and director of the Adolescent Communication Institute, in a statement. “We know that movies teach children how adults behave, and they make gun use appear exciting and attractive.”
Researchers looked at a total of 945 films, focusing on scenes where hand-held guns were fired “with the intent to harm or kill a living being,” and excluded acts like hunting or the use of large scale weaponry.
In the movies studied since 1985, 94 per cent had “one or more five-minute segments containing violent sequences.”
Patrick E. Jamieson, a co-author of the study, said the findings are particularly concerning for parents.
“Children are not restricted from seeing PG-13 movies – parents are just warned about the content,” said Jamieson in a statement.
According to the MPAA’s definition, which is intended as a warning to parent, in a PG-13 rated “there may be depictions of violence … but generally not both realistic and extreme or persistent violence.”
The MPAA declined to comment on the study.
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