Monday, June 12, 2006

Hypothetically Speaking

When the powers that be said that the average child witnesses approximately 16,000 murders on T.V. by the time they are 18, did they mean different murders or something else?

Say, hypothetically of course, it's a weekend and you're tired and need some down time. Say your husband needs the same. Theoretically speaking, you let your kids watch, oh, I don't know, Star Wars VI five times over the course of a weekend. Now, let's just say there are twenty murders in the movie, not including the big blow up scenes where countless numbers die.

Is the number of murders witnessed twenty? Or is it twenty times five, the number of murders multiplied by the number of times the kids have seen the movie? In this highly imaginary scenario, my kids might have witnessed 100 murders in a forty-eight hour period. I'm just wondering, of course. Not that I would let my kids do anything like that. Heavens, no.