There is good news and bad news about smoking in kids' movies.
As many in the media are reporting, smoking in youth movies, with a G, PG, or PG-13 rating, has decreased in recent years. That's the good news from a new CDC report on "Smoking in Top-Grossing Movies --- United States, 2010."
Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros. Entertainment and Universal City Studios implemented policies to reduce smoking in youth movies, which helped the number of tobacco incidents (use or implied use of a tobacco product by an actor) decrease over 95%.
The bad news is that many movie studios continue to include movie scenes with smoking in youth movies because they have not signed on to published policies designed to reduce tobacco use. These movie studios include independent movie studios and:
- Paramount Pictures (owned by Viacom, which also owns Nickelodeon)
- 20th Century Fox (owned by News Corp)
- Sony Pictures (owned by Sony Corporation)
Most of the 27 youth rated movies with smoking came from these studios. And since these are among the top grossing movies of 2010, they are likely movies that your kids saw.
And the really bad news is that exposure to smoking in movies and other media can increase a child's chances of smoking later in life.
The only other good news is that you may be able to do something about all of this. Join the CDC, other health experts, and many parents who recommend that youth movies with smoking get an "R" rating. The CDC also recommends that movie studios certify that they don't receive any payments to include smoking in movies and that state and local health departments harmonize their state movie subsidy programs and their tobacco control programs. In 2010, movies with smoking got more state money ($288 million) than those states are going to spend on their tobacco-control programs ($280 million).
Do you want your kids watching movies with actors and characters smoking? It is sometimes hard to tell if a movie is going to include smoking until you are actually watching a movie, especially if your teen goes to a movie on his own. If you want less smoking in movies parents should urge the rest of the movies studios to implement policies to reduce smoking in youth movies.
Related:
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
Smoke Free Movies
Scene Smoking
Rango Smoking Controversy
Smoking in Movies
