DEATH and mayhem in children’s cartoons has risen by more than 50 per cent since the release of Snow White in 1937, academics at Harvard University in the US have found.
Violence has risen from an average of six minutes per film in the 1940s to nine-and-a-half minutes in the Nineties. It was found that almost two-thirds of cartoons featuredat least one killing.
The study has prompted calls for changes in the way films are classified. However, the British Board of Film Classification defended the current system saying children “knew the difference” between cartoons and real life.
Reports compiled by Jon Slater, with the help of the National Children’s Bureau.
