A new study taking a look at television through the eyes of kids just came out this week.

It told me something I've known for a long time - that what kids see on television makes an impression on them.

The study, "A Different World: Children's Perceptions of Race and Class in the Media," targeted kids ages 10 to 17. It was sponsored by a group called Children Now and surveyed nine focus groups - a total of 1,200 kids - in January and February.

The purpose of the study was to assess the amount of racial stereotyping going on in television.

What the researchers found was that children perceive more negative depictions of blacks and Hispanics than of whites and Asians.

"The findings show that kids of all races are aware of media stereotypes starting at a young age and understand the power of television to shape opinions," said Children Now President Lois Salisbury.

See, this is no surprise to me. I have understood all along the power of television to shape opinions, especially in the minds of impressionable young people.

While this particular study dealt with racial stereotyping, my guess would be that similar results would be obtained with a study on sex or violence, too.

Kids are influenced by what they see on television! What a shock, eh?

The study also showed:

• Children more often associate positive qualities - financial and academic success, leadership, intelligence - with white characters and associate negative qualities - lawbreaking, financial hardship, laziness, goofy behavior - with minority characters.

• Children of all races say the news media tend to portray blacks and Hispanics more negatively than whites and Asians, particularly in reports about young people. 'You always see black people doing drugs and carrying around drugs, shooting people and stealing things,' one white girl said.

• 71 percent of all children said the role of boss is usually played by someone who is white, while 59 percent said the role of criminal is typically played by blacks.

• Minority children primarily admire black television figures such as Michael Jordan, Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey, while white children admire white and 'crossover' figures: Jerry Seinfeld, Bart Simpson, Tim Allen and George Clooney, as well as Jordan and Smith.

• The majority of minority children - 71 percent of blacks, 63 percent of Hispanics and 51 percent of Asians - feel there should be more news presenters of their race. But at least two-thirds of all children said a reporter's race did not affect their trust in the news.

This tends to explode the old TV industry argument that television is just make-believe and kids understand that.

It shows that kids absorb what they see and that it affects the way they view the world.

Now, factor in that we today have the most bizarre television ever and you have a recipe for cultural disaster.

Kids are bombarded by depravity everywhere they look on television these days.

And they are thirsty for more.

The shows that push the envelope the hardest - South Park, Jerry Springer - are the most popular.

South Park, where vulgarity and gratuitous violence are the attraction (Kenny dies a bizarre death in each episode), is the number one rates show on cable.

South Park is followed closely in the cable ratings by professional wrestling, where the blood flows freely as they bash each other in the head with metal chairs.

The opening episode of "Dawson's Creek" featured a 36-year-old teacher's affair with a high school student. It's usually the top-rated show on the WB network.

"Television has gone from being juvenile to infantile," said Robert Lichter, director of the Washington research group known as the Center for Media and Public Affairs. "We've gone from dirty sex talk to kinky sex to jokes about bodily functions. It's the stuff that nobody would have imagined a decade ago."

He's right, of course.

We are to the point now where it appears nothing is too shocking for television.

But it will only get worse.

We are desensitizing an entire generation of young people to profanity and violence.

In order to keep the audience, the programmers are going to have to put more violent, more graphic and more profane material on the air.

The same instinct that causes motorists to stop and gawk at the misfortune of auto accident victims keeps us tuned in.

And while polls show that many viewers are upset by what they see on TV, the very shows that upset them are the ones that most people watch.

It's an anomaly.

But one thing is certain. It will continue. And as the desensitization of our youth increases, so will the incidence of profanity and violence among them.

This is a dilemma because it is impossible to deal with an issue like this without abridging the freedom of speech and expression.

I do not advocate the government swooping down and becoming the arbiter of all that is good and decent on television.

It would be nice if the producers would do the right thing, but we all know that will never happen.

No, the only solution must come from us, the viewing public.

All we have to do is stop watching. If there is no market, there is no product. If Howard Stern had no listeners, he wouldn't be on the air.

So until we are willing to adjust our viewing habits, we deserve exactly what we get on television.

And we have nobody to blame but ourselves.

*****

And now a couple snippits I just couldn't resist.

Hillary Clinton pokes Israel in the eye by saying it ought to create a Palestinian state. When the furor begins her aide points out that Hillary is not an elected official, just a private citizen and that was just an opinion.

At the same time, Clinton administration lawyers are arguing that Hillary is a quasi-governmental official and deserves executive privilege.

*****

Clinton supporters love to complain Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation is taking too long.

At the same time, the Clinton administration decides to appeal a federal judge's ruling disallowing executive privilege for Secret Service agents who Starr has subpoenaed. This creates further delays. [[In-content Ad]]