A high school graduation turns into a war zone as students take arms and kill the principal. The latest chapter of violence in schools? Nope, the WB network's Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1999 season finale. Almost two months after the episode was scheduled to air, the controversial footage was finally televised. Why the delay?

According to WB CEO Jamie Kellner, the original May 25, 1999 air date was considered bad timing when "over 35,000 combined junior high, high school and college graduation ceremonies were being conducted nationally."

For years, the entertainment world sat immune to current events, but the events of April 20, 1999 changed all that. Two students in Littleton, Colo. entered their high school armed with guns and bombs, murdering 12 students and a teacher, accounting for the largest massacre ever to occur on any school grounds in the United States.

The two gunmen committed suicide after their rampage, leaving their motivations in question. The news media and country searched for answers. Reports quickly surfaced that the two boys, ages 17 and 18, were fans of shock-rocker Marilyn Manson, followers of a hate group popular on the Internet and frequent players of the ultra-violent video game Doom.

Since that spring day, tougher gun-control laws, investigations into the entertainment industry and school suspensions for so much as joking about violence have become the norm. Now movies heavy on profanity and violence are under fire.

"It sucks," says Jason, a 15-year-old Skokie, Ill. resident, in reference to the new strict ID-checking at movie theaters. "I wanted to see South Park, and the guy wouldn't sell me a ticket. That's bulls---. I'm in high school. I can handle seeing a few cartoon characters kill each other and listen to a few swear words." Jason says he went on to purchase a ticket to a PG-13 movie, then sneaked into the R-rated film he wanted to see.

The Censorship Process
South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, a full-length movie featuring the four foul-mouthed children from the Comedy Central television series, went to the Motion Picture Association of America four times before receiving an R rating.

In Eyes Wide Shut, the final film by director Stanley Kubrick, clothes were digitally added to participants in an orgy scene to conceal 65 seconds of nudity. American Pie was released with a toned-down version of its bodily function-based humor to secure an R rating rather than an NC-17.

For each of these movies, the National Association of Theater Owners agreed to increase security measures to prevent children younger than 17 from entering. These measures were taken because of the connection created by watchdog groups and the government between movies and children's behavior.

The Opinions
Four people of different ages – an 11-year-old child, a 15-year-old teenager, a "30-something" mother and a 51-year-old father – discussed the influence that violence and sex in the movies has on children.

Ron, a 51-year-old father of a recent high school graduate, agrees. "I saw Casino (1995) and was shocked," he says. "I can't believe that people can even dream that kind of stuff up. I don't know what a kid would have thought."

Can violence in movies really influence children? "Absolutely," Ron says. "Even though they all won't go and shoot up a school, seeing murders and shootings and bombings and stabbings over and over again desensitizes people."

"I don't think so," says Jason, the 15-year-old who says he sneaked into South Park. "We know that movies are pretend, and [the people are] just actors. The two kids in Colorado were freaks. No movie is going to make me or any of my friends more violent."

"My parents won't let me see any movies that really have violence," says Seth, an 11-year-old fifth-grade student in a suburban school system. "But some of my friends got to see Small Soldiers (1998), and they pretended to be the guys in it and they would fight a lot."

And what about sex? "It isn't as bad in the movies as it is on TV," Lori says. "On TV, pretty much every sitcom is about wild, out-of-marriage sex. In the movies, it is more calculated, more plot-driven."

"I don't think that the sex in movies is that bad," Ron says. "I'd rather have my kid see some girl's breasts than have him see people shooting each other."

"My sister always covers up my eyes," Seth says.

The Evidence
Despite what some people say, some of the sex and violence in movies may sink into the minds of children and teenagers. In 1993, a scene in the testosterone-driven football movie The Program was cut after copycats re-enacted a dangerous scene. The film showed football players lying in the middle of a busy street, watching cars fly by. Several incidents occurred across the U.S. in which children and teenagers were injured emulating this stunt, resulting in the post-release scene cuts.

A shooting spree in Natural Born Killers (1994) also sparked criticism, driven by people searching for answers after similar events occurred around the nation. After the Columbine shootings, a scene was removed from The Basketball Diaries (1995) in which the main character portrayed by actor Leonardo DiCaprio has a dream about entering his school and shooting classmates. Wayne's World (1992) popularized many sexually-driven words that became common playground talk, and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) left elementary school students across the country asking, "What's shagging?"

What Should Parents Do?
"Talk to your children," Ron says. "Beat the movies to the punch. Keep the line between fantasy and reality when you go to movies."

"The answer isn't in forbidding your children to go to the movies," Lori says. "That just makes them more curious. Handle the issues of violence and sex in the movies as a family, and your kids will be more educated."

"South Park had the answer to that at the very end," Jason says.

In the movie, the featured kids sneak into an R-rated movie filled with violence and cursing and begin to emulate the behavior of the characters. This triggers a crusade led by parents against the makers of the film. "Kyle [one of the characters] says to his mom that he doesn't need her to go looking for an excuse every time he acts badly," Jason explains. "He says she just needs to be there to talk to him."

Want to see more?

• Media Effects on Children: Television
• Medi a Effects on Kids: Music and Videos
• A Parent's Guide to Movie Ratings
• Talk about it!