The simplicity of the experiment at the day-care center and the starkness of the results stunned the parents.

When a class of two- to five-year-olds watched public television's big-hearted purple dinosaur, "Barney," they sang along, marched along, held one another's hands, and laughed together.

The next day, the same class watched the aggressive teenage avengers, "Power Rangers." Within minutes, they were karate-chopping and high-kicking the air--and one another.

"Even though the goal of these programs isn't to teach, our kids are learning because they're always learning," says David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family, who conducted the experiment.

According to the National Television Violence Study, prime-time violence, on both broadcast and cable networks, has increased since 1994. The study also concluded that the way violence is portrayed in most instances--glamorized, sanitized, and without negative consequences--poses a serious risk to children.

"These patterns teach children that violence is desirable, necessary, and painless," says Dale Kunkel of the University of California at Santa Barbara, where the study was done.

Society's obsession with materialism and violent films has resulted in many children growing up with little or no understanding of moral or spiritual values.

Ms. Diane Tilmann, an American educational psychologist, said materialism and violence in films had diverted "time and focus away from traditional pastimes and the transmission of culture and spiritual values. We have not yet recognized the profound influence of violence in films on youth. It is time to look at what we are creating."

Addressing a United Nations-sponsored conference on education in Melbourne, Ms. Tilmann cited recent United States statistics on television viewing habits which found that the average 11-year-old had watched 10,000 murders on television.

Another survey showed that 45 percent of Americans said they would want $1 million to give up their television while 25 percent said they would need more than $1 million.

"One can sit in front of TV and simply have the mind filled. Many children, consequently, have limited time for the essential tasks of childhood which are critical for physical, cognitive, emotional, spiritual and social growth," Ms. Tilmann said.