So I disapproved of it.
The Chairman. Doctor, suppose you were on the advisory board for some of these magazines, what would you recommend?
Jam talking about the magazines which appear on ihe board there.
Dr. Bender. Let us put it this way: Suppose you said, "Why don't you go on one of these and see," and then L would go on it and I would see. I would expose children to these comics and see what the result was.
Now, if you want to ask me what I think the result would be, I think it would be minimal. I think that many of the children would be bored with them, I think that many of the children would refuse to read them and the more sophisticated would say, "So what, I have seen stuff like that before."
Mr. Beaser. But you do not actually know, Doctor?
The Chairman. You are talking about normal children, though ?
Dr. Bender. There is no such thing as a normal child,
The Chairman. There is not?
Dr. Bender. No.
The Chairman. That is your medical opinion?
Dr. Bender. That is my medical opinion.
The Chairman. How about a child that is deficient?
Dr. Bender. Mentally deficient?
The Chairman. I mean delinquent, or has delinquent tendencies.
Dr. Bender. As I told you before, it certainly is conceivable that you can find a certain number of children who will be, or could be pushed 1 or 2 steps further.
The Chairman. By this sort of literature?
Dr. Bender. By this sort of literature. Of course, it is a drop in the bucket as far as all the experiences in the world that the children are exposed to, and an awfully small drop and an awfully big bucket.
Mr. Beaser. Doctor, when Mr. Dybwad was talking he said some- thing about dividing the subject into two phases. One, the fact that the associalion was concerned about was the fact that these crime and horror comics were creating a climate in whieh the child was living and growing up and to which the child was exposed.
Do you share Mr. Dybwad's fears in that respect?
Dr. Bender. I don't think the comic books are creating the climate.
Mr. Beaser. Are they a part of the climate?
Dr. Bender. I think they are a reaction to the climate.
Mr. Beaser. Now, let me ask you one final question, Doctor.
Would you say—I suppose you would—that your opinion on this subject is in no way influenced by the fact that you are an advisory member of the Superman comics advisory board?
Dr. Bender. Well, it is a fair question and I think you were a little bit hard on Mr. Dybwad in that regard this morning.
Actually, the amount of money I get, $150 a month, is what I can get for one lecture such as I gave yesterday—I was all day yesterday in another State attending a scientific conference at which I gave a lecture—and which I can give once a week without any trouble— and it certainly is a small part of my income.
I would say this: The fact thai I em in this position as far as the national comies are concerned has two influences.
I think I have influenced the National Comics Publications to some extent, and I think my continuing presence on their editorial board
