WASHINGTON – Children are suffering from a “silent epidemic” of sex and violence on television, the Internet and in video games, Senator Clinton argued yesterday in calling for closer scrutiny by parents and government of what kids watch and play.

Speaking a day before her husband, President Clinton, was due to undergo a follow-up surgery for a heart bypass operation six months ago, the senator argued that public health was threatened by increasingly raw content.

Mrs. Clinton focused her critique on the new outlets that some parents worry are a bad influence on children: violent video games, the Internet, and sexually explicit television programs.

“This is a silent epidemic. We don’t necessarily see the results immediately,” Mrs. Clinton said at a forum hosted by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Over time, she argued, the effects of such desensitization teaches children “that it’s okay to dis people because they’re women or they’re a different color or they’re from a different place.”

The senator took direct aim at one particular video game, Grand Theft Auto, a series popular among players and criticized by parents for its crime spree role-playing.