Media Violence Study
A study by the National Institute on Media and the Family links high media exposure to kids' bad behavior.
Articles within this series
- Overview
- The Entertainment Elephant
- How Entertainment Can Influence Thoughts and Actions
- Little Squeaks Can Mean Big Problems
- Media Violence Study
- Teaching Kids to Kill
- Explaining the Music-Memory Connection
- Fiction and Females: The Pitfalls of Chick Lit
- One Mom's Media Experiences
- How to Combat Media's Influence in Your Home
- Next Steps / Related Information
A study conducted by the National Institute on Media and the Family concludes that watching lots of violence on television and playing violent video games not only makes kids more physically aggressive, but it also makes them meaner and more distrustful. The report found a correlation between kids’ exposure to high levels of TV and video game violence, and what researchers called “relational aggression” — behavior that includes name-calling, making threats and spreading rumors.
In addition, these same children were more likely to view others with the greatest amount of suspicion. “Long before kids throw a punch or pick up a weapon, they’re probably treating kids in a relationally aggressive way,” says David Walsh, co-author of the study and head of the National Institute on Media and the Family. “This is the kind of thing that becomes the breeding ground for more overtly violent behavior as these kids get older.”
The six-month study was based on evaluations of 219 Minnesota children in the third, fourth and fifth grades who attend public and private schools in urban, suburban and rural areas. [Source: Reuters, 8/2/02]