Watching media violence significantly increases the risk that a
viewer or video game player will behave aggressively in both the
short and long term, according to a University of Michigan study
published today in a special issue of the Journal of Adolescent
Health. The study, by L. Rowell Huesmann, reviews more than half
a century of research on the impact of exposure to violence in
television, movies, video games and on the Internet. "The
research clearly shows that exposure to virtual violence
increases the risk that both children and adults will behave
aggressively," said Huesmann, the Amos N. Tversky Collegiate
Professor of Communication Studies and Psychology, and a senior
research scientist at the U-M Institute for Social Research
(ISR). In his article, Huesmann points out that U.S. children
spend an average of three to four hours a day watching
television. "More than 60 percent of television programs contain
some violence," he said, "and about 40 percent of those contain
heavy violence. "Children are a