Legal Niches

Kids Eye Violent Media as Factor in Youth Violence

By pete_gallagher

A National Campaign to Stop Violence initiative seems to indicate that a good portion of middle school students think that violent media impacts real-world youth violence.

The program, called Do the Write Thing, prompted 6th, 7th and 8th students to document how violence affected their daily lives and how the issue could be addressed.

'Analysis' of the essays determined that 31% rated violent entertainment—including television, videogames, movies and music—were a 'significant catalyst' for violence in their age group. Gang violence (27%), drugs (24%) and bullying (21%) were additional factors cited.

Peter Jensen, M.D., Chairman of the New York City Do the Write Thing program and Mayo Clinic Co-chair of the Division of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, offered:

The significance of this study is that it is not parents, educators or social scientists decrying violence in the entertainment industry, it is the young people themselves who are speaking out about the negative impact the violent content has on them.

Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on December 22, 2009 (boomark / email).