- LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Watching
lots of violence on television and playing violent video games not only
makes kids more physically aggressive, it makes them meaner and more distrustful,
researchers said in a study released on Thursday.
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- The findings add a troubling new dimension to an existing
body of research linking violence in the media with overtly violent behavior
in children and adults, said David Walsh, co-author of the new study and
head of the National Institute on Media and the Family.
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- 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,
threats and rumor mongering.
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- In addition, these same children were more likely to
view others with the greatest amount of suspicion, the study said.
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- "Long before kids throw a punch or pick up a weapon,
they're probably treating kids in a relationally aggressive way,"
Walsh told Reuters in a telephone interview. "This is the kind of
thing that becomes the breeding ground for more overtly violent behavior
as these kids get older."
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- The six-month study was based on evaluations of 219 Minnesota
children in the third, fourth and fifth grades, taken from a combination
of public and private schools in urban, suburban and rural areas, Walsh
said.
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- The youngsters filled out surveys of their TV viewing
and video-game habits, and were evaluated by their own teachers and peers
in terms of how well they get along with others. They also took a standardized
test used to rate individuals' level of trust and suspicion of others.
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- Children rated the most ill-behaved reported more exposure
to overall media violence and a greater preference for violence than other
youngsters. They also played more video games and tended to favor more
violence in those games, the study found.
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- These trends increased with the age of the children,
the study found.
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- "They become desensitized and watch more,"
Walsh said. "Concerns about a growing culture of 'incivility' in society
may be starting with our children."
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- The study was conducted by researchers from Brigham Young
University in Provo, Utah, St. Mary's University at Minneapolis and the
Minneapolis-based National Institute on Media and the Family, a nonprofit
media watchdog that issues an annual report card on video and computer
games.
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- Walsh said the study was presented to an international
behavioral development conference Aug. 6 in Ottawa, Canada.
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