A study conducted by Ohio State University has found that solid majorities of media researchers, parents, and pediatricians agree that exposure to violent media can increase aggression in young people.

Broken down, the study's base statistics find that 66 percent of researchers, 67 percent of parents, and 90 percent of pediatricians agree or strongly agree that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior among children.

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"Some people claim there is no consensus about whether violent media can increase aggression in children, but this study shows that there is consensus," said study author Brad Bushman, professor of communication and psychology at the university.

Bushman added that although there is not complete agreement regarding this issue, the overwhelming majority do agree that violent media can prove harmful to children.

The study draws a semantic line between "aggression," which can be a simple rise in acting out or confrontational behavior, and "violence," which leads to harm. While the study groups agreed that there is a causal linkage between violent media and childhood aggression, there was considerable disagreement on the question of media violence leading to real-life violence in children, which Bushman points out is still a relatively rare event. 

"You cannot predict a shooting rampage just based on exposure to violent media or any other single factor," Bushman noted.

But, he says, it is clear that exposure to violent media leads to behavioral problems in young people. That, in turn, can evolve into more serious developments in a child as he or she grows.

For the study, Bushman and his teams surveyed 371 media psychologists and communication scientists from three professional organizations; 92 members of the Council on Communication and Media of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and 268 American parents meant to represent the American public. 

Tagsviolence, children, agreesion, Ohio State University, MEDIA, Video games, Study