X Lisa Manders Lisa Manders started writing professionally in 2010, with her work appearing on Answerbag and eHow. Her areas of expertise are in researching and writing speeches. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in communications from the University of Minnesota.
By Lisa Manders, eHow Contributor Print this articleAs long as violence has been a part of society, so have people tried to place blame on its facilitators. Many people believe that violence in the media affects our youth. Others disagree. In addition, there is the long-standing argument that the home is the most influential factor in teen behavior.
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An article in the "Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography" explored the effects violence in the media has on children and teens' brains. After exposing adolescents with both aggressive and nonaggressive behavior to large amounts of media violence, researchers found a decrease in brain activity among all exposed to the violence. According to researchers, "Frontal lobe activation was reduced in aggressive subjects compared with control subjects." This means that individuals exposed to large amounts of violence are using less brain function, causing a decrease in attention span and an increase in aggressive behavior. The article concludes: "Our findings suggest that media violence exposure may be associated with alterations in brain functioning whether or not trait aggression is present."
No Effects Aggressive behavior within society may drive the desire for violence on television, in video games and the news, according to Jonathan Freedman, former chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Freedman was interviewed on the topic of violence in the media. He stated: "The systematic research does not provide convincing evidence that exposure to violent media