October 20, 2007
TV not to blame for violence, study says
What makes kids smack other and maybe grow into homicidal adults? Not the tube, says new research, but a lack of social skills. Variety reports.
"All babies are born with violent tendencies, which most kids learn to control as they grow older", a University of Montreal professor who has spent more than 20 years studying 35,000 Canadian children told Scientific AmericanScientificAmerican. Those who don't or can't learn are the ones who become violent.
"It's a natural behavior and it's surprising that the idea that children and adolescents learn aggression from the media is still relevant," Richard Tremblay told the website. "Clearly youth were violent before television appeared."
Tremblay, who is about to present his preliminary findings to The Royal Society, Britain's national academy of science, rejects the recently renewed criticisms of media violence as behavioral influences, instead maintaining that "unexpressed" or damaged genes affecting behavioral skills are the likely culprits."
Image from the University of Michigan
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/tv/archives/2007/10/017689.htm
| Tweet |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
