olence in the media argue that it is the context in which violence is portrayed that has the most detrimental impact on viewers. For instance, media games help children learn to be violent because they are often rewarded for successful violent behavior.
These kinds of findings are increasing worry among medical health and mental health professionals who believe that the more media violence children are exposed to the more desensitized they become to violence. A study conducted on 219 Minnesota children in 3rd, 4t and 5th grades, shows that children who watch lots of television and play violent video games are not only more physically aggressive, but they are meaner and more distrustful (Gorman, 2002, 4). The study discovered that there is a correlation between exposure to high levels of TV and video-game violence and a phenomenon researchers labeled ôrelational aggression û behavior that includes name-calling, threat and rumor mongeringö (Gorman, 2002, 14). The implications of such findings are troublesome because relationally aggressive behavior is often a breeding ground for more violent behavior when children grow older. Researchers, parents, educators and lawmakers find such conclusions disturbing because behavior is learned through observation and imitation which makes children more vulnerable to increasing levels of
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