In 2003 no less than nine psychology departments participated in a report identifying the media's effect on youth. The report, titled "The Influence of Media Violence on Youth," highlights a series of surveys that were distributed to subjects over the course of many years. Survey questions attempted to collect information from subjects by asking them about their family's media intake. Secondary questions asked about problems with violence at school, or other aggressive inclinations. The results point to a high incidence of violent tendencies in individuals exposed to large amounts of television time.
A study titled "Media Violence Research and Youth Violence Data: Why Do They Conflict?" by Cheryl K. Olson says, "There is little evidence of a substantial link between exposure to violent interactive games and serious real-life violence or crime." Olson claims that the concern over the effect of media violence on impressionable children is not new. She points to our past relationships with violence in the form of the classic gangster. What was once considered offensive in the 1940s is now viewed as harmless. Olson's report, although seemingly contradictory, does not negate the notion that the media influences violence in youth. She calls for more in-depth research in the field.
Further study is needed to provide concrete proof of the media's effect on school violence. Vincent Matthews of Indiana University's School of Medicine released a study in 2005 that demonstrated evidence of change in brain function between children exposed to violence and children not exposed to violence. Matthews found that children with excessive exposure to media showed less activity in the frontal cortex of the brain, while children not exposed to violence exhibited more frontal cortex activity. This evidence may be the key to uncovering the media's mysterious effect on the brain.
The effect of media on developing minds is a hot topic among scientists and the public alike. As research accumulates, scientists will be enabled to accurately determine the relationship between the media and school violence. Olson claims that further research on the effects of media exposure on violent behaviors, such as bullying and violent thoughts, is another aspect of the issue that may shed light on the newsworthy events connected with media violence.