ABSTRACT
Schools are seeing the eff ects of the increasing infl uence of media upon students. Recent studies show that the average student spends as much time watching television as he or she does in the classroom (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005). Whether it is TV or some other form of media, there is little doubt that media is shaping how young people view their world. Strong evidence exists as proof that media violence contributes to aggressive behavior in youth. A large proportion of media exposure includes acts of violence that are witnessed or “virtually perpetrated” (in the form of video games, violent fi lms, and even the news) by young people. It has been estimated that by age 18, the average young person will have viewed 200,000 acts of violence on television alone (Levine, 1996).
