544). By contrast, other studies have not identified any increase in hostile or aggressive affect as a result of the level of video game violence; however, instead of employing one violent video game with increasing levels of violence, these studies used two conceptually different video games that were assumed to represent varying degrees of violence (Ballard & Lineberger, 1999)
Studies suggest that exposure to media violence may adversely affect young people's attitudes and behavior. Further, self-concept is a key indicator of core attitudes and coping abilities, and, for adolescents, the evolution of the sense of self is a fundamental developmental activity (Buchman & Funk, 1996)
425). The adverse impact of inappropriate television programs and advertisements upon the gender role expectations of both women and men has been the focus of much attention; however, as the popularity and accessibility of video games continues to increase, the question of the effect of the portrayal of women in video games upon gender role expectations as well as upon the use of violence continues to increase as well (Dietz, 1998)
1). Indeed, playing violent video games has also been implicated as being a potential contributing factor in the recent schoolyard massacres at Columbine High and Westside Middle School (Flatin, 2000)
Newer games such as Mortal Kombat featured hand-to-hand combat with bloody and gruesome endings. "Violence continues to reign in the current generation of action games that include titles such as Doom, Duke Nukem, Mace, Hexen II, Kingpin, and Mortal Kombat II" (Greenfield et al
The results of the Kaiser Family Foundation study also showed that 8- to 18-year-old boys spent 41 minutes per day playing video games compared to 12 minutes per day by girls in this age group. These results would suggest that many children not only have access to home gaming systems, but spend at least some time every day playing such interactive technology as well (Lachlan et al
Further, self-concept is a key indicator of core attitudes and coping abilities, and, for adolescents, the evolution of the sense of self is a fundamental developmental activity (Buchman & Funk, 1996). The average adolescent in the United States spends over 6 hours a day in front of some sort of video screen such as a television, computer, video games, the Internet and movies, and the total actually exceeds the amount of time children spent in school today (Smoots, 2003)
As a result, in the past, parents and educators were primarily concerned with the effects of violence in television programming on children; today, though, young people are spending more time playing video games than they are watching television. "For parents and educators concerned with children's exposure to violence, this is not necessarily good news" (Wagner, 2004, p