For the fourth time in two years, Shannon Munford M.A. the owner of Daybreak Counseling Service was called upon to facilitate an on camera anger management class for a Reality TV super star.
The episode will appear on the "E" Network. We are currently sworn to secrecy but stay tunned to this blog for more informaiton about the show and its stars.
Shannon Munford and Daybreak Counseling Service has provided anger management services in the past for the following shows: Decision House, MTV Real World Hollywood, and Bad Girls Club 3 Season of Oxygen Network.
Mr. Munford has recently been contacted by a production company with hopes to pitch him and his anger managment expertise to BET (Black Entertainment Network) for a brand new reality show.
Daybreak Counseling Service
www.daybreakservices.com
www.angermanagementvideo.net
twitter.com/angryinLA
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
SEO for therapist and coaches-How I got to the top!
I GOT A WEBSITE. IF I COULD DO ANYTHING DIFFERENTLY I WOULD HAVE MADE SURE MY WEBSITE HAD MY “KEYWORDS” IN THE TITLE.
• WHAT ARE KEYWORDS OR KEY PHRASES? KEYWORDS ARE WHAT THE SEARCH ENGINES ARE LOOKING FOR TO CATERGORIZE YOUR SITE. MY PRIMARY KEY WORD/PHRASE IS “ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES”
• WHAT IS A SEARCH ENGINE? A SEARCH ENGINE IS A PORTAL IN WHICH A USER INPUTS KETWORDS TO FIND A PRODUCT, SERVICE OR INFORMAITON. THE MOST POPULAR SEARCH ENGEINES ARE GOOGLE, YAHOO, AND MSN.
• ARE ALL SEARCH ENGINES CREATED EQUAL? NO. GOOGLE IS BY FAR NUMBER 1. OPTIMIZING YOUR SITE FOR GOOGLE DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN YOU ARE OPTIMIZING YOUR SITE FOR THE OTHER TWO MAJOR SEARCH ENGINES.
• THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT THING I DID AFTER GETTING A WEBSITE WAS TO START USING SPONSERED PAID SEARCH. IT TOOK ME 2-3 YEARS TO GET FROM PAGE 8 OR 9 TO PAGE ONE OF GOOGLE. IF I DID NOT USE PAID SEARCH TO NARROW THE GAP.MY BUISNESS WOULD HAVE SUNK BEFORE I HAD A CHANCE TO MAKE IT TO THE TOP.
• THE THIRD MOST IMPORTANT THING I DID WAS WATCH MY COMPETITORS. I FOUND WHO WAS AT NUMBER ONE FOR MY DESIRED KEYWORDS. THEN I GOOGLED THEIR URL AND FOUND OUT EVERYWHERE THEIR SITE WAS LISTED.
• THE FOURTH MOST IMPORTANT THING I DID WAS TO ADD CONTENT TO MY PAGE. MY HOME PAGE HAS A LOT OF CONTENT ON IT. IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THE CLEANEST PAGE OUT THERE. REMEMBER THE INTERNET SPIDERS JUDGE YOUR SITE BY THE TYPE AND NUMBER OF WORDS AND PHRASES ON IT. THE MORE INFORMATION I HAD ABOUT “ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES” THE MORE I MOVED UP IN THE SEARCH ENGINES.
• I ADDED A BLOG. THE NUMBER ONE RULE IN SEO IS “CONTENT IS KING” A BLOG GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADD KEYWORDS AND KEY PHRASE UNIQUE TO YOUR INDUSTRY. I MADE ATTEMPTS TO WRITE A BLOG POST AT LEAST EVERY OTHER DAY. YOUR POSTS SHOULD BE AS UNIQUE AS POSSIBLE. STEALING ARTICLES FROM OTHER SITES MAY HELP BUT INTERNET SPIDERS LIKE NEW CONTENT. WHEN WRITING I ALWAYS KEPT IN MIND THAT I WANTED TO INFORM THE WORLD. NOT ONLY POTENTIAL CLIENTS.
• I ADDED A RESOURCE PAGE. IN THE SPIRIT OF PROVIDING INFORMATION TO MY READERS A RESOURCE PAGE ALLOWS YOU TO ADD LINKS TO OTHER SITES. LINKING TO OTHER SITE HELPS YOUR PAGE RANK MODERATELY. BUT BEING LINKED ON SOMEONE ELSES SITE CAN GREATLY HELP. LINK SHARING IS A POPULAR WAY TO SOAR IN THE SEARCH ENGINES.
• I ASKED POPULAR SITES AND BLOGS TO ADD MY URL. IF YOU ARE LINKED TO A POPULAR SITE (ESPECIALLY IF IT IS RELATED TO YOUR BUISNESS) YOUR ARE GOING TO RISE WITH THE TIDE. A POPULAR SITE HAS A PAGE RANK (PR) OF 1-3. IF INTERESTED I WILL LINK WITH YOU.
• I ADJUSTED MY METATAGS. METATAGS ARE FOUND ON THE BACK END OF YOUR SITE. THEY ARE HTML CODES USUALLY CALLED TITLE TAGS OR KEYWORD TAGS. YOUR META TAGS SHOULD MATCH THE KEYWORDS YOU THINK SEARCHERS ARE USING.
• I SUBMITTED MY SITE URL TO THE MAJOR SEARCH ENGINES.
• I TRY TO COMMENT ON THE BLOGS OF OTHER PEOPLE IN MY INDUSTRY OFTEN (ALWAYS SIGNING MY COMMENTS WITH MY BUSINESS NAME AND URL) COMMENTING ON BLOGS IS A GOOD WAY TO MEET PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY AND GET YOUR NAME OUT THERE. MAKE SURE YOUR COMMENTS ARE RELATIVE TO THE DISCUSSION AND DON’T GO OVER BOARD. IF YOU DO THIS IS CONSIDERED SPAMMING.
• I CREATED PRESS RELEASES. I MAKE IT A HABIT TO TRY AND PUT OUT A PRESS RELEASE ABOUT MY BUSINESS AT LEAST ONCE A QUARTER. PRESS RELEASES ARE A GOOD WAY TO RISE TO THE TOP OF THE YAHOO SEARCH ENGINE.
• I SUBMITTED ARTICLES ON MY SUBJECT. YOU CAN FIND SEVERAL ARTICE SUBMIT SITES AND WRITE ARTICLES. ALWAYS SIGN END WITH YOUR BUISNESS NAME, PHONE NUMBER, AND URL.
• I READ BOOKS ON MARKETING. THERE IS A LOT OF GOOD STUFF OUT THERE ABOUT MARKETING IN GENERAL. ONE OF MY FAVORITE WRITERS IS SETH GODIN. HE HAS A BLOG.
• I READ EVERYTHING I COULD ON SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION) ONE OF MY FAVORITE WEBSITES IS SEOCHAT.COM
• I KEEP UP WITH WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE INDUSTRY BY USING GOOLGE ALERTS. GOOGLE ALERTS IS A FREE SERVICE FROM GOOGLE. WHENEVER SOMEONE WRITES A BLOG OR ARTICLE CONTAINING YOUR “KEYWORDS” THEY WILL SEND YOU A LINK TO YOUR EMAIL.
• I UTILIZE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE (MYSPACE, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN, TWITTER, FRIENDSTER ETC)
• I CREATED 3-4 ALTERNATE BLOGS.
• I ADVERTISE ON CRAIGSLIST, L.A. BACKPAGE AND TOPIX.NET
Daybreak Counseling Service
Shannon Munford M.A.
www.daybreakservices.com
twitter.com/angryinla
310-995-1202
• WHAT ARE KEYWORDS OR KEY PHRASES? KEYWORDS ARE WHAT THE SEARCH ENGINES ARE LOOKING FOR TO CATERGORIZE YOUR SITE. MY PRIMARY KEY WORD/PHRASE IS “ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES”
• WHAT IS A SEARCH ENGINE? A SEARCH ENGINE IS A PORTAL IN WHICH A USER INPUTS KETWORDS TO FIND A PRODUCT, SERVICE OR INFORMAITON. THE MOST POPULAR SEARCH ENGEINES ARE GOOGLE, YAHOO, AND MSN.
• ARE ALL SEARCH ENGINES CREATED EQUAL? NO. GOOGLE IS BY FAR NUMBER 1. OPTIMIZING YOUR SITE FOR GOOGLE DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN YOU ARE OPTIMIZING YOUR SITE FOR THE OTHER TWO MAJOR SEARCH ENGINES.
• THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT THING I DID AFTER GETTING A WEBSITE WAS TO START USING SPONSERED PAID SEARCH. IT TOOK ME 2-3 YEARS TO GET FROM PAGE 8 OR 9 TO PAGE ONE OF GOOGLE. IF I DID NOT USE PAID SEARCH TO NARROW THE GAP.MY BUISNESS WOULD HAVE SUNK BEFORE I HAD A CHANCE TO MAKE IT TO THE TOP.
• THE THIRD MOST IMPORTANT THING I DID WAS WATCH MY COMPETITORS. I FOUND WHO WAS AT NUMBER ONE FOR MY DESIRED KEYWORDS. THEN I GOOGLED THEIR URL AND FOUND OUT EVERYWHERE THEIR SITE WAS LISTED.
• THE FOURTH MOST IMPORTANT THING I DID WAS TO ADD CONTENT TO MY PAGE. MY HOME PAGE HAS A LOT OF CONTENT ON IT. IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THE CLEANEST PAGE OUT THERE. REMEMBER THE INTERNET SPIDERS JUDGE YOUR SITE BY THE TYPE AND NUMBER OF WORDS AND PHRASES ON IT. THE MORE INFORMATION I HAD ABOUT “ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES” THE MORE I MOVED UP IN THE SEARCH ENGINES.
• I ADDED A BLOG. THE NUMBER ONE RULE IN SEO IS “CONTENT IS KING” A BLOG GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADD KEYWORDS AND KEY PHRASE UNIQUE TO YOUR INDUSTRY. I MADE ATTEMPTS TO WRITE A BLOG POST AT LEAST EVERY OTHER DAY. YOUR POSTS SHOULD BE AS UNIQUE AS POSSIBLE. STEALING ARTICLES FROM OTHER SITES MAY HELP BUT INTERNET SPIDERS LIKE NEW CONTENT. WHEN WRITING I ALWAYS KEPT IN MIND THAT I WANTED TO INFORM THE WORLD. NOT ONLY POTENTIAL CLIENTS.
• I ADDED A RESOURCE PAGE. IN THE SPIRIT OF PROVIDING INFORMATION TO MY READERS A RESOURCE PAGE ALLOWS YOU TO ADD LINKS TO OTHER SITES. LINKING TO OTHER SITE HELPS YOUR PAGE RANK MODERATELY. BUT BEING LINKED ON SOMEONE ELSES SITE CAN GREATLY HELP. LINK SHARING IS A POPULAR WAY TO SOAR IN THE SEARCH ENGINES.
• I ASKED POPULAR SITES AND BLOGS TO ADD MY URL. IF YOU ARE LINKED TO A POPULAR SITE (ESPECIALLY IF IT IS RELATED TO YOUR BUISNESS) YOUR ARE GOING TO RISE WITH THE TIDE. A POPULAR SITE HAS A PAGE RANK (PR) OF 1-3. IF INTERESTED I WILL LINK WITH YOU.
• I ADJUSTED MY METATAGS. METATAGS ARE FOUND ON THE BACK END OF YOUR SITE. THEY ARE HTML CODES USUALLY CALLED TITLE TAGS OR KEYWORD TAGS. YOUR META TAGS SHOULD MATCH THE KEYWORDS YOU THINK SEARCHERS ARE USING.
• I SUBMITTED MY SITE URL TO THE MAJOR SEARCH ENGINES.
• I TRY TO COMMENT ON THE BLOGS OF OTHER PEOPLE IN MY INDUSTRY OFTEN (ALWAYS SIGNING MY COMMENTS WITH MY BUSINESS NAME AND URL) COMMENTING ON BLOGS IS A GOOD WAY TO MEET PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY AND GET YOUR NAME OUT THERE. MAKE SURE YOUR COMMENTS ARE RELATIVE TO THE DISCUSSION AND DON’T GO OVER BOARD. IF YOU DO THIS IS CONSIDERED SPAMMING.
• I CREATED PRESS RELEASES. I MAKE IT A HABIT TO TRY AND PUT OUT A PRESS RELEASE ABOUT MY BUSINESS AT LEAST ONCE A QUARTER. PRESS RELEASES ARE A GOOD WAY TO RISE TO THE TOP OF THE YAHOO SEARCH ENGINE.
• I SUBMITTED ARTICLES ON MY SUBJECT. YOU CAN FIND SEVERAL ARTICE SUBMIT SITES AND WRITE ARTICLES. ALWAYS SIGN END WITH YOUR BUISNESS NAME, PHONE NUMBER, AND URL.
• I READ BOOKS ON MARKETING. THERE IS A LOT OF GOOD STUFF OUT THERE ABOUT MARKETING IN GENERAL. ONE OF MY FAVORITE WRITERS IS SETH GODIN. HE HAS A BLOG.
• I READ EVERYTHING I COULD ON SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION) ONE OF MY FAVORITE WEBSITES IS SEOCHAT.COM
• I KEEP UP WITH WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE INDUSTRY BY USING GOOLGE ALERTS. GOOGLE ALERTS IS A FREE SERVICE FROM GOOGLE. WHENEVER SOMEONE WRITES A BLOG OR ARTICLE CONTAINING YOUR “KEYWORDS” THEY WILL SEND YOU A LINK TO YOUR EMAIL.
• I UTILIZE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE (MYSPACE, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN, TWITTER, FRIENDSTER ETC)
• I CREATED 3-4 ALTERNATE BLOGS.
• I ADVERTISE ON CRAIGSLIST, L.A. BACKPAGE AND TOPIX.NET
Daybreak Counseling Service
Shannon Munford M.A.
www.daybreakservices.com
twitter.com/angryinla
310-995-1202
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Anger Management Classes for Proposition 8 opposer.
A 22 year old Torrance man was sentenced to 6 months of anger management classes on Monday. Joseph Storm pleaded no contest to the assault of proposition 8 supporter. Mr. Storm attacked the supporter with a Propostion 8 rally sign in addition to striking the supporter.
Proposition 8 was the controversal California measure that sought to terminate the rights of Gays and Lesbians to marry.
The Torrance Court which is located in Los Angeles County ordered the perpetrator to 7 days in jail, a six month anger management course, 100 hours of community service and 3 years probation.
Daybreak Counseling Service a Court approved anger management education center in Los Angeles County serves the South Bay and Torrance area through it Gardena location.
Proposition 8 was the controversal California measure that sought to terminate the rights of Gays and Lesbians to marry.
The Torrance Court which is located in Los Angeles County ordered the perpetrator to 7 days in jail, a six month anger management course, 100 hours of community service and 3 years probation.
Daybreak Counseling Service a Court approved anger management education center in Los Angeles County serves the South Bay and Torrance area through it Gardena location.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Chris Brown checks in to an anger management class
Reports are coming out that 19 year old R&B singer Chris Brown is now taking anger management classes after an alleged assualt of his 21 year old girl friend Rhianna. Rhianna is also a popular singer/entertainer.
TMZ magazine recently leaked photos of Rhianna's batterd face online and the news frenzy continues.
I recently posted an article about motivation and anger management. In this article I discussed how internal motivation can cause someone to seek help regarding there anger. Internal motivation includes feelings such as "I can do better" or "I'm tired of living my life in anger"
There is some speculation that Chris Brown is only taking an anger management class as a Public Relation measure. Others say he is in an anger management course because he got caught. If these statement are true Chris is motivated by external motivations. The fear of jail time, loss of income and even the dissapointment of a love one can cause an individual to seek help. The important thing is that he is seeking help. No wrong can come from his involvement in anger management classes. It may be important for Rhianna to consider seeking professional help herself.
Daybreak Counseling Service
Shannon Munford
www.daybreakservices.com
TMZ magazine recently leaked photos of Rhianna's batterd face online and the news frenzy continues.
I recently posted an article about motivation and anger management. In this article I discussed how internal motivation can cause someone to seek help regarding there anger. Internal motivation includes feelings such as "I can do better" or "I'm tired of living my life in anger"
There is some speculation that Chris Brown is only taking an anger management class as a Public Relation measure. Others say he is in an anger management course because he got caught. If these statement are true Chris is motivated by external motivations. The fear of jail time, loss of income and even the dissapointment of a love one can cause an individual to seek help. The important thing is that he is seeking help. No wrong can come from his involvement in anger management classes. It may be important for Rhianna to consider seeking professional help herself.
Daybreak Counseling Service
Shannon Munford
www.daybreakservices.com
Friday, January 2, 2009
Anger Management Expert, Shannon Munford Launches An Online Anger Management Video Arcade
Shannon Munford M.A. has launched a new online anger management resource center. angermanagementvideo.net is an online video arcade for all things anger management. Videos range from the comedic to the academic. The website will offer a variety of anger management books, links and videos.
Mr. Munford created the website in an effort to amalgamate the numerous anger management providers, curriculums and ideas on the internet. Shannon Munford is the most visible provider of anger management in the nation. He and his representatives have appeared on national television shows such as Decision House, and MTV’s Real World Hollywood. He is the producer of the popular online game Lava Flow-The anger management game.
Mr. Munford invites anger management academics to share there knowledge and experience with one another and the community by submitting videos and articles to angermanagementvideo.net.
About Daybreak Counseling Service
Shannon Munford is the founder of Daybreak Counseling Service. He holds a Masters Degree in Marriage Family Therapy and is an expert in the field of anger management. Mr. Munford is a corporate consultant and has been a speaker at California State University Dominguez Hills. He is the owner of the popular blog Angry in L.A. For information about his anger management courses, or one on one individual sessions please visit http://www.daybreakservices.com
To view a variety of anger management videos visit http://www.angermanagementvideo.net
Mr. Munford created the website in an effort to amalgamate the numerous anger management providers, curriculums and ideas on the internet. Shannon Munford is the most visible provider of anger management in the nation. He and his representatives have appeared on national television shows such as Decision House, and MTV’s Real World Hollywood. He is the producer of the popular online game Lava Flow-The anger management game.
Mr. Munford invites anger management academics to share there knowledge and experience with one another and the community by submitting videos and articles to angermanagementvideo.net.
About Daybreak Counseling Service
Shannon Munford is the founder of Daybreak Counseling Service. He holds a Masters Degree in Marriage Family Therapy and is an expert in the field of anger management. Mr. Munford is a corporate consultant and has been a speaker at California State University Dominguez Hills. He is the owner of the popular blog Angry in L.A. For information about his anger management courses, or one on one individual sessions please visit http://www.daybreakservices.com
To view a variety of anger management videos visit http://www.angermanagementvideo.net
Monday, November 3, 2008
Study Links Violent Video Games, Hostility
Children and teenagers who play violent video games show increased physical aggression months afterward, according to new research that adds another layer of evidence to the continuing debate over the video-game habits of the youngest generation.
The research, published today in the journal Pediatrics, brings together three longitudinal studies, one from the United States and two from Japan, examining the content of games, how often they are played and aggressive behaviors later in a school year.
The U.S. research was the first in the nation to look at the effects of violent video games over time, said lead author Craig A. Anderson, a psychology professor at Iowa State University and director of its Center for the Study of Violence.
Anderson said the collaboration with Japanese researchers was particularly telling because video games are popular there and crime and aggression are less prevalent. Some gamers have cited Japan's example as evidence that violent games are not harmful.
Yet the studies produced similar findings in both countries, Anderson said. "When you find consistent effects across two very different cultures, you're looking at a pretty powerful phenomenon," he said. "One can no longer claim this is somehow a uniquely American phenomenon. This is a general phenomenon that occurs across cultures."
The study in the United States showed an increased likelihood of getting into a fight at school or being identified by a teacher or peer as being physically aggressive five to six months later in the same school year. It focused on 364 children ages 9 to 12 in Minnesota and was first included in a 2007 book, "Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents."
Japanese researchers studied more than 1,200 Japanese youths ages 12 to 18. In all three studies, researchers accounted for gender and previous aggressiveness.
"We now have conclusive evidence that playing violent video games has harmful effects on children and adolescents," Anderson said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, which publishes the journal in which the study appears this month, is in the process of revising its recommendations on media violence, and expects to issue a new statement in four to six months, a spokeswoman said. The academy now recognizes violence in media as a significant health risk to children and adolescents and recommends limiting screen time including television, computers and video games to one to two hours a day.
For many parents, the latest research was unsettling, though not surprising.
Patricia Daumas, 50, a single mother of two in Reston, said she sometimes wonders about her decision to allow her sons, ages 8 and 11, to play war games. But like many parents, she sees the issue as complex. She does not allow her sons to play games rated "mature."
"I don't think the games are good for them," she said, "but what I'm seeing in my own children is that they're still very gentle, that they're very caring, and they have absolutely no behavior problems at school."
Daumas noted that many of her sons' friends play the games. "It's a tough balancing act," she said.
Tracey Goldman, 42, a mother of two in Takoma Park, said she enforces time limits on video-game playing and does not allow violent content. Her fourth-grader plays Lego Star Wars, she said, but otherwise, "I just feel very uneasy about letting him play those kinds of games."
Still, she said, monitoring game-time can require vigilance because children can find games on Internet sites. She recalled looking over her son's shoulder as he played at a computer, asking: "Wait a minute. Is that shooting people?"
Parents have debated the potentially harmful effects of video-game violence for most of the last two decades, as the games have become more popular and more graphic. In the new research, games were deemed violent when one character harmed or killed another.
Still, not all video games are violent or associated with such negative effects, said Joseph Kahne of Mills College in Oakland, Calif., coauthor of a recent video-gaming study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
The Pew study, based on a poll of 1,102 youths ages 12 to 17, found that most teenagers play many different kinds of games and that some types of play -- such as making decisions about how to run a city -- are correlated with more political or civic involvement.
Overall, Kahne said, "it's important to pay attention to the nature of the games and the sense that kids make of the experience."
Although the longitudinal studies reported in Anderson's study showed that frequent playing of violent video games leads to greater aggression, Anderson also said this message should be understood in the larger context of a child's life.
"A healthy, normal, nonviolent child or adolescent who has no other risk factors for high aggression or violence is not going to become a school shooter simply because they play five hours or 10 hours a week of these violent video games," he said.
Extreme forms of violence, Anderson said, "almost always occur when there is a convergence of multiple risk factors."
A U.S. surgeon general report in 2001 identified an array of those risk factors, including gang involvement, antisocial parents and peers, substance abuse, poverty and media violence. Males are more at risk.
The new study noted that video games are played in 90 percent of American homes with children ages 8 to 16 and that the U.S. average playing time of four hours a week in the late 1980s is now up to 13 hours a week, with boys averaging 16 to 18 hours a week.
Daybreak Counseling Service
Lava Flow-The Anger Management Game
www.daybreakservices.com
www.daybreakservices.com/games/lava/index.html
The research, published today in the journal Pediatrics, brings together three longitudinal studies, one from the United States and two from Japan, examining the content of games, how often they are played and aggressive behaviors later in a school year.
The U.S. research was the first in the nation to look at the effects of violent video games over time, said lead author Craig A. Anderson, a psychology professor at Iowa State University and director of its Center for the Study of Violence.
Anderson said the collaboration with Japanese researchers was particularly telling because video games are popular there and crime and aggression are less prevalent. Some gamers have cited Japan's example as evidence that violent games are not harmful.
Yet the studies produced similar findings in both countries, Anderson said. "When you find consistent effects across two very different cultures, you're looking at a pretty powerful phenomenon," he said. "One can no longer claim this is somehow a uniquely American phenomenon. This is a general phenomenon that occurs across cultures."
The study in the United States showed an increased likelihood of getting into a fight at school or being identified by a teacher or peer as being physically aggressive five to six months later in the same school year. It focused on 364 children ages 9 to 12 in Minnesota and was first included in a 2007 book, "Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents."
Japanese researchers studied more than 1,200 Japanese youths ages 12 to 18. In all three studies, researchers accounted for gender and previous aggressiveness.
"We now have conclusive evidence that playing violent video games has harmful effects on children and adolescents," Anderson said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, which publishes the journal in which the study appears this month, is in the process of revising its recommendations on media violence, and expects to issue a new statement in four to six months, a spokeswoman said. The academy now recognizes violence in media as a significant health risk to children and adolescents and recommends limiting screen time including television, computers and video games to one to two hours a day.
For many parents, the latest research was unsettling, though not surprising.
Patricia Daumas, 50, a single mother of two in Reston, said she sometimes wonders about her decision to allow her sons, ages 8 and 11, to play war games. But like many parents, she sees the issue as complex. She does not allow her sons to play games rated "mature."
"I don't think the games are good for them," she said, "but what I'm seeing in my own children is that they're still very gentle, that they're very caring, and they have absolutely no behavior problems at school."
Daumas noted that many of her sons' friends play the games. "It's a tough balancing act," she said.
Tracey Goldman, 42, a mother of two in Takoma Park, said she enforces time limits on video-game playing and does not allow violent content. Her fourth-grader plays Lego Star Wars, she said, but otherwise, "I just feel very uneasy about letting him play those kinds of games."
Still, she said, monitoring game-time can require vigilance because children can find games on Internet sites. She recalled looking over her son's shoulder as he played at a computer, asking: "Wait a minute. Is that shooting people?"
Parents have debated the potentially harmful effects of video-game violence for most of the last two decades, as the games have become more popular and more graphic. In the new research, games were deemed violent when one character harmed or killed another.
Still, not all video games are violent or associated with such negative effects, said Joseph Kahne of Mills College in Oakland, Calif., coauthor of a recent video-gaming study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
The Pew study, based on a poll of 1,102 youths ages 12 to 17, found that most teenagers play many different kinds of games and that some types of play -- such as making decisions about how to run a city -- are correlated with more political or civic involvement.
Overall, Kahne said, "it's important to pay attention to the nature of the games and the sense that kids make of the experience."
Although the longitudinal studies reported in Anderson's study showed that frequent playing of violent video games leads to greater aggression, Anderson also said this message should be understood in the larger context of a child's life.
"A healthy, normal, nonviolent child or adolescent who has no other risk factors for high aggression or violence is not going to become a school shooter simply because they play five hours or 10 hours a week of these violent video games," he said.
Extreme forms of violence, Anderson said, "almost always occur when there is a convergence of multiple risk factors."
A U.S. surgeon general report in 2001 identified an array of those risk factors, including gang involvement, antisocial parents and peers, substance abuse, poverty and media violence. Males are more at risk.
The new study noted that video games are played in 90 percent of American homes with children ages 8 to 16 and that the U.S. average playing time of four hours a week in the late 1980s is now up to 13 hours a week, with boys averaging 16 to 18 hours a week.
Daybreak Counseling Service
Lava Flow-The Anger Management Game
www.daybreakservices.com
www.daybreakservices.com/games/lava/index.html
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Location, Location, Location
Our angergement classes are held evenings and weekends. We have five locations to serve you. After registering with Daybreak Counseling Service you are welcome to attend any of our five locations. If you find yourself outside of your local area just drop in to one of our other anger management offices. Each office has its own personality while teaching the same quality course work. Visiting other offices gives you the opportunity to connect with others. Or you can settle in to one location for a familiar comforting education experience. For an appointment please contact us at 310-995-1202.
Email: info@daybreakservices.com
Locations
Daybreak-West
1117 Gardena Blvd., Suite 206
Gardena, California 90247
310-995-1202
Santa Monica Office
3301 Ocean Park Blvd. #111
Santa Monica, California 90405
310-995-1202
Daybreak-North
Pasadena Office
183 N. Hill Ave., Ste. 202
Pasadena, California 91106
310-995-1202
Van Nuys Office
14416 Hamlin Street #107
Van Nuys, California 91401
310-995-1202
Daybreak-South
4000 Long Beach Blvd. #216
Long Beach, California 90807
310-995-1202
Daybreak Counseling Service
Register Now
Email: info@daybreakservices.com
Locations
Daybreak-West
1117 Gardena Blvd., Suite 206
Gardena, California 90247
310-995-1202
Santa Monica Office
3301 Ocean Park Blvd. #111
Santa Monica, California 90405
310-995-1202
Daybreak-North
Pasadena Office
183 N. Hill Ave., Ste. 202
Pasadena, California 91106
310-995-1202
Van Nuys Office
14416 Hamlin Street #107
Van Nuys, California 91401
310-995-1202
Daybreak-South
4000 Long Beach Blvd. #216
Long Beach, California 90807
310-995-1202
Daybreak Counseling Service
Register Now
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