Repeated viewing of violent scenes in films, television or video games could make teenagers behave more aggressively, US research suggests.
Its understood that other research studies also suggested that excessive exposure to content such as Jackass 3D and Laurel and Hardy also encouraged some youngsters to "become so addicted to slapstick that some viewers had to be banned from malls and shopping centers because of Health and Safety concerns".
Most disturbingly, however, was the revelation that regular viewing of upbeat shows like Family Guy and the Simpson tended to make adolescents "cheery and positive" and "generally happy with life".
The American Guild of Counselling and Psychotherapy has expressed concerns about this unexpected turn of events and is now actively lobbying Congress in an attempt to "nip this potentially damaging phenomenon in the bud" on the grounds that "such a change in teenage behavior presents a clear and present danger to one of the bedrocks of our society.
Mental Health Analysis is a tradition in American life going back generations and there is genuine concern that any marked improvement in our youth's emotional well being could have disastrous consequences for the economic future of our profession"
