Video Game Violence: Whenever I encounter a news story about a tragic school shooting, almost every time it is noted the killer played violent video games. The intent here is to spread the misleading idea that playing violent video games may cause violent tendencies in real life. Obviously this is a concerning thing considering the number of and popularity of games with violent themes. The medias attitude towards games couldnt be further from the truth. There is scientific evidence that not only shuts down this idea that games cause violence, goes as far to say that video games can actually help in reducing bullying and aggressive behaviors in adolescents. There is no shortage of scientific research on this, here are a few studies I was able to fish out: - Grand theft childhood: the surprising truth about violent video games - Kutner L. and Olson C - Video games and real life aggression - Journal of Adolescent Health. - Video games and health - Griffiths M - The effects of violent video games on aggression: a meta-analysis. Human Communication Research. - The Public health risks of media violence: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Pediatrics. - Video games and youth violence: a prospective analysis in adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. - Media violence and the American public: scientific facts versus media misinformation. American Psychology. Due to the number of them I wont link them all here, if you want to read them Google is your friend. Rather then focus on the terrible misleading effort to convince you that games are bad, I want to introduce a new idea, video games can be a force for good. There has been a huge amount of research being done that shows games can be useful for treating mental illnesses, crowd sourcing solutions to difficult problems, Educational Tools, Social bonding, Brain Training and so much more. I want to link two videos, one to a video by Daphne Bavelier, a Cognitive researcher who has some interesting things to say on the benefits of games. The other is a video by Mr John Bain (Total Biscuit) a commentator of the games industry who can articulate far better than I can the depths of this misunderstanding. I shall link them in comments. I will finish on a simple note - games here in Australia, and most places in the world, are covered by a ratings system just like movies or TV show. If you are a parent the duty is ON YOU to ensure your kids are playing games suited to their age range. The average gamer these days is 33 years old, thats who most games are made for.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 12:44:22 +0000