Researchers conclude: no relationship between violent video games and violent kids
May 12th, 2008
By JOE WINDISH, Technology Editor
Two Harvard researchers have concluded that there’s no data to support the notion that violent video games cause the kids who play them to act out violence in real life, contrary to the vast majority of media outlets that would have the public thinking otherwise. The $1.5 million study, which began in 2004, closely examined 1,200 children after bouts with violent games like Grand Theft Auto and not-so-violent titles like The Sims.
Psychologists Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson found that for most kids, playing these games was nothing more than a stress reliever… Some researchers, including the Harvard psychologists, even suggest that video games have a positive effect on the brain.
Kutner and Olson have written a book, Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games, which they discussed recently on On The Media:
LAWRENCE KUTNER: A year ago, when you had the shootings at Virginia Tech, immediately after that you had the politicians and pundits on the air talking about how this was clearly caused by video games.
Well, if you look at the actual report issued by the State of Virginia that investigated this, when Seung-Hui Cho was nine years old, they say that he didn’t like violent video games. His suitemates, the kids that he shared a dorm room with, said that he didn’t play video games at all, and that really surprised them, because everyone else did.
And that was right in line with our findings, that the boys who don’t play video games at all are left out socially. It’s a marker that there’s some social problems there. […]
In the interviews we did, several of the kids said that they would be angry at a particular classmate or other kid at the school and go into a video game, set up an avatar that looks kind of like that kid, and have a fight with them in the game. And at the end, they said, you know, I felt better. And several of them also said that, you know, now I didn’t feel the pressure to actually fight the kid.
Now, that’s a hint. We don’t know if that’s what’s going on. But most kids, when they play a game, feel better at the end of the session. They’re more relaxed.
If your child is more wound up or more angry at the end of a session, that’s a sign that there may be something wrong, that it’s something you should pay attention to as a parent. That kid’s at greater risk for other issues.
They say kids are really not all that attracted to the sex and violence. “They found it boring,” said Kutner. What kids want are complex characters and very interesting and intricate plots.
We had better hope those researchers know what they’re talking about… ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ racked up more than $500 million in sales in its 1st week in stores!
As for sex, uh, these “motion-capture” suits are emphatically not for kids!
A REMINDER: You, too, can learn how to design serious games for positive social change at the Games for Change free fifth annual festival in New York City from June 2-4.
This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 5:57 pm and is filed under Popular Culture, Children, Family, Games, Virginia Tech, Life, Entertainment, Parenting, Computers, Technology, Education. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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