Violent Games 'Almost' As Dangerous as Smoking

Via Voodoo Extreme, a Reuters report on some very 'interesting' research into violent games. A study out of the University of Michigan has apparently found that 'exposure to violent electronic media' is almost as dangerous to our society as smoking. "'The research clearly shows that exposure to virtual violence increases the risk that both children and adults will behave aggressively,' said Huesmann, adding it could have a particularly detrimental effect on the well-being of youngsters. Although not every child exposed to violence in the media will become aggressive, he said it does not diminish the need for greater control on the part of parents and society of what children are exposed to in films, video games and television programs."

Comments

Re:Why not

[DarkProphet]

Thanks for playing devil's advocate. Unfortunately, I just can't go with it. Its totally a red herring.

Surely its only anecdotal evidence, but I've played those "violent" games all through my teen years and young adulthood, and I have NEVER raised a hand to another, save in self-defense. I posit that those same kids that shut themselves up in the house playing video games all day are far less likely to exhibit anything but introverted and submissive behavior, but thats neither here nor there, just like this study.

Violent video games, those which depict aggressive and/or violent acts, fall under the realm of entertainment. As the name explicitly states, its a game. Nearly all people in the world are drawn to forms of entertainment, "violent" or otherwise. Substitute "violent video games" for "action movie" and you'll easily see why this doesn't stack up. People who watch action movies are by and large not likely to emulate the activities presented in such a movie. Such is the same with video games.

Video games get a bad rap in this regard specifically because there is a supposition that video games are for children, and oh my, won't somebody think of the children?!?!?!?

Both movies and video games are given ratings to help parents choose whether or not the content is appropriate for their children. Such ratings are also customarily disregarded by parents so long as it shuts their brats up.

How about we as a nation take a strong stance against being worthless, uncaring, and just plain idiotic parents? If you are between 15 and 30 years old and have any critical thinking skills, it should be obvious that the baby boomers made for on average, terrible parents, raising a generation of latchkey kids who admire fictitious characters more than real-life people, or god forbid, their own parents. This is a problem of our own hapless devising, and no amount subterfuge or finger-pointing changes the real root of the problem. We live in not a capitalist, but consumerist society, which has the unhappy effect of requiring both parents to devote too much time to work (to make money, to keep up with the Joneses)rather than investing that time in their immediate family, most importantly their own children. We have unwittingly allowed others to raise our children for us, and somehow have the lack of foresight to understand why our kids haven't turned out decent or well-adjusted at all -- you know, how we expected them to be. We'd rather point the finger at anyone or anything rather than face and accept our failure. End of story. If you want your children to be bright, well-adjusted, caring, and all those good things, then give them all the love, attention, understanding, fairness and opportunity to do so. Everything else is bullshit scapegoating.

And thank you to all the parents out there that recognize this issue and actually toe the mark. Hopefully your children will make good choices in life and will utilize all the tools at their disposal to become the next generation's leaders, and lift us up out of the quagmire we've created for ourselves. To the rest of you: You deserve all the heartache and disappointment your children will burden you with -- you did it to them, they'll reflect it back to you in spades.