While some studies indicate this, not everybody feels that a brutal game can make children fiercer
While some studies indicate this, not everybody feels that a brutal game can make children fiercer
There are a lot of questions out there that don't have a clear 'yes' or a 'no' answer. Ask people 'does smoking cause cancer?' and you will find almost 100 per cent saying that yes, it does. But ask people 'do cell phones cause cancer?' and you will find different researchers saying different things.
It is the same with video games. There are a lot of people who believe that violent video games cause children who play them to become more violent.
Cluster effect
But a study by Laura Padilla-Walker, an associate professor at the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, has some illuminating information. Her study of college students found that the frequency and type of video games played appears to parallel drug/alcohol use, poorer personal relationships, and low levels of self-esteem. While some may associate violent video games with this sort of behaviour, Padilla-Walker was quick to point out that these findings may indicate that video gaming may cluster with a number of negative outcomes. This study involved 500 female and 313 male undergraduate college students in the United States.
Some are harsher in their pronouncements. Way back in 2000, the American Psychological Association (APA) said that 'playing violent video games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D or Mortal Kombat can increase a person's aggressive thoughts, feelings and behaviour both in laboratory settings and in actual life'. The study also went further to state that violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and require the player to identify with the aggressor. These findings were based on two studies involving 227 and 210 college students respectively.
But not everybody feels that video games are only leading to evil tendencies among children. For instance, a study, published in the Fire Safety Journal in 2009 said that, according to researchers at the Durham University, codes used to create virtual worlds for violent games could be modified to build 3D fire safety simulators. In other words, far from being dangerous, these 'violent' games can actually be used to save lives.
Diametric view
There are also some who argue the opposite effectu2014that video games can actually reduce violent crime. A report published in ScienceDaily in May 2008 quotes Patrick Kierkegaard of the University of Essex, England as saying that, while there were 1,360,088 violent crimes reported in the USA in 2005, it was actually higher in 2004 at 1,423,677. Such figures, feels Kierkegaard, show that violent crimes have actually decreased with the proliferation of violent video games.
While studies are all fine, the fact that they seem to come up with contradicting results may make the matter confusing for parents. Do they allow their children to play video games because it will make them less violent?
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Or do they prohibit the same because it may make them more violent? Sadly, there is no easy answer. And since the jury is still out on this, it is best that parents decide what is good for their children.
QUICK TAKE
>>Some studies claim that violent video games make you violent
>>But other studies claim the opposite
>>This may make the matter confusing for parents and children alike
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