Videogames are not to blame for violent behavior in kids and teens.
 

mr obvious says thats full of shit. it is impossible to believe that exposing young children to hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of violent images and simulations has NO effect on them. common sense tells you its going to have some effect. anyone remember this dude [Pavlov]?

I disagree because I think that games like FPS can have a cathartic effect.

I've been playing them most of my life.....and I turned out....ok.

maybe it's because I'm not a dog. :confused:

nothing worse that a violent zombie

You can't argue with the statistics. It's the best study yet done into this.

And stop just pasting pictures of people as an argument! It's annoying and lazy and makes you look really arrogant and pretentious: "hey, anyone heard of this guy? Well I have, and I have a very small knowledge of what he did."

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Bluefusion says:
04/17/2008 09:57
Well, I don't believe you can say absolutely that video games have no blame whatsoever in causing violence in children. I think it's a false dichotomy to say that either video games are to blame entirely or not to blame at all for violence. Even the authors of the book make the point about people who play mature games exclusively. If we believe this is a black and white issue, then we're making the same mistake Jack Thompson makes.

Any media--be it movies, television, and music, has the potential to increase aggression in certain people. So can playing sports such as football and wrestling. What we want to know is whether video games merit any particular scrutiny. I think the debate needs to be reframed as, "How does the possibility of increasing violence in video games compare with already socially accepted media and activities?"

This is a much more sensible question, and it allows reasonable discussion. Of course, I believe researchers will find that there is no real special link between video games and violence, even as this report bears out.
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thank you atari.

people, its not that video games cause violence, its that it is obvious that they have a contribution. we live in a super violent society. in the city I live in there are over 500 homicides a year, plus three times that number of shootings and stabbings. now, I know for a FACT that video games did NOT cause this violence, BUT, it is also clear to me that it is simplistic to rule them outright simply because we enjoy playing them. My point, dont let your little children play these games, follow the instructions on the game itself. if it is for adults, then leave it for adults, is that so hard?

How is it obvious? You could compare it to hunting, as everyone did in the past. Computer games are replacing that.

Why are you quoting those statistics without providing correlating statistics of game use in your area? You are clearly just trying to be emotionally prevocative.

It's not because we enjoy them. I hardly think it likely that these US government funded psychologists are altering their results because they like computer games.

I agree about following the guidelines, they're often too disturbing.

You say "leave it for adults". But what if games make adults violent?

I take back what I said previously.

thanks to WoW, I have an overwhelming compulsion to punch gnomes in the face (irl).

I've got an eating disorder in which I have an insatiable desire to eat mushrooms. I also have a bizarre obsession with princesses.


ALL BECAUSE OF VIDEO GAMES!!!!!!

I think we should all be asking why violent video games are entertaining in the first place?

People's obsession with violence causes violent video games; if there wasn't a market for it, it wouldn't exist.

Videogames were to blame for all the chicks leaving our dorm room when the boys and I pounced on game.

Sometimes it was worth it, though.

There are many things that can bring out the animal in us,
but I would say that the media incites the most violence, allround.


Euro 2000

Violent video games/movies/art influence people... everything that you ever experience influences you in SOME way. If a person is already disfunctional, video games might influence them in the wrong way -- but so could art, a book, a movie, a television show, etc. Why not just ban EVERYTHING, since ANYTHING could influence a person negatively?

Video games are a way more advanced version of something like Dungeons and Dragons. You're taking a role in some way and doing something. You could very well roll a 6-sided die and "kill the dragon" and that could bring out the homicidal rages in you just the same. So, what's the difference? I don't think "fantasy" and "reality" should be linked like this... the reality is, a video game doesn't "set" a person off... a person who is influenced by shit like that is already set off to begin with.

I think videogames, television, and film have influenced me to have OCD tendencies.

it's certainly not to blame for my violent behaviour. ha ha ha.

i'm gonna go play GTA.

I honestly think the most violent I've ever felt is when playing a puzzle game. My pulse starts racing as my stacks get to the top of the screen. On the other hand, shooting a bunch of things never really did anything for me on any level.