Video games 'don't create killers'

Last updated 09:05 09/05/2008

Carnage is the name of the game.

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Playing video games does not turn children into deranged, blood-thirsty super-killers, according to a new book by a pair of Harvard researchers.

Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson, a husband-and-wife team at Harvard Medical School, detail their views in Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do, a book which came out last month and promises to reshape the debate on the effects of video games on kids.

"What I hope people realize is that there is no data to support the simple-minded concerns that video games cause violence," Kutner said.

The pair reached that conclusion after conducting a two-year study of more than 1,200 middle-school children about their attitudes towards video games.

It was a different approach than most other studies, which have focused on laboratory experiments that attempt to use actions like ringing a loud buzzer as a measure of aggression.

"What we did that had rarely been done by other researchers was actually talk to the kids. It sounds bizarre but it hadn't been done," Kutner said.

They found that playing video games was a near-universal activity among children, and was often intensely social.

But the data did show a link between playing mature-rated games and aggressive behaviour. The researchers found that 51 per cent of boys who played M-rated games – the US industry's equivalent of an R-rated movie, meaning suitable for ages 17 and up – had been in a fight in the past year, compared to 28 per cent of non-M-rated gamers.

The pattern was even stronger among girls, with 40 per cent of those who played M-rated games having been in a fight in the past year, compared to just 14 per cent for non-M players.

One of the most surprising things was how popular mature games were among girls. In fact, the Grand Theft Auto crime action series was the second-most played game behind The Sims, a sort of virtual dollhouse.

Kutner and Olson said further study is needed because the data shows only a correlation, not causation. It is unclear whether the games trigger aggression or if aggressive children are drawn to more violent games.

"It's still a minority of kids who play violent video games a lot and get into fights. If you want a good description of 13-year-old kids who play violent video games, it's your local soccer team," Olson said.

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The researchers also try to place video games in a larger context of popular culture. The anxiety many parents voice over video games largely mirrors the concerns raised when movies, comic books and television became popular.

"One thing I like about their approach is that they've tried to historicize the whole concept of a media controversy and that we've seen this before," said Ian Bogost, a professor at Georgia Tech known for his studies on video games.

The book urges a common-sense approach that takes stock of the entire range of a child's behaviour. Frequent fighting, bad grades, and obsessive gaming can be signs for trouble.

"If you have, for example, a girl who plays 15 hours a week of exclusively violent video games, I'd be very concerned because it's very unusual," Kutner said.

"But for boys (the danger sign) is not playing video games at all, because it looks like for this generation, video games are a measure of social competence for boys."

Many video game fans have embraced the pair as champions of the industry, a label that makes them uncomfortable.

"We're not comfortable doing pro and con. We've been asked to do the pro-game side in debates, and I don't consider myself a pro-game person. Video games are a medium," Olson said.

- Reuters

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8 comments

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Sanje #8 05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

What makes you all so sure? Is it something you'd like to believe? So you can justify your perverse pleasure in killing and raping people virtually? I think it's perfectly possible.. you are right and its also possible you are very wrong. Perhaps you are ok and your kids are OK but maybe there are some kids who are violent and badly brought up.. and they are the ones who are going to lose control and go further than the video game..

The Buddha said " ???If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of him who draws the carriage.??? ???But if a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.???

Just think about it.. maybe you are wrong.

Becky #7 05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

I agree. It's motre of the parents displine that changes 'good' children into 'bad' kids. But I'm sure some of these M rated games kids are playing must have a small effect at the very least. My thoughts are if you play games like Harvest Moon and similar games it will probably help more than hurt, right? Because in games like that it's not skill or anything it's simply thinking. Well those are my thoughts on this matter.

Hamish #6 05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Something that really annoys me about this "Protect the kids from violent games" by banning them thing, is that they are R16 or R18. So legally they shouldn't be playing them. Even in the states, as mentioned in the article, they have a rating system. Although it's not backed up by law, it's still there to guide parents and retailers. Why should adult consumers suffer, because some parents aren't doing their job. Why stop there, why not ban every movie that is not a kids movie?

Dee #5 05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Hello, me, my partner and my son play these games they never make any of us wanna go out and actually try same of the stuff thats on these games, I have never thought oh yea that was cool i'll go try that on some one later!! And if Kids dont know the difference between gaming and the real world i think we should be looking at the parents!!

Violence breeds violence they do what they see at home not whats in these games and to many parents dont give a dam if their kids are getting into fights, or even bother discipling. I let my son play most games and often play with him he has never tried and wouldn even dear try any of this stuff he knows full well how we feel about actually going out and doing it and what the consequences are. We discipline both our children and we dont use Violence its amazing what happens and how well behaved they become when you take the psp/ps3/xbox away for a month. we have only had to do this once.

My son loves games and would rather stay out of trouble so he can have the game he wants at the end of the month.

Its all in the parents i say not the games!!!

AAjoe #4 05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Meh, Chester's not that bad. Gordon Copeland is the *cough* MP *cough* that wanted to ban GTA IV 'after' it had been released. At least enough folks agreed with Chesters right-wing conservatism to vote him in to office.... No one voted for Gordon..... who would??

All three of my kids played various genres of video games over the years, quite often with me as a keen participant. None of them sought to transpose in-game experiences to real-life actions.... I can't help but wonder if breeding, up-bringing and parental involvement has more to do with a kids propensity to violence than a video game of questionable realism.

Steven Morrison #3 05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

I've been playing Violent video games for years - and I've only ever broken the law once - a speeding ticket. It's not the video games that changes kids, its the guidance that parents give their kids that makes them passive or aggressive. If Children don't understand that violence toward another human is wrong, then they are going to get into fights - same goes for the likes of stealing/theft - and it's up to parents to give their children guidance, and discipline them if they do the wrong thing. Don't blame the video games. Blame the poor parenting, I say.

Willy #2 05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Chester's 15 minutes of fame has passed. Lets not bring him up for a second round.

nick #1 05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

surprise surprise. you reading this chester borrows??

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