Violent games and kids

[TimElhajj]

I am wondering if anyone can point me toward some well-reasoned articles on violence in games and its affect on children. I know this is sort of divisive issue but I'm not trolling. I'm not interested in articles that are completely one sided for or against, but that's all I've been able to find on my own.

My wife and I are discussing bringing a console into the house. The problem is we have wildly different opinions about what is age appropriate as far as games. I am pretty sure she is just being overly cautious, but would like to understand the issues better.

[JD]

Hmm, it's not directly videogame-related, but I remember some text on Albert Bandura's work I read as part of a Social Psychology class. A quick search turned up TRANSMISSION OF AGGRESSION THROUGH IMITATION OF AGGRESSIVE MODELS (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Bandura/bobo.htm), if you google some more for Bandura and his 'Bobo doll' experiment you'll probably also stumble over similar or contradicting claims.

[nutsak]

depends on the games you get IMO... I can't help you out on the 'scientific study' part. All I can say is this.

At high scool my friends mother was a 'anti violence' person, not allowing her kid to play/watch anything violent for the fear that he would mimic this behavior and slaughter everyone.

My mother allowed me to play/watch anything i wanted after the age of 14. (vefore then i was restricted to PG/M rated stuff)

He's now living in that same two horse town where we grew up ,doing drugs and generally being a menace to society. (According to the local 'gosspiers')

I don't do drugs/drink or steal. (and I'm only a menace in IRC )

Whether or not this is to do with each of our parents 'censorship' or not is up to debate I suppose. Really - I think blaming a childs behavior on them playing games is really stupid. I'd sooner let my kid play Quake than have him/she watch the local news.(*future kid/s )

Platformers are generally pretty good starters for kids, so are driving games (not GTA driving.. gran turismo) .. they tend to buiild a certain level of reflex..(oh, and note - platformers is not PoP, it's mario or sonic) after a certain age (I'd probably go for 13-14) then bring in the 'other' stuff...

[John Merva]

I'm surprised that Andrew hasn't gotten to this already but to pimp his site for him, have a quick browse at www.gamerdad.com. The site is pretty much designed to deal with your queries and concerns.

[TimElhajj]

I'm surprised that Andrew hasn't gotten to this already but to pimp his site for him, have a quick browse at www.gamerdad.com. The site is pretty much designed to deal with your queries and concerns.

Do you have a specific article in mind that's not too one-side for or against?

[Troy S Goodfellow]

Where to even begin...

The research out there is pretty wide-ranging and far from conclusive. Real robust studies on the effects of gaming on children are few and far between, and both pro and anti gaming groups pick and choose which studies to cite.

Mediascope, an organization that tries to analyze media and children, comes off as a little alarmist at times, but they have published The Social Effects of Electronic Interactive Games: An Annotated Bibliography. It's out of print now, but a good college library should have it. This should at least familiarize you with some of the research being done.

This (http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/health_safety/video_games_and_children.shtml) article might give you the basic background though. It refers to a couple of useful books and gives and overview of the issues of video-games and children.

Troy

[Troy S Goodfellow]

Forgot to add the Singer book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0761919554/qid=1086190056/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/002-3390026-9167241?v=glance&s=books&n=507846#product-details) on media and children. It covers stuff beyond games, but is great for context. Serious scholarly anthology.

Troy

[shift6]

A heaping helping of "being involved with your children" will also help curb any undesired problems. And I don't mean that as a jab at you, I certainly haven't seen you and your wife with your kids. I mean that taking part in choosing games for them on an individual per-game basis is the biggest thing you can do. The ESRB rates games, so use those ratings! Even the infamously hardcore LTC David Grossman (http://www.killology.com) has always said that parental involvement is the key to making a difference at all against desensitization by video games and other media.

[TimElhajj]

Thanks Troy. The article from childdev.com looks like it's what I'm after. I'll look at it later tonight. It's so hard to read between the lines on some of these articles because, as you point out, most authors have an agenda and it's not like there is conclusive research one way or the other.

[Bub, Andrew]

I'm surprised that Andrew hasn't gotten to this already but to pimp his site for him, have a quick browse at www.gamerdad.com. The site is pretty much designed to deal with your queries and concerns.

Do you have a specific article in mind that's not too one-side for or against?

GamerDad is geared more on the "your kids are going to be exposed to games so you'd better at least know what games are all about" than an advocate one way or the other. BUT I am convinced, from my research and reading, that games are as harmless to children as any form of media.

If you like Tim, I'd be happy to recommend reading. Pro and con. I recommend Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Make-Believe Violence as a good pro-starting point. There's plenty of anti but I've yet to find any that's based on credible research. Almost all "violence effects kids" research is clinical, which means the kids are already among strangers and in a strange environment. Most of the anti is also anecdotal. Meaning: "Violent kids like violent games!" but these ignore that violent kids also like violent movies, TV, books, comics, banana splits, sugary cereal, and tend to also come from broken homes or have severe problems.

One other thing, if I can pimp a bit, we're launching a column written by a Juvenile Corrections Social Worker. He's worked with a couple actual school shooters, and lots of other violent kids, and he has some interesting views on violence and gaming. That should appear on the site next week Monday or Tuesday, I can email you a link if you like.

The real problem here Tim is that this isn't a black and white issue. Meaning, there isn't a lot of grey that's beyond common sense. Violent games aren't GOOD for little kids but what hasn't been proven is... that they're BAD. Games can provide some benefits however, much in the same way any media or experience can. They can provide negatives too, like playing them too much, but there was a rash of eye problems in children when the last Harry Potter book came out. ;-)