There was a recent study conducted in multiple countries about the effects of video game violence on kids.  To sum up the study, they found that video game violence desensitizes kids to violence and makes them more prone to committing violent acts themselves.

I’ve personally seen studies like this for years and years, as I’m sure you have.  I think it’s utter BS personally.  While I was going through school (so many years ago), any time anything bad happened at the hands of a teenager people were always ready to affix blame to something other than the kid who committed the act.  First it was dungeons and dragons, then it was heavy metal music.  Next came movies and now it’s gotten to video games.  When does it end?  What’s next to blame?

According to this study performed by someone with way to much time on their hands, kids who played violent video games were became more aggressive months afterward than kids who were less frequently exposed to the games.  I know I’ve been playing these same types of games along with millions of you out there.  Have you noticed a change in your behavior?  I haven’t.  I’m 32 years old now and have been playing games since I can remember – most of them including some form of violence or another.  Granted, the graphic nature of the games has increased over the years but I haven’t seen a change in myself nor in the behavior of the many others I know who play the same games.  

I’m just sick of hearing about how this affects kids who the study assumes would have been otherwise okay.  I’ll grant them that not all people react the same and their are some folks out there who do have adverse reactions to this stuff, but it’s not the mainstream player – it’s the kid who would react differently because he’s wired differently.  If it’s not video games, movies or music – it’d be something else that triggers him.  Or perhaps he was just going to go off regardless of what his environment was.  Point is – stop blaming media and start focusing on the kids themselves.  It’s easy for a kid to say he just stole a car because he played Grand Theft Auto IV and thought that’s what he was supposed to do.  Of course the kid is going to pass the blame!  He’s a kid, he’s going to try to push the blame off himself as much as possible.  

I just don’t want to see increased restrictions on the types of games that can be released and who can play them.  Some games that are more graphically violent of course should have parental guidance labels – and parents should be more active in knowing what their children are doing with their time – but don’t punish the masses to please the minority.

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