The Government Should Stop Kids From Buying Violent Video Games

i bet if they searched that boys bedroom, who killed those kids, it would not surprise me if there were video games in it.

TAmmi of CA 6:10PM December 19, 2012

Yesterday, my husband said, "Are violent video games partly to blame for the violent shootings?"

I started to disagree, mainly because he doesn't like video games and I play several. BUT....

I recently saw some of the games our 7 year old grandson likes, and some that they older kids like and I was appalled. I was appalled when our (then) 18 year old played the first Grand Theft Auto. It has become much worse, apparently. I searched Killing Games for Kids and found an appalling number. http://killing.gamesforkids.name/ Then I searched kill games for kids and found: http://www.gamesbox.com/search-results/2510923/kill-your-kids most innocuous, but some pretty disgusting.

I dislike killing deer or birds when I play EQ2. I don't like killing anything, but learned early on, in my first game, Earth and Beyond, that it was kill or be killed. But a very mild game compared to what kids play.

I think this country and many others have a serious problem.

LindainCO of CO 11:05PM December 15, 2012

:/ Ok, so the very extreme was pointed out; persuasive usage. But still... even if it was just an average First-Person Shooter. You can still see the effect those have on children. I just hope we, as a society, responsible for our own children and generations to come, don't throw away the innocence of children over time. Games are getting more and more violent and realistic as time goes on, and yes, it does influence children's thinking. Even if it's cartoon. We can all agree on that. I applaud Nintendo for continually trying to keep happy, less violent, and the more innocent games going.

Bobo of UT 12:54AM June 08, 2012

"The overwhelming weight of scientific research suggests that these games can be harmful to children. The Parents Television Council has found more than 3,000 studies linking a child’s consumption of violent media to a child’s behavior, yet we’ve found less than two dozen that conclude differently."

Video game research tends to fall into two basic forms, experimental and correlational. In most experimental designs, participants are exposed to either a violent or non-violent game, and then observed during some task that is believed to be distantly related to aggression. Typical tasks have included delivery of painless white noise bursts during a competitive game, filling in the missing letters in words, or filling in the ending of stories. Rarely are actual physical acts of aggression examined, as there are ethical constraints on the kinds of aggression that can be examined in the laboratory. Results have been mixed, with some studies supporting a link between violent video games and minor acts of aggression, and others finding no link, or even finding reduced aggression because of violent game exposure. At least one study purports to link games with aggression, yet a close examination of their results finds that their data does not support their conclusions.

Recent results have shown that the noise blast measure doesn't correlate with violent crimes or domestic violence. Nor do peer or teacher nominations of aggression seen in some research. Most correlational studies (which have also yielded similarly mixed results) fail to take account of potentially confounding third variables such as personality, family violence, or genetics. A few do, and consistently find that the link between video game violence and aggression is greatly weakened by the inclusion of third variables. From this body of research, the empirical link between violent gameplay and acts of aggression or violent behaviour appears to be very slim at best. What I have said should show that being more interactive than a book or movie changes little. These 3,000+ studies of yours (if they really exist) almost certainly make the mistakes previously mentioned, and thus are very inaccurate. There are certainly many more than two dozen studies that contradict those 3,000+, given that results in studies are very mixed, but you likely avoided them when possible. You likely looked only for those fatally-flawed, contradictory studies that support you. You are fighting something you know little about. I know you know little because you claim that in these games, you can brutally rape a woman. Almost no games contain rape. When they do, they don't make it to most shelves. In few games can you burn your foes alive with gasoline, urinate on them or decapitate them with shovels. Gaming isn't smoking, Tim. As violent crime plummets, violent game sales soar. I think children are safe enough with these games. I hope you realize that eventually. :)

Arnold Vallance of OH 12:50AM April 28, 2012