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| MAY 9, 2008 |
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Playing video games does not turn
children into deranged, blood-thirsty super-killers,
according to a new book by a pair of Harvard researchers.
children into deranged, blood-thirsty super-killers,
according to a new book by a pair of Harvard researchers.
UNLAWFUL CARNAL PAWNAGE!
Video games don't create killers, new book says
Video games don't create killers, new book says
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," 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 told Reuters.
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 behavior.
The researchers found that 51 percent of boys who played M-rated games -- the 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 percent of non-M-rated gamers.
The pattern was even stronger among girls, with 40 percent of those who played M-rated
games having been in a fight in the past year, compared to just 14 percent 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. [read more]
detail their views in "Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games
and What Parents Can Do," 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 told Reuters.
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 behavior.
The researchers found that 51 percent of boys who played M-rated games -- the 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 percent of non-M-rated gamers.
The pattern was even stronger among girls, with 40 percent of those who played M-rated
games having been in a fight in the past year, compared to just 14 percent 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. [read more]