Today’s youth is becoming increasingly notorious for its behavior. According to a new study, violent games are party to blame for it. The effect of violent games on young minds is minor but “statistically reliable.”
The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers observed 17,000 people between the age of 9 and 19 from 2010 to 2017 in USA, Canada, Germany, and Japan. They concluded that video games can raise the chances of physical aggression in youngsters.
Jay Hull, the lead author of the study, said that while the impact was small, it’s still there. One of his previous studies showed players of violent video games are more likely to be sent to the principle’s office for fights.
A lot of people ask, do these games really cause these kids to behave aggressively? I would say that is one possibility. The other possibility is that it’s a really bad sign. If your kids are playing these games, either these games are having a warping effect on right and wrong or they have a warped sense of right or wrong and that’s why they are attracted to these games. Either way you should be concerned about it.
The US Supreme Court, leading medical professionals, including the US Surgeon General, and study after study already concluded definitively that there is no link between video games and violence,” an ESA spokesperson told GameSpot. “The truth is that violent crime has decreased dramatically since the early 1990s, while video games have increased steadily in popularity and use. It is also highly questionable to interpose ethnic characteristics in this research. The same video games played in the US are enjoyed by gamers all over the world and there is no similar international trend of violent crime like the authors claim
The data is still inclusive as many other studies have shown no link between aggression and video games. What you think of video games and violence depends on what study you look at.
Source: USA Today
