I am a Mexican student which thinks that this problem of violence is a great issue in which mass media can´t be blamed. I see TV, play video games and I am not a violent person; this people which blame video games for their kids mental instability should see all the others like me which never became violent. I have to thank you for this web site which is great and clear our ideas about this problem.

I think Sternheimer is a little too dismissive of the effects of media - at least, in the quoted portions here. The American Psychological Association recently produced a lengthy report on the effects of media on the sexualization of girls. The report showed clear evidence that the media can strongly impact the tendency to sexualize and objectify girls. If the media can have such a strong impact on our acceptance of sexualization, why not on our acceptance and internalization of violence?

I also disagree with her idea that video-game blaming is racist. I would expect middle-class children's parents to have more time to be involved with the media their children are exposed to - meaning that exposure to violent video games and any negative influences of the games is the parent's fault. A poor family's parents are more likely to be too busy earning a living to monitor children effectively - something for which they cannot be blamed. But the middle-class family whose children learn violence from games would have no excuse for not being there to educate and influence their children rather than letting games do it. It's the old "Where are the parents?" question.

However, I agree with her completely that anti-video game lobbyists and politicians tend to be demonizing idiots. IMO they would be better off urging funding to educate parents on the importance of parental involvement and the importance of monitoring their children's entertainment. And concerned parents should be lobbying for education to help children digest media better, including advertisements, stereotypes, and the lack of realism present in all media. Perhaps get busy writing letters to video game developers asking for more wholesome family-friendly media and more informative parental advisory labels (although games are already labeled more clearly and specifically than movies, if I recall). Maybe those parents should even try playing some games themselves so they are in a better position to help their children interpret any negative messages, like parents are urged to do with their children's TV watching.

I’m not claiming that video games cause youth to do violent acts however, put it in context. So far what I have read takes it out of context just like Karen Sternheimer seems to do. I believe that all violence (and other immoral acts) starts as thoughts; I’m sure you would agree. How are our thoughts developed? They come from external stimulus. When you let your mind dwell on things that are unhealthy you are giving yourself opportunity to act on those thoughts, more so than if you take them captive and toss them away. As with video games, peoples minds are impacted in a more constant manner by the corrupt acts portrayed there. This doesn’t mean they will do them, it only means they have more thought time donated to them. If you add in the other pieces that others have talked about, all the social decay, now you have an environment that does not provide any guidance for young people to use when thinking about these things. I sure would not like my son to see some ugly act (illicit sex, violence, theft….) and not have me there to help him understand that this is inappropriate behavior.

she's hawt. rawwrrr.

Whether you agree with the woman or not is no reason to refer to her as a bitch. If anything that invalidates your entire post in my eyes.

Ohhhh, lets blame poverty, unemployment, etc for acting like animals. Bitches like this who probably haven't stepped foot into anything more poor than a blue collar suburban neighborhood yet know exactly why people act out. It's all right there in their textbooks.

How about generations of black leaders blaming a white power structure because it doesn't wait hand-and-foot on an entire race that hasn't managed to acclimate itself after 400 years despite billions spent on low income housing and entitlement programs while dozens of other groups acclimated with little trouble? I grew up in a shitty housing project that was about equally distributed among racial lines of white, Hispanic and black. It was rough but I remember my mother could walk across the complex to the corner store without getting knocked over her head for her purse. Over the years as the racial makeup changed over to all black the crime skyrocketed. Many of the guys i grew up with didn't turn out to be drug dealing, gun toting gang members. Poor doesn't equal violent. Shitty parenting and lack of respect for societal norms does. Yes, I'm be simplistic but I so fucking tired of this excuse for shitty behavior and people like this claiming that , once again, whites are to blame.

I simply can't believe what this bitch is trying to pawn off as research.

While looking for more pictures... er, more information on Dr. Sternheimer, I came across an old article that might be of interest.

Remember an old experiment by UCSF's Dr. Sonya Brady which proposed a possible link between playing violent videogames and more permissive views towards using marijuana and alcohol?

http://www.gamespy.com/articles/701/701037p1.html

GP covered it too, I'm sure.

Well, Dr. Sternheimer had also commented on that study as well.

http://www.gamespy.com/articles/703/703756p1.html

Great interview. Beats the O'Reilly Factor interview.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96012,00.html
O'Reilly is such a... Well, we know how unethical and disrespectful towards those he disagrees with. A very familiar tactic.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

hey i wrote my article on this very topic.

Wish I was someone important :(

http://www.destructoid.com/bluewolf72-on-positive-gaming-30057.phtml

@doctor proctor

In the end they don't care about the "why" of the violence. All they are about is the violence. They only pay attention to the why when it serves their agenda.

Give that woman a goddamn medal. I think we should start a mass "Jesus Christ; Thank You" e-mail to this Psychologist. Holy crap.

Good post. The only thing this left out is the fact that youth violent crime rates have dropped in the past two decades, at the same time the varieties of violent media has expanded. That seems like the best defense against the media causes violence theory of all. Most people are floored when they find out that fact, they think crime rates just keep rising every year.

Crime due to "poverty" is a slight misconception.

For some, it may be directly related to being poor and being unable to financially take care of one's self and one's family. There is no doubt that that sort of crime exists.

But there is also the "reputation" that is taken into consideration. Not so much to be "rich" and being allowed to hang out with the "beautiful people", but rather not being seen as porr while living in what may be considered a "poor" neighborhood. Whether it's money or materials, for some, the more you have, the better you look. Not necessarily "cool", just not "poor".

For others, it may be out of a fear of not having anything, so having "enough" is never considered because to that individual, there is always the chance of losing it all.

nightwng2000
NW2K Software

The second "rejection" shouldn't be in there.

I blame commercials on (American) TV.
You can't follow a story without beeing interupted every 5 minutes with solid 10 minutes of messages. Als an european citizen we had it easy up until 10 years ago with the introduction of commerial broadcasts cooperations.
Before that only before or after a broadcast. Its Every time you hit that brick wall when they go out for a message just when you're getting into the story.
That should have had some social impact. Now youth is escaping into internet and games. Up until now beyond the grasp of the big coorparations. (not everybody finds out that there is sports, reading, music, art etc.)

I actually blame youth violence on Beowulf and MacBeth. I remember when I was a teen and even though I played Doom I thought Beowulf was quite violent. In other words, very very cool.

"The video game explanation constructs the white, middle-class shooters as victims of the power of video games, rather than fully culpable criminals....African-American boys, apparently, are simply dangerous."

Dead on. Every "white kid with gun" case is thought of as extreme and winds up being turned into anti-game fodder, while "black kid with gun" incidents are considered business as usual.

:: sigh ::
I'm in Love.

Ok, so I don't know her well enough to call it True Love.
But it's definitely something more than just Lust.

I'm definitely going to have to take some time tonight or this weekend to follow up on this Sociologist's writings. I hope there are plenty of them online. While there will probably be other issues I won't agree with her on (just being pessimistic), certainly what she's said here really struck a positive cord for me.

:: sigh ::

nightwng2000
NW2K Software

As always, it comes down to Violent Games are attractive to kids that are likely to be violent. If you took a kid off the streets who has had a shithole life and offer him a chance to play an Time Crisis, or some other gun-based arcade, you think the kid is going to have a bad time? Of course not...

About the subtle racism, we should add sexism as well. Although, it would be obvious 7-10 years ago, but it is more subtle today because we now have heroines, female active supporting characters, etc. But the image they project is pretty much the same as in t.v., sexy, stereotyped and etc. Look at us, most of us are obsessed with Britney Spears and Anna Nicole Smith~!

A factor in this is probably because the development is mostly male...We should diversify~!

I'll agree that the addiction and physical health concerns are more real than the current sham over 'agression enhancements' people claim they cause.

Problem is, a lot of people read 'addiction' and immediately think 'Drugs', which is a bad image to give. People WILL kill over drugs. However, Video Games are addictive like Bowling or Fishing, it is a hobby, but marriages have broken up over bowling and fishing, and the same can happen with computer games, it's the art of moderation.

Look at it this way, if one man murdered another because he thought he was killing a fish after capturing, would there be any question whatsoever that the man was affected by far more than fishing?

@Jotun

Not all addictions form because someone has a lack of self control. Especially with when it comes to alcoholism. Some people are genetically predisposed to it.

i miss the days when crazy people were just crazy instead of the victim in some grand conspiratorial scheme against humanity.

broken children don't become so from one singular influence, and if your common sense says otherwise you're obviously not playing with a full deck.

Video games don't cause violence but cause addiction on people who do not know how to control themselves. Lets say for example, Person A drinks a wine, but in moderation, this shows that he is in control, whereas Person B drinks one wine, but ends up drinking too much and got drunk instead, that shows he isn't in control and is crazy and it is the same like games. Wine and games don't cause people to become violent, it is the person who chooses to went out of control.

Youth Violence comes out of youth themselves. They should be the ones who should be blamed, and should know that they must exercise self-control before any disaster occurs.

On. The. Button.

The Beatles White Album did NOT cause Charles Manson to murder Roman Polanksi's wife, Video Games do NOT make people commit school shootings now, to say otherwise is the purest form of scapegoatism. Charles Manson was a murderer because he was mentally unstable not because he was programmed.

I remember one comment made in a certain interview in which the person stated that modern music 'isn't the same as Elvis'. Well, apart from winning the 'That's because Elvis is Dead' award, they are 100% wrong, it's exactly the same thing, just performed by people who wouldn't be in their late 60's in 2007.

You know, I sometimes wonder, if every state that had tried to push through unconstitutional laws had pooled the money they ended up paying in fees, how many 'borderline' cases of social deprivation or abuse could they have helped with that money? How many lives could they have REALLY saved instead of merely giving lip service to protecting them.

I love the quote:

"White, middle-class killers retain their status as children easily influenced by a game, victims of an allegedly dangerous product. African-American boys, apparently, are simply dangerous."

I wish more folks would pay attention to what their view points are and how they are shaped. That one statement seems to say it all. Wish more people would really think harder on circumstances and not focus on just one factor.

I have to thank her for that one, made me smile.

Why would people think this? Video games are pure ENTERTIANMENT. The people who blame their actions on video games are A. Looking for a quick buck somhow. (stupidjacktompson) B. COMPLETELY PSYCHOTIC!!! C. Had absolutly no positive role models growing up whatsoever! You could seriously choose one of the three statements above for ANY case involving real-world violence and video games and you'd be right!

Well, there are books on violence-perhaps they cause violence too? Let's get rid of them! But wait, of course, burning books is frowned upon.

[...] Sociologist Karen Sternheimer of USC brings a refreshing dose of sanity and perspective to the debate (such as it is) over the pop culture scapegoat of record - video games. As always, GamePolitics is all over it. [...]

what are u talking about???????????

sorry, megapcgamer@hotmail.com . no .^^

ohh then what happen to the little kid who got murdered by his 12 year old brother whos favorite game was a terrorist game

i think that violent game do not cause violence in the world but its violent people. People like gang members and people in prison. They are the one to blame for.

if violent games cause youth violence, then shouldn't we be roaming the streets with our shotguns and Uzi's firing our ammunition???? Now there's something to think about

If you’re fortunate enough to be living in an industrialized country, poverty may mean you live below a certain level of income and must be creative in order to make ends meet. Outside these countries, poverty means the difference between eating one day or not, residing another day or not. It’s a trouble all of us should be more aware of and working towards a solution.
Go to the local shelter or community outreach center and give your time this weekend. Prepare some sack lunches and drive to the corners where some homeless men and women beg for food. What ever you choose to do, include your kids. What a great learning opportunity for children! licensed and bonded payday loan lender