February 7, 2008 -
Writing for the SoutheastPsych blog, a child psychologist has expressed disdain for video game violence concerns.Dr. Frank Gaskill (left) takes a historical view:
In 1955, the U.S. Senate blasted comic books... Half a century later, violent video games are the comic books of our day. Testimony before our [North Carolina] state Senate included descriptions of horrific-sounding games...
One frequently cited research article criticizing violent video games includes several studies. One of these studies was a "correlational study" from which the authors concluded, "Playing violent video games often may well cause increases in delinquent behaviors, both aggressive and non-aggressive..."
Correlations are just relationships between two variables; you can never say one causes the other. We could say that during the season when ice cream sales increase, shark attacks also increase. But we could not say the more ice cream you sell, the more you cause shark attacks.
So why is Dr. Gaskill defending violent games? He explains:
Some legislative initiatives and public opinions across the country are based on fallacious assumptions, personal biases, political posturing and weak science.
Common sense tells you that you don't let an elementary school kid or an older child with a history of aggressive behavior play Grand Theft Auto. But that same common sense tells you that if 90 percent of households have owned or rented a video game every year - while the juvenile crime rate has been going down for more than a decade - then a little Halo 3 never hurt anybody...
Comments
Crime rates are actually going down in many countries. The thing is, 'crime-fighting' politicos don't give a rat's arse about that. They only care about RISING stats.
Now, if you'll excuse me, my supervillain is going to blow something up in the virtual world. :P
Thank you good sir.
" In fact, the profile of the young delinquent does not correspond at all to the profile of the young players of video games. The standard portrait of the delinquent, it is not at all that. It is a boy who seeks the excitation, often outside the house, which leaves the house, goes in the arcades, goes in the parks. It has fun with other young people. He, it is in the search of strong feelings. For this young person, the video games do not represent necessarily something of interesting. "
http://www.radio-canada.ca/actualite/zonelibre/03-01/jeux.html
PS: keep up writing this stuff.