Video games have occasionally served as a convenient scapegoat for whatever ails youth. But just this week, the normal trickle of blame has become a torrent, with loud proclamations from many quarters that computer games are making kids violent, stupid and sick…

The claimed link between games and violence is a direct result of the content of some games, which enables kids to spend hours in a fantasy world where they’re rewarded for attacking, maiming or killing other virtual characters. However, the addictive quality of computer games, which can take time away from other activities like reading and exercise, are also blamed for causing problems…

What’s wrong with the game blame

Interestingly, actual research is on balance quite neutral about the deleterious effects of gaming. For every study that shows a link between gaming and violence, for example, there’s another study that shows no link.

The nonscientific blaming of games overwhelms the scientific. And I can’t help but believe that blaming video games has more to do with the anxieties of people over 30 than it does with actual harm to people under 30…

The playing of ultrarealistic first-person-shooters by teens is foreign to baby boomers and Generation X types. Sure, we played Pac Man and Space Invaders, but that was nothing like the realistic, immersive first-person shooters kids have now. It’s the one aspect of modern youth we feel most alienated from, so that must be the cause of teen troubles, right?

Why not blame the declining quality of diet, pervasive advertising, rising immigration, over-protective parents, cell phone radiation, lack of sleep, stress, globalization, pollution, information overload or the widespread overconsumption of “energy drinks”? All these factors are different from when we were young, too…

How to make teens peaceful, smart and healthy again

… Haven’t teenagers always been considered by adults to be violent, stupid and unhealthy — not to mention lazy, depressed, immoral and disrespectful? Every generation of adults blames some cultural influence or another on ruining young people…

One thing is certain: We need more and better research. So many questions remain unanswered. Do games really cause violence? If so, do some games cause more violence than others? Is the unrealistic or nongraphic violence in, say, Halo 3 less harmful than the blood-splattering violence in Call of Duty 4? Is the “honorable” violence in Call of Duty 4 less harmful than the “criminal” violence in Grand Theft Auto? Are games damaging to some personality types, but harmless to others? Are the effects of gaming long term?

There’s so much we don’t know, but one thing we do know: Video games are here to stay. And they’re rising as a dominant cultural force. Understanding the effect of games on kids requires a dispassionate look at the facts unmodified by our own anxieties and baseless assumptions.

Let’s also not forget that video games are fun, and fun is good…

Source: Computerworld, MA
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