New Study Claims Violent Games Cause Increased Aggression In Youths

Nine-year-olds probably shouldn't be playing GTA anyway.

A new analysis claims to confirm that violent video games do have a direct causal link to physical aggression. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, studied more than 17,000 adolescents from age nine to 19, between the years of 2010 and 2017. It concluded that playing violent games does lead to increased physical aggression over time.

USA Today reports that the meta-analysis reviewed 24 studies from multiple countries, including the USA, Canada, Germany, and Japan. It suggested that the youths who played violent games had an increased risk of violent behavior. Jay Hull, the lead author of the study, said the impact was "relatively small but statistically reliable." His own prior study found that playing violent games roughly doubles the risk of being sent to the principal's office for fighting, and it was included in the meta-analysis.

"A lot of people ask, do these games really cause these kids to behave aggressively? I would say that is one possibility," he said. "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."

In a statement, the Entertainment Software Association--the industry lobbying group that organizes E3--rejected the findings.

"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 criteria being used may explain some of the dispute between the study and the ESA. An American Psychological Association task force found in 2015 that violent video games increased aggression, but didn't have enough evidence to conclude that it causes an increase in criminal violence. The study suggests that the increase in violent behavior may be relegated to schoolyard fights, without necessarily then going on to cause an increase in criminal behaviors.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-study-claims-violent-games-cause-increased-agg/1100-6462215/

This age old issue will probably never die.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180116131317.htm

"No evidence to support link between violent video games and behavior"
Date: January 16, 2018
Source: University of York

"This age old issue will probably never die."
I believe it to be a myth or convient excuse, too many contradicting study findings to prove anything conclusively.

at one point they blamed TV for all the violence of that time, and before then it was the comic books,.... before that certain music on the radio.
Give me a break. 

America if you want to get rid of violence, start by limiting what guns/knives people can buy, and who can buy them.

This crap again?
If I was ever violent or aggressive in any way when I was in kid or teen, I'm pretty sure it had a lot more to do with my family moving to another state and my parents getting a divorce than me playing video games.
And yet, this study neglects to mention any potential linking variables such as that.

The games make kids violent excuse is made by incompetent parents, and those in the world who get off on making everyone else miserable.

Also I want to say that as a kid I played alot of video games, and my friends did too.
Guess what? we where the most lax easy going bunch of nerds around.

Video game nerds are typically not the violent types, from my experiance.

This is what I call the “milk” argument. They go back & forth trying to figure out if it’s good for you or bad for you. All I can say is I’ve played violent games many times over and I’ve never had the urge to go on violent killing spree. Also, games sell millions of copies and most who consume them don’t turn violent. Find another scapegoat please.

Did all the children in the study have frog DNA?

Everything you experience has an affect on your personality, the people you are around, the sports you play, the movies you watch, the games you play, the music you listen to. All experiences have an affect. Your personality can change and children are probably the most susceptible to it.

Children absorb everything around them, after all in very early years they learn by mimicking their parents. Parents just need to pay more attention to what their kids are doing.

Adults can make their own decisions and for the most part are going to be in a state of mind where they any affect on their aggression is going to be negligible.

Even if this was true (probably not since I myself played quite some aggressive games as a kid and many friends), that's why we have a thing called age restriction. That's why a 10-year old can't buy GTA alone.

And then it will come a study stating the opposite, and so on.... I played some violent games when I was young, but I understand there are Kids more susceptible than others. And that's why there are age ratings for games, so this is not really an issue.