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Video games are played by almost every child. Many of these games are of an aggressive and violent nature
involving martial arts, military combat and space wars as their themes. Role play is often used and the games can be addictive. They may seem like harmless fun or even an outlet for aggressive feelings for children and young adults but are they really so innocuous?

The minds of young humans are sensitive and impressionable. This is why they are able to learn new things quickly and absorb information. They are free minds, uncluttered with responsibilities and the hard realities of life. They are hungry minds seeking adventure and stimulation and they rely,to some extent for the adults in the world to provide the mind fodder they need. Computers are an easily accessible source of this nourishment and games are particularly appealing.

It is no coincidence that computer games are also used for training purposes by sportsmen, the police force, the military, airlines and other organisations. They are recognised to be a useful tool for programming minds to think strategically, develop leadership skills and make decisions. The link between
video games and mind training is established and is used in a controlled, supervised manner as a part of
carefully planned education and development programmes by responsible and experienced adult teachers.

The majority of young people currently using video games, however, are doing so unsupervised, often to excess and in a way which is completely separate from any other context. It is mind training out of control.

There is now a generation of young adults who have played these games since childhood. They have been desensitised to violence by exposure to graphic images on film and television and filled their leisure hours with endless shooting, bombing, karate chopping, stabbing and striking on combat type games.
If we think that the brain food consumed by our kids is no less influential on the adults they become
than the food we put into their bodies then we are making a big mistake.

So many young people of this generation are killing each other, by reckless driving, stabbing and shooting. Can we really say this has nothing whatsoever to do with the racing games and the killing games they have played everyday throughout their formative years? it is well known that play is all a preparation for adult life. The previous generation played doctors and nurses, cowboys and Indians,
cops and robbers. The difference is that they acted our these

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