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Does violence in video games contribute to real life violence?

Results so far:

Yes
44% 1792 votes Total: 4053 votes
No
56% 2261 votes

"When it's my turn, I'm going to rip out his guts."
"No! Break open his skull and pull out his brains."
"That's dumb. He'll die too fast."



I've actually heard conversations like this from my own children. This is in spite of the fact that I've never allowed any kind of video games in my home. I've never tried to control whether my children played video games at their friends' houses because I can recognize a hopeless battle when I see one.

There is ever increasing evidence that suggests repeated exposure to violent video games and television shows can contribute to increased incidents of aggressive behavior in children and adults.

However, there are critics of this research. For example, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation says, "(R)esearch which exposes children to short clips of violence and observes their behavior immediately afterwards does not have the potential fully to contribute to our understanding of such a complex cultural product."

Earlier this year, a new book, "Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents," was published. Co-authored by Craig A. Anderson, PhD; Douglas A. Gentile, PhD; and doctoral student, Katherine E. Buckley, the book describes the results of three different research studies. At the same time, they address some of the concerns of the Guggenheim Foundation. According to a press release from the Iowa State University, "it is the first book to unite empirical research and public policy related to violent video games."

The first study focused on the types of games children played. The researchers found that less graphically violent video games intended for younger children, like "Captain Bumper," had the same "short-term effects on increasing aggressive behavior as the more graphic teen (T-rated) violent games."

The second study in the book analyzed the effect of violent video games. "Respondents who had more exposure to violent video games held more pro-violent attitudes, had more hostile personalities, were less forgiving, believed violence to be more typical, and behaved more aggressively in their everyday lives." The researchers were more or less expecting those results. However, they were surprised to find that "exposure to violent video games was a better predictor of the students' own violent behavior than their gender or their beliefs about violence."

The third study examined the relationship between violent video games and school. The researchers found that children who played violent video games more than their peers


Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

Does violence in video games contribute to real life violence?

Yes
  • 1 of 113

    by margaret hillcroft

    Video games are played by almost every child. Many of these games are of an aggressive and violent nature
    involving martial

    read more

  • 2 of 113

    by Angela Diggs

    The violence in video games does increase the adrenaline in a person. It pumps them up you could say. By doing so, that would

    read more

No
  • 1 of 219

    by Patrick Darski

    Do violent video games cause an individual to become violent in real life? I, for one, certainly believe that the answer

    read more

  • 2 of 219

    by Marina Shemesh

    Violence in video games does not contribute to violence in real life. There are terrible acts of violence being committed

    read more

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