This article notes the problems and perils that arise when trying to study how video games affect aggression. Many such studies assume that a rise in aggressive thoughts will equate to a rise in aggressive behavior. Some claim that measuring a person’s willingness to punish an unseen individual with a loud noise can be compared to a willingness to  commit violent crime because they “share the conceptual features of delivering a noxious stimulus to a victim with the intent and expectation of  harming the victim.” Another common problem is that many studies are “hobbled by dependence on children’s personal and inconsistent definitions and assessments of violence (as well as time-related concepts such as ‘often‘) and/or the use of idiosyncratic categories.” In fact, this very study relied on student’s assessment of their personal habits, participation in bullying, and of their own exposure to games.

In an even more surprising twist, despite all the claims of video game’s creating more violence this study says that “as yet, there are no studies linking violent video games to real world crime.” As a matter of fact, despite reports at the time, the perpetrator of the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 was not an avid gamer. Both the F.B.I and Secret Service have found that video games did not play any significant role in other mass school shootings

M-Rated Video Games and Aggressive or Problem Behavior Among Young Adolescents also notes an Australian study which found that “subjects with an aggressive… temperament were more likely to experience an increase or decrease” in their feelings of anger or aggression after playing violent games.
 
_____________________________________________

What Does This All Mean?

Does this mean that video games are a bad influence on society and that game developers should be forced to make less violent games? I don’t believe so. I do, however, think that parents need to be made more aware of the potential dangers and benefits that come with gaming. As with almost anything which can be fun and fulfilling, moderation is key. The answer isn’t to completely remove games from the household or retail shelves, but is, instead, to actually follow the guide lines that currently exist in the form of ESRB ratings. This study found that 68.7% of the males questioned and 30.7% of the females frequently played M-rated games. Since these are 7th grade students, that means that those numbers also corresponded to parents who either do not adhere to the suggested age range for violent and mature content, or whom are not engaged enough in their children’s life to be aware of what games they are playing!

Since we live in a democracy, ultimately it will be the American people (or at least the people who we elect) who decide whether to regulate gaming and put stricter laws on the sale of violent an mature content. Until that is decided I think we should all ruminate on what these results mean, and what role we want the government. I also highly recommend getting informed and involved by joining the ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association). What do you think?