Though there have been lots of research conducted upon this theme, the newest one, and a very interesting study was held by Dr. Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., of Iowa State University in Ames and his colleagues. The concentrated upon 3 groups of kids: 2 different age groups of Japanese kids and one group of American kids. The study aimed to look at the changes in behavior in kids after 3 to 6 months from repeated violent video game exposure. Throughout this period children had to report their violent acts and their behavior was also monitored by peers and surrounding adults. As it was expected these children proved to behave in a more violent way than their fellow classmates that didn't play any video games. As Dr. Anderson says: "Basically what we found was that in all three samples, a lot of violent video game play early in a school year leads to higher levels of aggression during the school year, as measured later in the school year -- even after you control for how aggressive the kids were at the beginning of the year."
This study is again very important, because it not only illustrates the direct link between children aggression and video games, but also strengthens the argument by presenting 2 culturally different groups (American, Japanese). The later fact is interesting, because Japan has a significantly lower crime & violence overall rate than United States, which adds the credibility to research conclusions.
I find it surprising that after all these case studies, research and investigation violent video games are still in a state of prosperity. With the evidence being so clear and simple, I wonder how it doesn't gain more response not only from parents, but also generally from people.
The article found at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081103180252.htm
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Hey Eka,
ReplyDeleteThank you for a good overview of the latest research regarding computers and children.
I must say the article tickled my curiousity, especially because this topic usually tend to stir up pretty heated discussions among people ;-)
Im wondering if you have been looking into the PEGI-institution (http://www.pegi.info/en/) who're trying to make age restrictions on all video games for children. Do you think these restrictions are useful? I mean, they should prevent children seeing too much violence/sex/whatever till they've reached an appropriate age and can think critically.
If children are still being damaged from playing violent video games I think it is an issue of either 1) The PEGI restriction being too low or 2) Parents breaking the PEGI advise and letting their children play games unsupervised.
Thanks for going into a really difficult topic :)
/Nicolai.