Video games do not turn kids into killers....

[cynatnite]

While their digital pastime is often credited with eroding the state of contemporary literature, gamers have found an unlikely ally within the pages of a new book.

Penned by Harvard Med School researchers Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olsen, "Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do" refutes common conceptions about the causal relationship between violent video games and violent behavior.

In other words, playing a few hours of GTA IV will not result in your kid stealing a car, careening through traffic and gunning down civilians.

"What I hope people realize is that there is no data to support the simple-minded concerns that video games cause violence," Kutner told Reuters News Service in an interview.

Their findings are a result of a two-year study of over 1,200 middle-school students. Unlike most studies set in sterile lab environments using psychological triggers, much of their data was collected by -- brace yourself -- actually talking to their young subjects.

http://us.i1.yimg.com/videogames.yahoo.com/feature/video-games-turn-kids-into-killers-not-so-says-new-book/1212550

[DS1]

1. Jack Thompson just died a little on the inside

:D

[varkam]

3. Good.

I didn't say that out loud, did I? :evilgrin:

[DS1]

5. I didn't hear anything

:thumbsup:


:yoiks:

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

7. My only regret on that is...

He didn't die a lot. Friggin' idjit, he is.

[Selatius]

2. Kids turn into killers is largely the result of their parents. Serial killers often come from...

dysfunctional homes.

If Americans want to lay the blame on why their kids are going on shooting rampages and then blow their own brains out, maybe they ought to look in their own mirror.

[cynatnite]

4. I believe in age appropriate games, but I never believed for one second...

that violent games caused kids to be violent.

Mental illness seems to be a huge factor as well.

[Selatius]

6. And that leads into the bigger issue of our failed health care system.

The V-Tech shooter had a mental illness, and he fell through the cracks. They were arguing over guns after that massacre. What they should have been arguing over was how to fix the health care system so that mentally ill people get help they need and don't reach the stage where they are walking time bombs.

[Beregond2]

8. No, they turn them into Microsoft yuppies.

I'll leave it to you to decide which is worse.