REACH Fall 2001
CONTENTS
ADULT
CURRICULUM
LEADERSHIP
PARENTING
SOCIAL ACTION
TEACHING
WORSHIP
YOUNG ADULT
YOUTH
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David Walsh, Ph.D National Institute on Media and the Family Concern about violent video and computer games is based on the assumption that they contribute to aggression and violence among young players. The research base for that assumption is growing in spite of industry denials. Some in the industry insist that there is absolutely no evidence that playing a violent video game leads to aggressive behavior. That is not true. In a forthcoming meta-analysis, Dr. Craig Anderson and Dr. Brad Bushman from Iowa State University statistically analyze 35 different studies involving 4,262 individuals, most of whom are younger than 18. They conclude "violent video games increase aggressive behavior in children and young adults." Research reported last year by Dr. Craig Anderson of Iowa State University and Dr. Karen Dill of Lenoir-Rhyne College demonstrated such a causal link. Dr. Douglas Gentile, director of research at the National Institute on Media and the Family, Paul Lynch of the University of Oklahoma, and I have begun a program of research on the effects of video and computer games on children and teens. While the entire program will take a number of years and sufficient funding to complete, I am able to report a number of preliminary findings here. These results are based on responses from over 700 teens in grades 8-12 and include a subset of 43 "at-risk students," defined as those students who have had legal involvement. Among the findings:
Even these few statistics demonstrate that the concern about children's access to violent video games is well founded and is not, as the industry claims, simply an issue for politicians and child advocates. |
Page last updated December 14, 2001
All material copyright © 2001 Unitarian Universalist Association