The Age, Australia
03-07-07
Passive aggressive
A new book gives weight to claims that violent games contribute to aggressive
behaviour in children.
Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents presents an overview
of worldwide research on the effects of violent games, and argues society should
start exploring how to reduce young people's exposure to media violence.
Co-author Douglas Gentile, Assistant Professor in Psychology at Iowa
State University and Director of Research at the US National Institute on
Media and the Family, says there is still more research needed, but studies
show exposure to violent games increases the likelihood of aggressive behaviour
in children.
Click below to read an interview with Professor Gentile. Screen Play is also keen
to hear your thoughts on whether violent games promote aggression in young
people.
Has there been enough research done around the world about the impact of
games on children?
There's plenty still to do. We really only know about some of the effects. There's
starting to be enough research on violent effects, but there are many more
effects that haven't been studied at all.
Are children naturally drawn to violent content?
I don't think so. Watch a 4-year-old's face when he's seeing something violent on
TV - he's not enjoying it. But we tell him "it's ok, it's not real... it's only TV" and
that actually tells him he's supposed to sit there and learn to like it. Instead, we
as parents should reinforce his correct natural response, and say "You're
right...that is yucky. Let's turn it off."
Do you think that exposure to violent games increases the likelihood of
aggressive behaviour in children?
I think that's exactly the right way to phrase it. Violent video games are a risk
factor for aggressive behavior. Our studies in the book demonstrate that clearly.
The clearest is the longitudinal study, which shows that children who played
more violent games early in a school year had actually changed to become more
aggressive by late in the school year, as noticed by their peers and teachers.
What other effects can violent games have on children?
When you look across studies, there are five major effects in the short term. They
increase arousal, increase aggressive thoughts, increase aggressive feelings,
increase aggressive behaviors, and decrease pro-social behaviors. In the long
term, we see increases in aggressive thoughts and behaviors, and also
increases in desensitization.
Do games have a stronger effect on children than media like television because
of its interactive nature?
Theoretically, that is what we would expect. There isn't much evidence for it yet,
but the three studies in our book demonstrate a slightly larger effect of violent
video games over violent TV and movies.
Many people believe that children can separate fantasy from reality at an early
age and that simulated violence can even act a "pressure valve" to release
violent tendencies, what do you think of such theories?
Certainly children can discriminate fantasy from reality. Unfortunately that doesn't
seem to matter. It doesn't inoculate us from the effects of media effects. For
example, all adults know advertisements are fake, right? Yet they still work on us.
The book also describes the research and theory on the 'pressure valve'
catharsis theory, and I haven't the time to repeat it all, but in brief, it can't be
correct for four reasons.
First, aggression is not a drive that needs to be released. Humans have very few
true drives - hunger, thirst, sleep. If you don't do them, they build and build, and if
you still don't, you die. Aggression isn't like that. Third, there are hundreds of
studies of media violence. They could show that aggression goes down after
watching, but that's not what they show. We have to accept the data. Aggression
goes up. Fourth, and most importantly, it's not how the brain works. How do you
memorize a phone number? You repeat it. Does repeating it make it less likely
you will remember it? No? That's what you're claiming if you claim that practicing
aggressive thoughts and behaviors in a game could reduce aggression. Brain
science proves catharsis can't happen.
Computer and video games have been played by most children in countries like
the United States for the last 20 years, yet youth crime rates in that time have
fallen. Doesn't this suggest that games are having little effect on behaviour?
No, it suggests that violence is a complex phenomenon affected by many things,
like the economy, laws, gun availability, prison sentences, etc. And no media
effects researcher ever says that media violence will cause things like school
shootings. Those are highly extreme behaviors that require several risk factors to
be present, not just media violence.
The average age of game players in Australia and the US is now around 30, so
game makers are naturally increasingly targeting mature players with mature
content. How should governments, game publishers and retailers ensure that
children are not exposed to inappropriate content?
I wish I knew. I think it will primarily require the game industry to stop pretending
that violent games have no effect, and start helping parents to know how
important it is that they screen game content for their children and set
appropriate limits.
Do you think the games industry acts irresponsibly in marketing inappropriate
content to children?
It used to, but seems to be doing a much better (not perfect) job now.
How should parents use your findings?
They should realize that both the amount of game play and content of game play
matter, and set limits on both. My research demonstrates that when parents do
that, it's a powerful protective factor for children.
Games have been proven to be very effective tools in education, yet many
people are fearful of introducing them into schools, workplace learning etc. How
can we educate parents, educators and policy-makers about the potential
benefits of certain games while also warning of exposure to inappropriate
content, which can reinforce negative stereotypes about gaming?
Although games have been demonstrated to be effective, I don't think we've
either begun to really tap their potential or figure out how to properly integrate
them into pedagogical techniques. Until we do those two things, they will be used
haphazardly in schools, and will fail to live up to their potential.