As of 2001, roughly 79 percent of America's tennagers play video games. Beyond the obvious issues of concern, like "what happened to riding bikes around the neighborhood," there are bigger questions. Many people wonder how this type of exposure to violence kid effects social behavior. The rise in dramatically violent shootings by teenagers, many of whom apparently play violent video games, is helping the argument that video game violence translates into real-world situations. But other people aren't convinced and insist that video games are a scapegoat for people scared and looking to place blame. Entertainment media has always made a great scapegoat: In the 50s, lots of people blamed comic books for kids' bad behavior
Video games as we now know them are only about 20 years old, so there's nowhere near enough evidence for or against their violent effects than there is surrounding, say, television and violence. And even that's not a done deal.
So what exactly does science have to say about violent video games? Is there any evidence that shows a cause-effect relationship between shooting people in a game and shooting people in real life?
Video games as we now know them are only about 20 years old, so there's nowhere near enough evidence for or against their violent effects than there is surrounding, say, television and violence. And even that's not a done deal.
So what exactly does science have to say about violent video games? Is there any evidence that shows a cause-effect relationship between shooting people in a game and shooting people in real life?
