We continously hear from politicians and the religious right (every time there is a school shooting, the topic surfaces) of the dangers of video games on children/youth. With 2020’s news cycle, the topic has obviously been pushed out of primetime for larger, more important issues.
Of note, while there certainly is a link between tv violence and youth impact, other forms of entertainment throughout history consistently fail to prove a strong correlation to youth behavior/psychology.
- There was the music industry’s Parental Advisory hearings of the late 1980s – which still have yet to prove linkage of explicit lyrics to adolescent behavior.
- Even books/novels were considered dangerous in the 18th century as they reached prominence in entertainment.
Video Games look more and more to be joining the realm of Music and Books as a force which fails to show correlation to aggression.
Yet another study from Stetson University (as a follow-up from another 2015 study from the American Psychological Association) shows again – no substantative link. “Dubious at Best”.
Consider this quip at the end:
“Games are now more important than ever for socialization, feeling autonomy and control during an uncertain time, and just de-stressing”
Game On.
