Child game video violence : Are your concerns justified?

As a psychologist and father, of course I care about what video games can teach my children and I know you do to.  So is it true that violent video games can cause children to become violent?

Let's take a look, and don't just take my word for it!

Before talking about video games, let's take a minute or two to talk about television...

"According to the American Psychologist Association, a typical child in the U.S. watches 28 hours of TV weekly, seeing as many as 8,000 murders by the time he or she finishes elementary school at age 11, and worse, the killers are depicted as getting away with the murders 75% of the time while showing no remorse or accountability. Such TV violence socialization may make children immune to brutality and aggression, while others become fearful of living in such a dangerous society."

"With the research clearly showing that watching violent TV programs can lead to aggressive behavior, The American Psychological Association passed a resolution in 1985 informing broadcasters and the public of the potential dangers that viewing violence on television can have for children. In 1992, the APA’s Task Force on Television and Society published a report that further confirmed the link between TV violence and aggression."
Source : http://www.psychologymatters.org/mediaviolence.html

"Prominent organizations like the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Medical Association have all concluded that the scientific evidence shows a cause-effect relationship between television violence and aggression among the children and youth who watch it."
Source : http://culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/conf2001/papers/walsh.html
 

Okay, that's for tv, but what about video games?

Well.....  "Many social scientists have hypothesized that we should expect video games to have an even greater impact (than tv) for the following four reasons."

"1. Children are more likely to imitate the actions of a character with whom they identify. In violent video games the player is often required to take the point of view of the shooter or perpetrator.

2. Video games by their very nature require active participation rather than passive observation.

3. Repetition increases learning. Video games involve a great deal of repetition. If the games are violent, then the effect is a behavioral rehearsal for violent activity.

4. Rewards increase learning, and video games are based on a reward system. 

While the research base conducted on video games is small compared to that conducted on television, early results are showing that the concern is indeed warranted. 

Indeed research show that:
Exposure to violent games increases physiological arousal. 
Exposure to violent games increases aggressive thoughts. 
Exposure to violent games increases aggressive emotions. 
And finally,
exposure to violent games increases aggressive actions."
Source : http://culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/conf2001/papers/walsh.html
 

So what should we do?

"Parents have an important role to play. Psychologists have found that when parents limit the amount of time as well as the types of games their children play, children are less likely to show aggressive behaviors (Anderson et al., under review; Gentile et al., 2004). Other research suggests that active parental involvement in children's media usage, including discussing the inappropriateness of violent solutions to real life conflicts, reducing time spent on violent media, and generating alternative nonviolent solutions to problems, all can reduce the impact of media violence on children and youth (Anderson et al., 2003)."
Source : http://www.psychologymatters.org/videogames.html

Your friendly psychologist 
Daniel Lambert