Good News- No Damage to Children from Video Game Play

Back when my son was little, he wanted to play some of the grittier games that were available. Being the kind of person I am, I told him that I did not care, as long as he knew that this was not real, that in no way did it relate to life as it should be lived, and was as important to life as cartoons.

About three or four times a year, we would have the same short talk, and I always felt confident that he knew the difference, and that no way would similar behavior to anything found in those games be tolerated. We always talked about why it was improper, and he clearly understood.

Yet, for some, even his mother, I was somehow doing a bad thing, and promoting bad behavior. Well, my son, other than being difficult to get up in the morning, has no personality defects, and is as well-adjusted as any young man can be. This is not simply my opinion, it has been declared by a wide variety of people he comes in contact with. He also has a very high set of values, and perhaps an overdeveloped sense of right and wrong, in relation to his peers.

I am, understandably, extremely proud, but now to the study -

For the past decade or so, the press and certain politicians have been somewhat successful in building a moral panic about video games and the supposed harm they do to children. The problem is that there’s almost no evidence that this is true — and almost all of the evidence that claims this is true doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Often, the moral panic-inducing results are actually either the researcher or (more likely) the press coming up with a conclusion that does not match with the actual study results.

However, in just the last year, we’ve finally been seeing prominent researchers and politicians start to push back on this notion of video games causing harm. Last year, two Harvard professors came out with a book reviewing all of the research and adding some of their own, all of which showed no evidence that video games made kids violent (in fact, it found that it was the kids who didn’t participate in video games that you should be worried about.

Perhaps even more surprising, though, is that some politicians are now pushing back, as well. A study done in the EU Parliament is now noting that video games are actually good for kids, noting that they can help “stimulate learning of facts and skills such as strategic thinking, creativity, cooperation and innovative thinking, which are important skills in the information society.” The report does, unfortunately, still claim that in some cases violent video games may stimulate violence (though, without much proof), but it’s still surprising to see a political report on video games that sees them as being useful.

from Tech Dirt

Not only was I ahead of the curve, I built a bond with my son, both through shared love of computers, and the respect I’ve always had for him as a person.

Perhaps studies like this one will help some parents on the edge, and the effort can begin with a reading and discussion of the study.

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