Evan
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Video game effects on children
Video gamez are teh anzwer!
Grand Theft Auto Is Good For Kids - No It's Not
The problem of using science to determine whether or not violent video games like Grand Theft Auto do harm to our children is neatly summed up in one article on Scientific American - there's always good news and bad news.
In an article titled "Grand Theft Auto Is Good for You? Not So Fast...," Scientific American's Dara Greenwood takes apart a recently published paper from Grand Theft Auto co-author Dr. Cheryl K. Olson, addressing each point with research from other scientists that conflicts with her findings.
Olson's paper, "Children's Motivations for Video Game Play in the Context of Normal Development," explores the role video games play in the development of today's children. She claims the question of whether or not they should play is now moot; now we must deal with the effects.
The debate has moved from whether children should play video games to how to maximize potential benefits and to identify and minimize potential harms. To do this, we must understand what motivates children to play electronic games and what needs the games meet.
In the process of writing the paper, Olson surveyed 1,254 boys and girls in seventh and eighth grade, asking them what motivates them to play video games. Here are the results:
The most popular game series among surveyed boys and one of the most popular with girls? Grand Theft Auto, of course. The appeal of violent games can't be denied, though according to Olson, it can be explained.
"When we asked preteen boys whether violence makes a video game more fun, some agreed that they enjoyed games featuring over-the-top violence "that you can't do in real life." But some also noted that violent games were more likely to include action, challenge, and options. It is interesting that multiple regression analyses of our survey data from seventh and eighth grade youth did not find a relationship between trait anger or aggressive personality and greater use of Mature-rated games."
Overall, Olson's latest paper focuses on the positive aspects of video game violence. She cites the example of one young player who creatively solved the problem of finding taxi passengers in Grand Theft Auto by running them over first. See? It encourages problem solving.
A win for the 'violent video games don't harm our children' column, right?
Not so, says Greenwood.
Video gamez are teh anzwer!
