It's no secret that Australia is a little harsher than the USA when it comes to violence in video games. They're still looking into the effects of violent gaming on children, and the findings of a new study were released today. Here are the three main points put forth by the Minister for Home Affairs' statement
- there is no conclusive evidence that violent computer games have a greater impact on players than other violent media, such as movies or music videos.
- there is stronger evidence of short-term effects from violent computer games, than long-term effects.- some research finds that violent computer games are a small risk factor in aggressive behaviour over the short term, but these studies do not thoroughly explore other factors such as aggressive personality, family and peer influence and socio-economic status.
While it's just a study at this point, we can only hope that these findings will help loosen the restrictions on violent gaming overseas.
Yay for logic!
