How important is violence to gamers today?
OPINION
A mother was trying to decide which game she wanted to buy for her sixteen year old son. She said something that nearly made me drop my gift in shock: "Do any of these games have killing in them? I don't want my son playing any games where you kill people."
Boiling It Down (cntd)
Critics have also tried to link this over aggressive behaviour to the abundance of overly sexualized and overly dependent female characters in video games but this criticism has been denounced by authors such as Tracy L. Dietz who argues in her article An Examination of Violence and Gender Role Portrayals in Video Games that the games used in such studies were nearly twenty years old and did not accurately reflect the stronger and more modest female protagonists that are more prevalent in today’s games.
Going back to my encounter with the mother in Gamestop, age is another factor to consider as nearly 20% of male gamers are under the age of 17 while the average gamer is around 35-37. A survey held by Martha Irvine in 2008 revealed that a staggering 97% of children ages 12-17 play video games on an at least semi-frequent basis and that nearly half of all of the children surveyed (mostly male) listed an “M” rated title as their favourite. However it’s also important to note that the survey also referenced Joseph Kahne, a co-author of the survey who said that even the most popular answer among male children, Halo, while being an “M” rated game also managed to foster opportunities for players to help one another which they often did.
Kahne goes on to explain that this sort of camaraderie can also lead to positive effects on civic engagement, citing such activities as political involvement and raising money for charities. He explains that not only did gaming as a whole neither decrease or increase a player’s interest in such activities, but that those who routinely engaged in social “face to face” gaming were actually more likely to eventually become involved in civic participation.
Lastly, after a majority of the research used in previous attempts to link violence in video games to youth aggression was found to be non-conclusive and fundamentally flawed, a new three-year study led by several behavioural scientists which concluded in late 2011 (A longitudinal test of video game violence influences on dating and aggression: A 3-year longitudinal study of adolescents) revealed some startling facts: more prevalent factors such as antisocial personality traits, depression, peer influences, and family violence were far more likely to affect a child’s aggressive tendencies than video games. The authors of the study also made a point of saying that public resources and funding would be much better spent by focusing less on video games and more on other youth violence prevention programs.
Damned If You Do...
As always parents are free to make their own choices regarding what they want and don’t want their kids playing but even they will have to accept that violent video games are here to stay and their popularity is still steadily growing. To all the parents out there I’d say try and communicate with your kids to see if and why they enjoy violence in video games, and to my fellow gamers I should say be sure to take what you read or hear with a grain of salt (even this article). We may not be able to help what we like, but that doesn’t mean we can’t strive to find answers as to why.
Sources:
Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behaviour, Bruce D. Barthalow, Craig A. Anderson, 2002
Survey: 97% of Children Play Video Games, Martha Irvine, 2008
Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions, Craig A. Anderson, 2003
An Examination of Violence and Gender Role Portrayals in Video Games, Tracy L. Dietz, 2011
A longitudinal test of video game violence influences on dating and aggression: A 3 year longitudinal study of adolescents, Christopher J. Ferguson, Claudia San Miguel, Adolfo Garza, Jessica M. Jerabeck, 2011