Video Games and their Influence

Video and computer games have replaced rock and roll as the whipping boy for our society's problems. This was exasperated with the Columbine shootings and other such crimes. I personally don't think that video games, violent or not, alone have the power to create such monsters. Sure they can contribute, but not enough alone. If they were then we would have had millions of shootings as society degrades to anarchy. But that is not the case. Nor should people play video games of any kind without a grip on reality or taking in consideration what is healthy at the player's age. Video games can become addictive and can influence behavior to some extent.

It seems as if little research has been done on the subject to find out to what effects video games have on people. Ars Technica has a good write up about some recent research. The study could have been stronger, but is a good start and has some surprising results. It seems that the older you get, the more influence overly violent video games have on a person. Odd. Read on for details.