Violent video games leave teens 'morally immature'

[LosOjos]

BBC News - Violent video games leave teens 'morally immature'

 

Would like to hear other geek's opinions on this story. This is the bit that ot me riled up:

 

the problems arose with teenagers who spent more than three hours every day in front of a screen, continuously playing these violent games without any other real-life interaction.

 

So, teenagers who spend no time socialising don't develop social skills. Is that news? Where is the control experiment that monitored children who spent 3+ hours a day doing *anything* else and had no real-life interaction?

 

Also, and this always seems to be ignored by these "news" stories - video games have an age rating on them. Kids shouldn't be playing games featuring "the killing, maiming, decapitating or mutilating of other human characters" in the first place!

[sfarmilo]

Seems to me to be the same thing every time I read one of these reports. The problem is not the video games, there are many more factors that contribute, but the media seems to be constantly blaming games.

 

And they never seem to think that these children may already be "morally immature" whether they play games or not...

Edited February 6, 2014 by sfarmilo

[Pete10141748]

Of course there can be no blame on the pi$$-poor parenting skills of the mums and dads who provide their 13-year with an xbox and an 18 rated game then leave him unattended for all hours of the day and night.

 

Heaven forbid that someone somewhere should actually be held responsible for their own actions, oh no, it must be these games / tv shows / anything else we can point to to disguise the fact that we have a generation of idiots and morons rapidly procreating and failing in their duities thus raising a further generation of idiots and morons.

[featured_spectre]

The agreement in my household is the console is now in the front room, with the main TV. If anyone wants to play, they ask, and they play a game another person can join so it isn't 1 person hogging. This works in our household, and we restrict the games played at times. IE I wont touch Battlefield until child is in bed, but I will happily play Minecraft, Lego Marvel, Fifa etc. We dont just play games though, we use it for media also as it is hooked into my NAS.

 

On top, the child gets good social contact with friends, family, neighbours and dog walkers as we have a daily walk or visit someone daily.

[sfarmilo]

My feeling is that any teenager spending over 3 hours a day in a room on their own not socialising, is bound to have problems when it comes to social skills. As Pete10141748 said I think it comes down to parenting skills, and parents using video games as a child minder...

[LosOjos]

My feeling is that any teenager spending over 3 hours a day in a room on their own not socialising, is bound to have problems when it comes to social skills. As Pete10141748 said I think it comes down to parenting skills, and parents using video games as a child minder...

 

Yep, totally with you there. As @nephilim's example shows, it's quite possible to make games social and not make them a simple way to distract the kids!

 

It's just the usual finger pointing, "oh he spends all his time in his room not talking to anyone and now he has no social skills. It must be because he was playing video games while he was in his room!"

[localzuk]

With articles like this, I really wish they'd provide actual details of the study - eg. the title and which journal it was published in. That way, readers could go and find out what the research actually concluded.

[Bradlys]

BBC News - Violent video games leave teens 'morally immature'

 

Would like to hear other geek's opinions on this story. This is the bit that ot me riled up:

 

 

 

So, teenagers who spend no time socialising don't develop social skills. Is that news? Where is the control experiment that monitored children who spent 3+ hours a day doing *anything* else and had no real-life interaction?

 

Also, and this always seems to be ignored by these "news" stories - video games have an age rating on them. Kids shouldn't be playing games featuring "the killing, maiming, decapitating or mutilating of other human characters" in the first place!

 

I'm 20 years old, gamer, played lots of games I was to young for.

 

I hate society, I hate young people. Even as a teenager. I hated speaking to people my age, only a select few got my appreciation for their company. Video games don't cause Teenagers to be violent etc etc *Insert stereotype here*

 

Parents who don't enforce respect cause issues.

[DMcGuigan]

I've been playing violent games since I was about 8 (GTA 2 ftw), I saw my stepdad playing them, and thought they looked more fun than the bob the builder and Disney games I'd been playing til that point. I was allowed to watch while he explained what the difference was between them and real life, and then he guided me through playing them, and we'd start playing them together, either co-op or taking turns. The whole time I knew what I was doing was not to be done in real life, because he pointed it all out before I'd even taken hold of the mouse.

 

That's now 12 years of violent video games, and I've not once decided to go out and run over a granny for the little bundle of green paper she drops, or throw bricks through peoples windows for fun.

 

Video games don't make you a violent person, yes, I can see how they may be impressionable on people, but if you can't differentiate between right and wrong because "It was okay in a game" there's something inherently not right there. Whether it be personal perceptions of morality or not being brought up in the correct way to know the difference.

 

As for playing games leading to spending no time socialising and not developing social skills.. I was playing MMOs with people from 14, talking to people was never a problem in real life or online, if anything it made me more confident with talking to others. With the addition of all the voice communication stuff on consoles now, the massive focus of multiplayer over the last decade and things like Ventrilo and Skype for PC.. socialising is as much a part of the games now as the game play itself.

[X-13]

In-depth research into the behaviour of about 100 13- and 14-year-olds found over-exposure to violent games weakened empathy for others.

 

100 data points =/= in-depth.

 

 

Video games don't make you a violent person, yes, I can see how they may be impressionable on people, but if you can't differentiate between right and wrong because "It was okay in a game" there's something inherently not right there. Whether it be personal perceptions of morality or not being brought up in the correct way to know the difference.

 

^ This is the main counter point.

All of these studies/stories jump from certain behaviour straight to VIOLENT GAMEZ!!!, but skip the "check for physiological issues" part.

Edited February 6, 2014 by X-13

[SovietRussia]

My feeling is that any teenager spending over 3 hours a day in a room on their own not socialising, is bound to have problems when it comes to social skills.

 

Sounds like my childhood. Socialising with people online To be all honest though, I have pretty good social skills, was a popular guy in school and still spent 5 hours in my room where I learn how to code, which eventually got me, my job.

[featured_spectre]

Until around age 16, people (regardless of gender, race, creed etc) are sociopaths.

 

That comment is based on various psychological magazines I have read whilst waiting for a shrink.

[sted]

Of course there can be no blame on the pi$$-poor parenting skills of the mums and dads who provide their 13-year with an xbox and an 18 rated game then leave him unattended for all hours of the day and night.

 

Heaven forbid that someone somewhere should actually be held responsible for their own actions, oh no, it must be these games / tv shows / anything else we can point to to disguise the fact that we have a generation of idiots and morons rapidly procreating and failing in their duities thus raising a further generation of idiots and morons.

 

had this in one of my schools a few weeks ago had to explain to the head how xbox live and voicechat worked. Basically 3 kids (this is a primary school) were playing gta5 online against each other and by the sounds it turned into an audio slanging match with various kids upset and apparently this is somehow schools fault.

[AngryTechnician]

In-depth research into the behaviour of about 100 13- and 14-year-olds found over-exposure to violent games weakened empathy for others.

 

100 data points =/= in-depth.

 

Also, correlation ≠ causation.

 

Here is the actual study: http://dr.library.brocku.ca/bitstream/handle/10464/4115/Brock_%20Bajovic_Mirjana_2012.pdf

 

The study didn't actually find that playing the games weakened empathy. What it found was a correlation between weakened empathy and time playing violent games. The author in fact highlighted the correlation/causation issue in the limitations section on page 230. Yes, Page 230. I guarantee you that no journalist who has written an article on this study has read all 230 pages up to that pint, and the 62 pages after that point.

 

I posit the much more likely explanation that children who already have weaker empathy are more likely to want to spend more time playing violent games than children with 'normal' levels of empathy.

Edited February 6, 2014 by AngryTechnician
Edited to add discussion of the actual study paper

[X-13]

Also, correlation ≠ causation.

 

They didn't actually find that playing the games weakened empathy. What they found was a correlation between weakened empathy and time playing violent games. I posit the much more likely explanation that children who already have weaker empathy are more likely to want to spend more time playing violent games than children with 'normal' levels of empathy.

 

I'd also posit that those with less social skills would prefer to be on their own... playing games.

 

There's also some level of depression that could be the cause [or a contributing factor] of it.

[sonofsanta]

Two points are always relevant to this knee-jerk decrying of the newest fad.

 

Point the first: violent crime has fallen in the US as video game sales have gone up (source). If reports like this are allowed to ignore correlation/causation, so can we - though this is a stronger point with a greater dataset than anything ever offered as "proof" of vidya-games bein' bad.

 

Point the second: this same reaction has happened for the easy availability of books, movies, rock n roll, television and comics. It is a generational thing and you can find examples of it throughout the centuries, e.g. (source)

"The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth; and prevented others from improving their minds in useful knowledge. Parents take care to feed their children with wholesome diet; and yet how unconcerned about the provision for the mind, whether they are furnished with salutary food, or with trash, chaff, or poison?"

- Reverend Enos Hitchcock, Memoirs of the Bloomsgrove Family, 1790

 

It's old people running old media writing clickbait headlines to score easy points. Though I had hoped that by now, enough of the 80s generation that grew up with games would be in sufficient positions of influence to stop this crap from going round. Maybe in another decade.

 

If video games made you violent we'd be living in 28 Days Later by now. It's a bigger market than movies (and much bigger than music) and yet society is, if anything, getting less violent, less dangerous. If we were all indulging in something so destructive to morals I don't think we'd be as content as we are.

 

It is, of course, the other way round - violent people play violent games. And watch violent movies. And inflict cruelty on animals. But that's not as easy a story to write and throw out as the lies they keep peddling.

[Garacesh]

I'd also posit that those with less social skills would prefer to be on their own... playing games.

Certainly was the case for me. As an autistic introvert and someone who was regularly bullied, why the hell would I want to leave the safety and privacy of my home to engage with the world when the world just ridicules me and causes me harm. Truth be told, I didn't really like being with anyone at all anyway?

 

Countless hours were spent on UT99 shooting other players with a manner of weapons. Explosive razor-sharp discs, bio-hazardous sludge, burning-hot shrapnel, and even a thermonuclear missile if I were lucky enough to snatch the Redeemer..

Grand total of people I've killed in real life: 0