About 90 percent of U.S. kids ages 8 to 16 play video games, and they spend about 13 hours a week doing so (more if you’re a boy). Now a new study suggests virtual violence in these games may make kids more aggressive in real life.
Kids in both the U.S. and Japan who reported playing lots of violent video games had more aggressive behavior months later than their peers who did not, according to the study, which appears in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics. The researchers specifically tried to get to the root of the chicken-or-egg problem — do children become more aggressive after playing video games or are aggressive kids more attracted to violent videos? It’s a murky — and controversial — issue. Many studies have linked violence in TV shows and video games to violent behavior. But when states have tried to keep under-18 kids from playing games rated "M" for mature, the proposed restrictions have often been challenged successfully in court.
Full Story: Violent video games linked to child aggression
Filed under: Software / Technology
