Off Topic: New survey shows that kids like games rated M for mature
Research concerning video games tends to be controversial around these parts. There are now many studies on violence in video games, and the data are not always terribly convincing, yet even the American Medical Association has felt compelled to take a position on the issue.
Now there’s a new study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health,
that seeks to gauge just how widespread the use of violent video games
is among children in the US today. Conducted by a team from Harvard
Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and Michigan State
University, the study surveyed a total of 1254 students, aged 12-14,
from Pennsylvania and South Carolina in 2004.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the results showed that most boys, and many
girls, played games that the ESRB had rated M, signifying that they
were for mature audiences only. Of the games played by the boys, Grand Theft Auto and Halo were both in the top three, and GTA
was also the 2nd most played game by girls, according to the data. Over
half of all boys agreed with the statement “I play electronic games
because I like guns and weapons.” On the other hand, over 60 percent of
boys and girls agreed with the statement “I play electronic games
because there’s nothing else to do.”
Although some people are worried about childrens' exposure to
violent video games, they are just one of many forms of violent content
that kids are exposed to these days. These games might be rated M for
mature, yet the latest Die Hard
movie, entertaining though it might be, is only rated PG-13 despite an
awful lot of carnage, including a lengthy scene where Bruce Willis
beats a woman half to death and then drops an SUV on her. If
misogynistic violence is OK for the silver screen, why not the Xbox?
Johnathan M. Gitlin
July 3, 3007
Source:
Ars Technica