Study: Violent games 'public health threat'

People must realize that you can connect any two things and say they have a positive correlation. Example: 100% of the people who ate potatoes in 1885 have died. It's true, no lie. Scary, huh? Don't eat potatoes.

Well, guess I'll start smoking and having unprotected sex then, 'cause if the correlations are the same I'm a marvel to science. I've been playing Doom and Duke Nukem since they came out, GTA, watched Fist of the North Star when I was 8, and I haven't had a single violent thought or committed a single violent act my entire life. The correlation between these scientists' studies and their dedication to their religion would be another interesting piece of data...

@pyrofire Wow.... Honestly couldnt have said that any better, hats off to you man.

Wow, I can’t believe a scientist would waste their time with this. But I guess the only scientists who do are the ones who will find correlations no matter what. Their bias science hurts the whole of human kind. All it takes is a little fact checking to show that gamers are the most pacifist people imaginable. Education, culture, genetics, and family life are the biggest reason’s why people commit violence. Saying games are the source of this is lazy propaganda by scared people who needs something to blame. If you don’t want your kid to be violent then be a good parent, put them in school, move out of any ghetto town, and watch who they become friends with. It’s as simple as that.

This is totaly rediculous. Ok, I have been hacking-and-slashing with warriors of the like, Bombing and covering fire with platoons of all game series since I was a kid. I'm still not a violent person. When I was 5 I got games ranging from Spyro to Duke Nukem. Crash Bandakoot to Mortal Combat. Sure Duke Nukem for an 5 year old might seem innappropriate. Running around killing pig people and prostitutes. But you know what? My mother also had the brains to remember that SHE raises me, NOT VIDEO GAMES. She was sure to tell me that certain violent acts are wrong and that you DON"T DO THEM. SHE told me what was wrong, what was right, and what was inappropriate. Parents need to actualy try, JUST TRY, to raise their kids like my mom did, and teach them right from wrong, and maybe try the games out before letting your kid play them. Ask about them, look them up online, LEARN ABOUT THEM. Trust me, it can take anywhere from a 5 minute conversation with a nerd at your local game store, to a very thorough review online. There were many things in my life that can shape how "violent" you become when you are older, trust me. I had no father for a huge part of my life, a single mom, bullies at school, few friends. I came home, and played video games. The ones I told you about at the begining of this. And because my mother actualy took time out of her life to talk to me, I know whats ok (or at least ok in our society). Yes, I played violent games as a kid and STILL play them. I also liked Viva Pinata and Forza 2. So screw you. Yet despite the fact I play(ed) these games, I don't get in fights all the time, I don't beat people up, I have lots of friends, I don't hit my girl friend, I didn't fail in school, I've never killed or raped someone. I'm just a normal laid back American guy who loves his Chili Cheese Fritos and his Sobe Green Tea with his Dynasty Warriors, Halo 3, Gears of War, Manhunt 2, and Viva Pinata game-athons. Just talk to me for a while, i'm sure I could even find a game Hilary Clinton would like (if she even had the right to enjoy a video game anymore) My point; its up to PARENTS, not MEDIA (IN ANY FORM), not the GOVERNMENT, and not the ES RB, to raise your kids. IT IS YOU WHO IS RESPONSIBLE! Don't punnish us gamers because your a S****Y PARENT! I spit on you Huesmann.... Your study offends me. I spit on you Clinton. Your completely uneducated and ignorant opinion offends me. I hope all of us gamers come together and protest the censoring that that has began to fall upon our arts: Video Games. GAMER POWER

THAT'S WHY THE GAMES HAVE RATINGS DUMB@$$ GOD IF YOU CANT READ YOU SHOULDNT BUY VIDEO GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, maestro78, you have sum this up, as if my argument rules out Huesmann's argument. The facts are in favor of the gaming advocates, not the antigaming forces. I am an established gamer, playing mostly RPG video games (such as the Final Fantasy series). I have never been accused of a crime. I have also been watching CourtTV, seeing how it is almost impossible to get away with murder. I have also learned about the dark side of the legal system, especially unconstitutional legislation.

Ted_Zanarukando you are completely right, but I would like to add one additional item that bothers me greatly about this review. That item is the assumption that human beings are automatons. The entire article talks as if we have no choice in our behavior. That if we see violence we automatically become more violent ourselves and hence act out that violence. Even if, EVEN IF, the exposure to violent media enhances our own predisposition to violence, we DO NOT have to act on those urges. Between stimulus and response, human beings have a choice. This is one of the most basic differences between us and most other animal life on this planet. This point alone invalidates most the article author’s argument.

FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!?!?!?! There are MORE IMPORTANT PUBLIC HEALTH "THREATS" AND ISSUES IN GENERAL THAN VIDEO GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wonder if this Huesmann dude pulled all the data out of his ass for trying to justify violent video games as a public heath threat..... I wish politicians and these damn educators stop totally focusing on video games...... I will be glad to see some of our generation getting into the upper echelon of politics.....

too many generalizations (more likely?) what about the non violent wife beaters what caused them to go violent. it amazes me that they can call games a public health risk but pumping food full of carcinogenic preservatives isnt. i think a few more people eat food than play games, i think

kirby_uk - I do too. I usually am quite a mellow fellow, and have always been despite playing games like Mortal Kombat since I was 12. I am 28 now and haven't killed or hurt anyone. I am amazed how these so called "studies" that these so called "scientists" conduct manage to miss folks like us which make up 98% people who play games. We're a discriminated against minority of sorts, not criminals. This stuff is exactly the reason why people need to VOTE HILLARY AND OTHERS LIKE HER OUT!!!! This is the reason WE NEED TO VOTE. Ron Paul said that the government should not be parenting your children, and if parents are concerned with what thier kids are exposed to then they should monitor what thier kids are doing themselves. The more we ask the government to regulate for us the less of a Republic we have and the more of a Oligarchy we become, and that means we LOOSE GOD GIVEN RIGHTS. VOTE EARLY VOTE OFTEN, AND GET THESE FACISTS OUT OF OUR REPUBLIC! (See the constitution and the bill of rights, the pledge of allegace, the Federalist Papers, the esays by James Madison, etc... The government is lying to you. We are not a Democracy, and we should NOT be transitioning toward socialism. We need to use the ballot to fight to retain our freedoms now. "A republic... if you can keep it." -Benjamin Franklin

Just another guy trying to get published. They tried doing this way back in the 60's when TV was new. Huesmann's one of those attention-whores with a psych degree feeding off nervous housewives.

I am a gaming advocate as well as an established gamer myself. These media effects studies are actually inconclusive. They are solely ammunition used by the antigaming forces to destroy the video game community and intrude upon its rights. There is actually no causal link between media violence and criminal acts. Censorship is not the answer to violence in society; thus it is a dead end. There is no bandaid solution to violence in society. Playing video games like God of War does not mean that we are going to go out and willfilly stab and kill people. Contrary to what Huesmann says, violent video games are no public health threat. The studies pointed out by Huesmann are actually unverifiable. In media effects studies, subjects are asked to consume content that they may not normally console and may not understand. The context in question is radically different from the environment in which video games are normally played in. Most people imprisoned for violent crimes usually consume less media before commiting their crimes than the general population. Gamers usually do not commit violent crimes. According to the numbers presented by the Department of Justice, there is no link between the availability of violent video games and the rise of violent crime. If the antigaming forces win, they will go much further and repress all freedom of speech and ultimately most fundamental of all human rights. It will get progressively worse, and the human race will go the way of the dodo. That is why we must fight against the antigaming forces. The real public health threat is the repressive cultural ideologies that are being enforced by American society, and that includes ideological political movements and divisive and ideological social taboos.

Personally, I play games to relax and even take out my frustrations. After playing I usually feel much calmer than before. I'd be interested to hear about other people's personal experiences of playing video games in that respect.

i played mortal kombat and street fighter among other violent videogames when i was a little kid and i'm not a violent person, i think that being a violent person depends more on the people you grew up with, not what games or which tv shows you watched

Games are violent, because of kids playing hockey....right.

No offence but you would have to be a thick **** to do bad things because a damn video game.

Actually, plenty of kids are smart enough to not emulate what they see in video games without parents explaining to them. I was, and so were the kids I grew up with. Most of our parents were abusive or neglectful, yet they never disapproved of what we liked just because of a rating. To say that NO child is capable of understanding the difference between fantasy and reality is ridiculous. I don't know whether to call it funny or ignorant when know-it-alls are more concerned with what kind of games the kids/teens play than where/how the kids/teens got the guns in the first place.

garbage study. how about you dont show boys between the ages of 7 and 9 a violent movie unless their parents are with them explaining things? your taking really young kids and showing them ultraviolent things that a lot of them probably dont understand. the variables for this experiment are just dumb. games have a rating for a reason. kids that are 7 aren't supposed to be playing grand theft auto. yes some of them are mature enough but thats because they have intelligent parents that explain things to them. when your 7 you dont even have a full grip on reality or life yet and you expect these kids to know great deal about morals and violence and adult life? jesus...this is crazy. and then Huesmann goes on to get an attitude and compare video games to all these horrific things. i was playing mortal kombat when i was 6. you know how many fights i've been in? probably 1 or 2 that were unavoidable. how many people have i killed? none. how many people have i robbed or rape? none. the world has so many outlandish problems and this is where everyone is focusing? like this is a real epidemic? omg...

I think its silly to say video games make people more violent. But i also think that there's more violence in ALL of our entertainment media, which isn't really a good thing. violence and such for young-ones that don't know better IS dangerous. We're in a society now with numb pre-teens and teenagers who's moral compasses that have began to gray as they see death, blood, gore, etc in every form of entertainment they digest- not just games. Bottomline: children need parents that don't suck, and we need to control video games like we control pornography. America confuses me. Beowulf, which is VERY VERY violent is only rated PG-13... a naked guy rips the arm off of a giant monster. seriously? PG-13? We let movies and TV gore it up as much as they want, but if there's a nip slip or a buttocks, we all FREAK OUT, ban the content, refuse to sell it and people get sued and fired. Nudity isn't as offensive as violence. get it together, people. If anyone is outraged by violent games, tell the ESRB to get there act together and set some ACTUAL rules to the ratings system. Bannanating is not the answer, you hippy university "professors".

this is so stupid, violent video games dont turn people into maniac that go and kill people in the middle of the streets. No matter what happens, if an individual were to commit a crime, it is his or her's responsibility for their actions. no matter how much influence they experience in life, it will never be able to make them kill someone deliberately. Ok so are they saying those who play god of war and they enjoyed, does that mean that we are going to go out there and stab someone just for the fun of it? NO. it all depends on the individual himself, if they were capable to murder someone, then they are crazy and demented. It doesnt mean that video games necessarily made kill him. it makes no sense whatsoever so why are these professors saying that these games make people go mad and violent like bulldogs. this is just bull

I agree with Hvac0120 that studies like these need to take into account a lot more than just violence being watched or played. Whats the family history? Whats the home life like? What are the financial incomes of the families? Ethnicity, location, education levels... All this needs to be revealed in a study of this nature to get a more accurate appreciation for what is going on. As a parent I see first hand how violence or aggressive behavior in anything my kids watch is directly reflected in the action they do. My kids are also autistic so they more easily imprint on these types of behaviors. But, I also notice how I behave after watching or playing something that is violent or aggressive as opposed to watching kids programs that are educational and don't have any aggressive themes in them. When I think about it, violence or aggression in media scares me on a much larger level than just as individuals. Its like being inundated with propaganda films.

The problem with these studies are that there are too many other social factors that help to make children act violently. Maybe those boys that played hockey more violently have abusive parents or are of a single parent family. Maybe they go to a more violent school? I could list hundreds of other factors. IMO - these studies can never be scientifically proven because there are too many other factors involved. Add to that the fact that boys ages 7 to 9 shouldn't be playing games with a rating higher than E. Those games don't have much "violence" in them. At least not more than what is in their daily cartoons on TV.

jeez, this war never ends, does it

um..... Antoshi, manhunt 2 was meant to be overly-violent. MEANT TO BE!

Sincerely I think that the American politicians try to take the parents attention (and their votes off course...) with this measurements, in fact if they will want to do the right thing, they must to take down the NRA, and erase of the constitution the absurd law of gun rights for individuals, once they do this they will reduce the crime on the streets, not taking down a game that brings fiction not reality, also make efforts to control and restrict the game selling based on ESRB rating.

I live in a violent country.... And over here it's so violent because of the lack of work and poverty in the majority of the people. And trust me the people who do crime here is mostly people that don't even own a car or a house so there is no way they will have a gaming console... So anyone trying to tell me that we have Hijackers because they played GTAIV is a F**** liar... I say job creation and equal rights in ALL countries are way more important than trying to prove that video games makes you go freakin' mental or something... As far as I know murderers are sick individuals and their sh** started from a young age...not because of games but because he's parent's were probably F***** Up! Then there is mass murderers that had a normal family but he still started going mental... Games or movies? No way get serious! it's because somehow in his mind it wasn't wrong... And that's a medical thing and nothing to do with what he read or saw on T.V... Find the source! Oh and guess what the source is humanity!!! Look at History for F*** sakes.... Humans are violent, we've always been and we always will be. In a really scary and F****** up way we are just evolved animals we use to hunt and kill for survival... Luckily the modern age made it less instinctive because we can buy food at a supermarket we don't have to kill a cow by ourselves... We can have casual sex because of condoms and you can even pay for it if you can't get it by yourself.... But that doesn't stop people from raping and killing and stealing and all that... Our Instinct sometimes filter through from our ancestors.... That is a fact. I'm not violent at all but if I walk in on someone trying to rape my wife I will rip out every organ in his body because instinctively I am capable of doing that but that doesn't mean I will do that to anyone... You have to look at the reasons for doing something before you can say why it was done! Movies, games or even books has got nothing to do with that... It's who are!

"A 15-year follow-up on the subjects of that study found that those who watched the most violent TV were more likely to have been convicted of a crime or to have abused their spouses." Did they ever think that people who are already violent may like to watch violent movies and games?, and not that the games and movies make people violent? it's a dumb BS study go get a real job. and stop using word's like "may and can and might" just to cover you're ass when you find out you are wrong.

I don't understand what new idea they are trying to prove here - nobody ever disputed the effect of violent media on young people and developing minds. I think we all could have told the guy that ages ago. What a waste of time and money.

• Over a third of all female murder victims in England are killed by a current or former partner, Thats what id call a damned real issue not the government trying to use games as a back door to full media regulation, as Jeff pointed out in a hotspot. That and Sociology from a Sociological point of view violence is a product of the entirety of society. Either as a product of inherently oppositional Capitalism, or the male ideals of Patriarchy. Why is this relevant, because nearly all phychological ideas are based on socialization a solely sociological concept. Therefore ask a sociologist not a psychologist on this issue. The answer probably will be its a product not a cause of todays society. Finally no-one here is trying to promote the idea that violent games aren't bad for 11 years olds only that its trying to be used to excuse laxness in those responsible for the children, and the fact that those games were never meant for the kids anyway.

Finally, a guy not pointing fingers at just the game industry, but at all forms of violent entertainment. I don't think it's healthy to show a kid any type of violent entertainment (don't get technical on me about cartoons and mild cartoon violence), but things like Grand Theft Auto and the Saw movies shouldn't be in Little Timmy's view.

This fails to explain why violent crime in all demographics is lower than it has been in America's existence. Seriously, the panic about our mythical violent generation would dissipate if people would just look up the **** statistics themselves and stop getting spoonfed fear from politicians and old white men in labcoats. Check out the Bureau of Justice Statistics yourself: << LINK REMOVED >>

You know, we think if somebody kills someone, that's murder, you go to prison. You kill 10 people, you go to Texas, they hit you with a brick, that's what they do. 20 people, you go to a hospital, they look through a small window at you forever. And over that, we can't deal with it, you know? Someone's killed 100,000 people. We're almost going, "Well done! You killed 100,000 people? You must get up very early in the morning. I can't even get down the gym!

Yes it's, it's definitely the ONLY reason I killed my friend after he raped my wife. >.>

Of course it is. I just killed 10 people trying to outdo my neighbor who killed 15 yesterday.

why would a violent video game be a threat to the public? how the fu** is that gonna affect the public, you gotta be some retarded person that deseves to be a mental patiant somewere in the country who goes around copying shi* they see on tv and in games, its just crazy how anyone can put the blame on violent media wen its the cracked up individual that need blaming, ---- long live violent media i say, its not real.

Regardless of what the back-and-forth may be, Manhunt 2 is undeniably an overly violent game.

again, this guys email is huesmann@umich.edu and I just sent him a letter with my two cents, and you can too if you'd like

When are we as a society gonna stop playing the blame game. If a kid takes steroids then blame pro athletes. If someone gets killed over a pair of sneakers then blame Nike. If a kid does drugs then blame young Hollywood. Enough! Where in the hell are the parents to all of these kids! Oh! That right I forgot parents have there own lives and they're to busy to be bothered with pesky kids.

The main problem is that the more video games are sold the less crime we seem to have and in that time more and more violent games have come out. So how can they say it really is a "threat to the public".

This is my first comment ever after coming to this site for years. I hate these stupid "studies." Sure there might be correlating data somewhere, but it is absolutely not a public health threat. And educate the parents, not the game developers. If I poop in a box, advertise, and sell it in grocery stores as poop-in-a-box cereal, are you going to get mad at me for doing it, or mad at the parents for buying the poop for their kids to eat? I love action movies and games. I love violent movies and games. I listen to death metal. I love Family Guy. But I'm happily married, an elementary school teacher, and an overall nice person. I've been gaming for probably 20 years, destroying Russian tanks in my M1 Abrams with my 36 megabyte hard drive and 5 1/4" disks. Public health threat? I think not.

You know what Huesmann? Your mom, thats what. OOOH, didn't see that one comin' didya? Burn!

now, that's the thing about science. Once in a while there is a big break through, but untill one of those happens, most scientists do stuff like this to stay in good public opionin. A while ago, every scientist thought that the world was flat and it was the center of the universe.

First of all, I really doubt any of these politicians have played the game, so they're really just based on angry-parent accounts. I would of course then question why the parent is angry if they're buying games specifically rated not for kids. I'd also like to point out something that occured to me about the research this professor has presented. He pointed out that kids that watch many violent movies and play violent video games have a very real corrolation between violence/crime with these and violent video. However, the study doesn't address if these are just preferences of kids already predisposed to these tendencies. Maybe violent people like to experience more violent things. Less violent people may tend to watch and play less violent things. Essentially is the playing of violent video really being proven to promote crime or can all this really only say that violent people tend to have more violent interestes; violent video games and movie viewing are just a product of a violent person instead of a cause of a violent person. Unless this issue is addressed in future studies, they're not really proving a whole lot. -TK

It seems their main focus is games tho, and NOT TV or movies, which is something i posted about months ago. How there are more R rated movies then there are PG-13, PG, and G rated movies put together. Video games are nowhere near like that, with most games being in the K to T range and barely any games are Mature, none that i own. Not only that its much harder to get a Mature game then an R rated movie. But still Hillary wants to go after Manhunt 2, c'mon they didn't even release the version they wanted to, even tho i know you can unlock it on some systems (PSP wasn't it?) and where was she when Manhunt 1 came out? Hillary Clinton is an idiot, why are people even listening to her she has no idea what she's talkin about, she has it out for video games, and is a nasty **** no wonder Bill cheated on her.

I can say that i agree totally with xerotheory142 as he makes a really good point and i do think that the parents the gamers and the government should get involved in the process to prevent children to get a hold of M-rated games but i alse see a lot of other societies where there are a lot of gamers and they dont have such a big issue of a violent society the thing i see is that even though games and movies have been a big target of the government but i see a much bigger issue with the society in itself as how the kids are raised and some lack to see the vlue of life, people who confuse the real life with the games and start shooting people the thing i see this not only as an issue of games and movies but of the whole society and how messed up its getting to be

This is the exact same garbage every one of these "professors" has been saying for who knows how long.

Well this is not very conclusive at all, and the professor is using those comparisons wrong. Why? because you cannot isolate human behavior. It is influenced by everything and not just the media. The studies don't take into account the socio-economic status of the families, family history, activities. Playing a violent game will not cause someone to shoot someone in the face. People do stuff to other people and are infulenced by many things and we cannot blame one thing for causing another. And if some undereducated judges to decide on this then imo they must ban every other violent type of media and not give video games special attention, which is ridiculous

As an addendum the Lancet abstract, related to this article. pointed out the link with crime and that this was weak and small.

i see his basis on this. to you who don't think outside the box, this makes sense. but i don't even care