Videogame Violence (Again)

"A psychotic teen may have played Duke Nukem, but Duke Nukem didn't make him psychotic."

That's the most memorable line from a recent article over at about.com. It's an article that talks about a fairly repeated concept that video games cause violence in kids. That's something that we see a lot in the press, but this article has a few good insights into this issue. Here's a few things from the article..

Unfortunately, the natural desire to find answers can turn into an exercise in pointing fingers and doling out blame. It is always important to search for answers, but we should be careful about jumping to conclusions. Special caution must also be shown in recommending any course of action that might infringe upon freedom of speech. In the aftermath of these incidents, attacks on music, movies, role playing games, video games, and even fashion, all became more prevalent. The major evidence for their ill effects always seems to be that the killers were in possession of the media--they listened to Marilyn Manson, or dressed all in black, or loved Basketball Diaries, or played Duke Nukem. Just because two things seem related does not mean that one causes the other.

Make sure and check out the whole thing - there's some good insights here.

Posted by Joe Siegler on April 5, 2000 at 3:00 PM | Permalink
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