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Video Games and Children
Running Head: VIDEO GAMES AND CHILDREN
Video Games and the Elusive Search for their Effects on Children: An Assessment of Twenty Years of Research
James D. Ivory
Department of Communication and Mass Media
University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY, 82071
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307-766-2100 (office) 307-721-0211 (Home)
Abstract
This paper assesses 20 years of research into the effects of video games on children. Studies reveal dispute over effects, with findings of negative effects disputed by other research. Further complicating the issue is the fact that the medium has rapidly evolved technologically, making problematic any comparisons of video game studies over time. The author concludes that a workable or precise model of video game effects on children seems unlikely in the near future.
Video Games and the Elusive Search for their Effects on Children: An Assessment of Twenty Years of Research
Children cannot distinguish what is allegory and what isn't, and opinions formed at that age are usually difficult to eradicate or change; it is therefore of the utmost importance that the first stories they hear shall aim at producing the right moral effect.
- From Plato's Republic (quoted in Wartella & Reeves, 1985, 119-120).
. . . it's going to take a lot of shooting to fight your way out of this one.
- From the instructions for Revolution X, a 1997 video game by Acclaim
The effect of mass media on children has been a popular topic of study for most of the 20th century. Considering Plato's warning above, made more than two millennia ago, it could be argued that the content of narrative messages has been a concern much longer, and the significance of this concern is demonstrated by the amount of scrutiny dedicated to each mass medium introduced to children in this century. Beginning with the well-known Payne Fund studies' massive examination of film effects in 1933, scores of subsequent studies by researchers have similarly examined the effects of radio, television, and, most recently, the Internet, on children.
A large share of this research has emphasized the negative effects of such media sources. According to Wartella and Reeves, "Our review found a progression from early attention to studies of media use to increasing emphasis on issues of physical and emotional harm, and changes in children's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. In addition, studies about violence, sex, and advertising recur" (1985, p. 126). Historically, the most denunciatory remarks about the mass media's effect on children have come in researchers' critiques of television. In her book, The Plug-In Drug, Marie Winn compares television's effects on children with those of narcotics (cited in Wartella, 1980), and R. L. Shayon called television "the new Pied Piper" in the 1952 book Television and our Children (quoted in Wartella and Reeves, 1985, p. 123).
Concerns such as those voiced in these studies also has led to public debate over censorship and regulation of the mass media, from film rating systems (Campbell, 1999) to recently implemented and controversial Internet filtering programs (Hunter, 2000). The effects of mass media on children remain such a significant concern that the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement in 1999 warning pediatricians to "incorporate questions about media use into their patient's routine visits" and "serve as role models by limiting the use of television and videos in waiting rooms and patient rooms," among other suggestions (quoted in Preboth, 2000, p. 890).
Events of recent years have pushed to center stage the study of another mass medium, interactive video games, in the investigation of media effects on children. In some instances, the negative dangers of video games have been viewed as much more momentous than those of television because, although both media contain violent entertainment content and have numerous technical similarities, video games' require that the consumer become actively involved (Scott, 1995). Studies of video game content and effect have been conducted for nearly two decades, and the medium was questioned as early as 1982 when U. S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop stated that U. S. children "are into the games, body and soul - everything is zapping the enemy. Children get to the point where when they see another child being molested by a third child, they just sit back" (quoted in Scott, 1995, p. 121).
However, video games received more attention that ever after Columbine High School students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people and wounded 23 others before killing themselves in a shooting spree April 20, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado ("Portrait," 1999). In the following weeks, reports that Harris and Klebold were enthusiasts of violent computer games - as was Michael Carneal, who in 1997 killed three of his classmates in a Paducah, Kentucky, school shooting - prompted intensive public scrutiny and legislative investigation of the effects of video games on children (Hanson, 1999).
Especially with regard to recent incidents of youth violence in the news, interactive video games have been the subject of the same investigation and criticism that Wartella and Reeves (1985) found in existing studies of radio, film, and television. This study examines scholarly and popular press views and findings describing the use and possible positive and negative effects of interactive video games, especially regarding the much-scrutinized issues of aggression and violence. The development and evolution of the games themselves is also addressed, again with emphasis on violence and aggression. Finally, regulation of the medium is discussed, as are the possible implications of the role and effects of this medium in the future.
Popularity and Supervision in the United States
It is indisputable that video games are a very popular entertainment source in the United States today. Video games sales total about $7 billion each year in the United States, and over 40% of U. S. television households had at least one video console unit in 1995 (Dorman, 1997). In a 1993 survey of 357 seventh- and eighth-grade students, the average time spent by each student playing video games was 4.2 hours a week (Funk, 1993).
These figures are not astonishing, considering that young Americans are remarkably well-equipped for video game play: a 2000 cross-cultural study of children from six nations found that U.S. children have the least amount of assigned responsible work and the most access to "toys, manufactured games, and store-bought play materials" (Edwards, 2000, p. 333). The same study also found that U.S. children are encouraged to spend a comparatively large amount of time indoors and playing alone - two more conditions conducive to video game usage.
Despite the prevalence of video game use in U. S. households and continuing public concern over the effect of violent content, evidence suggests that children's video game use is not strictly monitored in U. S. households. Options for strict parental supervision of video game use are available. In 1990, a company began marketing cartridge locks to prevent unsupervised access to video games. However, research shows limited supervision of video game play by children. In a study of 35 households that contained at least one third- to fifth-grader, Funk et al. (1999) found that most parents could not name their child's favorite game, especially if the child reported a violent game as his or her favorite. Parents also estimated their typical supervision time to be much higher than was estimated by their children. Funk et al. also proposed that frustration with video games might be a reason for parents' lack of knowledge about their children's playing habits. The study found that
parents exhibited a much higher level of frustration than their children when playing the same game simultaneously.
While video games, as documented above, are remarkably popular among children in the United States, research shows that pre-teen boys play video games more often than girls and also show a preference for more realistic, violent games (Funk & Buchanan, 1996a; Van Schie & Wiegman, 1997). This gender gap in video game preference continues through adolescence. A study of 229 subjects aged 15 to 19 found video game play to be more popular and highly regarded among males than females; the study also found gender differences in the level of violence in their favorite games (Barnett et al., 1997). While males consistently report more preference for video games than females, female use of the medium is not to be ignored. The aforementioned study of seventh- and eighth-graders found that two-thirds of the female subjects played video games at least one to two hours a week (Funk, 1993).
The preference of male video game players for violent game content also appears to be met by the industry. A 1989 National Coalition on Television Violence study found that 80% of 176 analyzed games by Nintendo (a leading video game manufacturer) portrayed "harmful violence" (quoted in "Video Games," 1993, p. 279). In a 1989 study of arcade game content and use, Braun and Giroux found that many of the arcade games "contained antisocial values of a violent nature" (p. 92), and 40 of 47 of the most popular video games reported in the 1993 survey of seventh- and eighth-graders had a violent theme (Funk, 1993). Another study of video games, conducted in 1983, found that 85% of the games analyzed contained simulated destruction, violence, or killing (cited in Scott, 1995).
All of these facts point to a massive influence of video games in the lives of U. S. children and justify an investigation of the effects of video games on children, especially games containing violent content. As is noted by Dorman (1997), "Because of the pervasiveness of video and computer-based games in homes, and due to the nature and content of these games, an examination of their effect on the health and education of children is warranted" (p. 133-134).
Effects Studies
Studies of the effects of video game use on children are varied and contradictory. Even studies involving the physiological health-based pros and cons of video game use by children fail to present a clear picture of video games as a positive or negative influence. On the one hand, video games have been viewed as a potential health detriment because they may replace other forms of exercise with sedentary game play. While some video game play has been observed to raise physical activity rates up to 80%, studies have not found this exercise suitable for improved fitness in children. Other physical detriments of play include Nintendinitis, a short-term injury, first noted in 1990, that develops as a result of repeated pressing of a game controller button with the right thumb (Dorman, 1997).
However, a number of physiological benefits, especially in the areas of coordination and reflexes, have been identified with video game use. In a 1989 study, both male and female subjects' reaction time decreased in a series of tests after the subjects played video games for 15 minutes, indicating - according to the study's authors - that video game use causes a decrease in reaction time (Fildes & Allan, 1989). Two years later, a similar study of 105 seven- to nine-year-old children noted a positive correlation between a subject's video game experience and his or her ability to accurately and consistently anticipate the timing of a moving light on a Bassin Timer (Kuhlman & Beitel, 1991). From these results, the study's authors concluded not only that video game experience aided hand-eye coordination and reflexes, but that gender differences observed in this area might be negated by increasing video game experience for females. These studies provide a strong argument that vide
o games improve some motor skills.
Such an argument is also a major point in the controversy surrounding another aspect of the possible effects of video games: detrimental psychological effects of violent video games. In a lawsuit against video game manufacturer Midway Games by the surviving families of three students killed by Michael Carneal, attorney Michael Breen argued that Carneal's video game prowess made him an effective killer. Said Breen:
Michael Carneal clipped off nine shots in a 10-second period. Eight of those shots were hits. Three were head and neck shots and were kills. That is way beyond the military standard for expert marksmanship. This was a kid who had never fired a pistol in his life, but because of his obsession with computer games he had turned himself into an expert marksman (Hanson, 1999, p. 15)
Many researchers argue that violent video games can increase aggression in the user. In a magazine interview, Annie Lang, a researcher on children and media, voiced concern that repetitive involvement with violent games lowers a player's inhibitions to real life violence. Lang observed, "I don't see how you can have that experience over and over again . . . blowing people up and feeling really good about it - how you can do that over and over again without changing your inhibition to do that" (quoted in Gillespie, 2000). Brent Stafford, a 1999 Master's degree recipient in communication studies at Simon Frasier University in British Columbia, had similar opinions in another interview. He noted, "Video games are training our kids to celebrate violence . . . the repeated experience of killing is going to be translated into behavior" (quoted in "Hooked," 1999). The views of Lang and Stafford are supported by academic research, but results are mixed and conflicting.
In a short-term setting, several studies point to an increase in children's aggressive behavior after playing violent video games, while other studies have found no such effect. Irwin and Gross (1995) found that both impulsive and reflective young children showed more aggression toward play objects after playing aggressive video games than after playing non-aggressive games, both in a free-play setting and in a frustrating situation setting. Schutte et al. (1988) found similar results in a study of 31 five- to seven-year-old children. Children assigned to play a violent video game exhibited more aggressive behavior in subsequent free play than those assigned to play a nonviolent game. A recent study of 227 college students by Anderson and Dill (2000) found that violent video games also increased short-term aggressive thoughts and behavior in older students.
However, many other studies contradict these findings of video game-induced short-term aggression. A study of fifth graders by Cooper and Mackie (1986) found no difference in interpersonal aggression between children exposed to an aggressive video game and those exposed to a non-aggressive game. A 1985 survey of teenagers by Kestenbaum and Weinstein found that video games did not induce aggression, and, in fact, had a calming effect on respondents (cited in Scott, 1995). A study of older subjects by Scott (1995) also yielded no significant relationship between exposure to violent video games and aggression in a short-term setting. Using a sample of 117 Strathclyde University students who were instructed to play either a non-aggressive, moderately aggressive, or highly aggressive game, Scott found no linear relationship between video game aggression and a change in subject aggression.
There are many possible reasons for the inconsistencies in short-term video game research (Dorman, 1997). One is general arousal theory, which proposes that children excited by the stimulating nature of video games will behave more aggressively or actively regardless of game content. This theory is supported by Silvern, who, after conducting two studies on video game play and aggression, said in a U.S. News and World Report article, "After playing Nintendo, children don't necessarily feel angry; they feel aroused" (Quoted in Slafsky, 1990, 56).
Another theory, catharsis theory, disputes the claim that violent video game content encourages aggression. Catharsis theory suggests that the emotional drive evoked by violent video game play reduces the chance of a child actually exhibiting violent behavior; the child's fantasy play and imagined actions causes the child to have reduced urges to act out aggression in actual behavior. Despite the potential of theories such as these to reconcile the differing claims of relevant studies, a consensus does not exist regarding the short-term effects of video games.
Perhaps of more social concern in recent times is the possible existence of long-term negative effects of video game use. As stated by Lang:
It is clear that there is no hard research which proves that most kids who watch violent movies or play violent games will march, trance-like, to their dad's closet, lock and load the family 30-30, and re-enact opening scenes from the movie Natural Born Killers or the games Doom, Quake, or Unreal. What is very cloudy is the well-documented effects of violent media over time: disinhibition and desensitization (Quoted in Gillespie, 2000).
In answer to such concern, research has been conducted regarding video games' long-term negative effects, such as delinquency and violence. However, possibly because of the difficult and complicated nature of testing long-term media effects, the studies are not as prevalent as short-term effects studies (Dietz, 1998). From what research in available, the results, like those of the conflicting short-term effects studies, are contradictory and inconclusive.
Delinquency and aggression have been linked to video game play in the work of several researchers. In one case study, Keepers (1990) described a "pathological preoccupation" with video games in an observed child who stole, forged checks, and skipped school in order to facilitate his use of video games. However, Keepers also notes that the child in the case study, along with his mother, was physically abused by the boy's father. This fact could have been a significant factor in the boy's illicit behavior. Another weakness of Keepers' study is that its description of only one child is merely anecdotal evidence of the harmful effects of video games. However, many other studies with larger samples yield similar results. Anderson and Dill (2000), who found short-term increased aggression as a result of video game play in 227 college students, also report in the same study the long-term finding that time spent playing video games is positively linked to delinquency and on-campus a
ggression and negatively linked to academic achievement. A 1984 survey by Dominick also found a significant relationship between video game use and adolescent delinquency (cited in Scott, 1995).
However, the connection between delinquency or poor academic performance and video game play is disputed. Van Schie and Wiegman's (1997) survey research of 346 seventh- and eighth-graders did not find the students' videogame habits to be detrimental to their school performance, social integration or leisure activities, nor was there a correlation between the amount of time the children regularly spent playing video games and their history of aggressive behavior. The study also found a significant positive relationship between the amount of time a child spent on video games and his or her intelligence.
In addition to aggression, delinquency and poor academic performance,video games' long-term psychological effects, such as social maladjustment, anti-social behavior and low self-esteem, are also significant in the wake of tragedies such as the Columbine shootings - which, according to Time, were carried out by "bright, maladjusted kids" (Quoted in "Portrait," 1999, p. 26). Despite the concern, study of video game effects using these variables is contradictory at best. Studies have found that video game play bears correlations with low self-concept and low self-esteem (Funk & Buchman, 1996a), especially, in some cases, in girl players (Funk & Buchman, 1996b). Dietz (1998) asserted that video games propose an antisocial remedy to social conflict because "video games emphasize the use of violence as a problem-solving technique" (p. 440).
In contrast to this evidence, a 1985 study of 447 junior high students by Kestenbaum and Weinstein found no connection between global psychopathology or social introversion. The study also noted that release of frustration facilitated by mastery of video games may actually help a child boost his or her self-esteem (cited in Dorman, 1997). Similarly, one Japanese study found no relationship between video game use and social adjustment, while another found that kindergartners who played video games had more developed social skills than their non-video game playing peers (Dorman, 1997).
In addition to the evidence that does not support a connection between video games and misbehavior or social malajustment, it is useful to consider the fact that a possible correlation between the two variables does not necessarily equate to a causal relationship. While some studies have found a connection between video game play and poor social development and self-esteem, it is just as possible that the child's lack of social success prompted video game use rather than vice versa. While the topic is a well-researched and widely debated issue in both scholarly work and public discussion, studies of the possible negative effects of video games are so contradictory along all fronts that it is impossible to make an unequivocal, unanimously supported claim for or against the existence of far-ranging negative media effects on children. In fact, the only aspect of video games effects that appears to be widely agreed upon in the research is that video games increase arousal in their
users. Other, more controversial, effects of video games on children remain unsupported by a consensus in the literature.
Evolution of Game Content
Because studies of video game effects have spanned most of the maturation of a rapidly changing medium, the development of video games themselves should be a major consideration in comparing studies from different years. Although video game research did not start immediately with the advent of commercial video game availability in the 1970s, studies have been conducted over a significant portion of the existence of the medium. However, video games have undergone a massive evolution in technology during this time; there has been almost continuous replacement of existing systems with more advanced graphics, sound, processing speed, information capacity and play features. In a spiritedly competitive industry, several companies have contributed dozens of gaming systems, each more advanced than the last. The content of video game messages also has undergone impressive change over two decades. Thus, the difference between video games of today and those studied in earlier studies is
great enough that it may be fair to say that study results from certain time periods have little applicability to games manufactured in other years.
The technological abilities of video games have rapidly improved since their introduction, far more so than previous studied mass media such as print, radio, film, and television. The capability of the computer processors of home video game systems, measured in "bits," exemplifies the amazing rate of this increase. Game systems in operation in 1980, for instance, utilized a four-bit processor. Ten years later, eight-and sixteen-bit processors were common, and 32-bit game consoles existed by 1993. By 1996, children could enjoy 64-bit games, and a 128-bit processor introduced in 1999 now stands as the pinnacle of home video game technology.
The 32-fold increase in processor technology is apparent in a remarkable increase in the realism available to video consumers. The video games studied by early researchers (e. g., Cooper & Mackie, 1986) tend to be of the type introduced between 1980 and 1983; these games feature blocky, heavily pixelated images which, though representative of the best available technology at the time, can hardly be considered realistic in retrospect (Illustration A). However, graphic realism has steadily increased since then, and currently available home video games offer the user much more realistic images, sometimes digitizing photographs or moving footage into the game's play (Illustration B).
Similarly, the sound capabilities of video game machines have improved dramatically during this time: the beeps, buzzes and other clearly synthesized noises of early video game systems have been replaced by recorded voice dialog and music and vocals from popular musicians. The ability of game processors to handle more complex programming also forced a change in the method in which game play is controlled: paddles and joysticks with one or two buttons have gradually evolved into ergonomic controllers featuring as many as twelve knobs and buttons. Some current game controllers vibrate intermittently during game play, and in the case of at least one home video game system, the controller has its own liquid crystal display monitor to complement the main game display. Other complicated game-control accessories have been developed for use with video game terminals, including sensor-filled gloves and gun-like, light-sensing zappers.
The contrast in realism of early video game systems with current models can be clearly seen via hindsight in a 1982 Consumer Reports review of the video game Defender:
One of the most amazing aspects of Defender is the graphics: there are 256 different color combinations that may burst onto the screen at any time. Add to that a variety of noises and a grand parade of shapes and movements and you've got yourself one shining example of video possibilities (cited in Fiske, 1989, p. 87)
Despite the magazine's admiration of the game's technical wonders, the blocky and low-resolution representations of Defender game icons (some of which use boxes, stars and dots to represent spacecraft) are laughably inferior to more recent video games' sensory offerings.
Another area in which video games have changed markedly over the course of their existence is in their content and standards, especially with games containing violent content. Early violent games primarily contained and displayed violence against fanciful enemies: identical aliens, cartoon ghosts, and the like. The development of games that depict more realistic conflict against human opponents has been marked by gradual change. In a 1989 study, Fiske notes that video games with socially deviant themes such as robbery "go to great lengths to refute" their illegitamate themes, as in his example where a robbery getaway game's goal is justified because the setting is "an evil dictatorship country" and the player is committing crimes only to "deliver vital cash reserves to the free world" (p. 90-91). Other games in the late 1980s and early 1990s bear similar disclaimers for their violence or criminality. In N.A.R.C., players blow enemies to pieces as members of a drug task force,
and Mortal Kombat enthusiasts use martial arts to eviscerate computer opponents with the briefly mentioned aim of saving the world from supernatural foes.
As of this writing, however, violence in many video games exists without justification, and, in some cases, anti-social or illegal behavior is clearly stated as the game objective. For example, GTA2's primary objective is for the player to earn fixed sums of money by carrying out car-thefts, illegal drug transactions and assassination contracts in an urban setting, but extra points may be earned by randomly killing bystanders and law enforcement officials. In the latter case, SWAT team members and FBI agents are worth even higher sums than patrolmen. Because of the advanced technical capabilities of newer game systems, these anti-social acts are also depicted in gory detail, a contrast to the noisy, vague representations of early video game violence. According to Time reporter David Jackson (1999), accusations that video game content contributed to incidents such as the juvenile shootings of recent years have done little to curb the production of these games. Jackson claims t
hat a month after the Columbine High School tragedy, the games introduced at the 1999 Electronic Entertainment Expo "reward players for shooting, maiming or running over anything that moves" and bear such titles as Doom and Gore. Evidently, the substance of video games has changed as significantly as the technology has in the past quarter century. Lang concurs, claiming that video games produced in the 1980s "were not very violent compared to today's first person shooters, such as Doom, Quake, Thrill Kill, etc." (quoted in Gillespie, 2000).
In studies that seek to verify or refute the existence of video game effects, it is logical to assume that the games' realism, attractiveness, complexity, manner of control, and message content are major factors in the presence or absence of effects in the consumer. However, many existing video game studies that claim to study the same dependent variable - short-term aggression, self-esteem, etc. - exhibit noteworthy differences in their independent variable - the games themselves.
For example, Scott's (1995) study of short-term aggression used the video game Fatal Fury as its "highly aggressive" game. Fatal Fury was described as a martial arts game where, according to Scott, "Attention has undeniably been paid by the programmers to convey an impression of pain and injury" (p. 126). However, a 1987 study by Graybill, cited in Scott's (1995) review of relevant literature, uses games that arguably have little comparison to some of Scott's. Graybill's selected aggressive game was Missile Command, a futuristic adventure in which the player launches defensive projectiles in an attempt to intercept falling ordnance from space. Not only is such a game's aggressive nature much less personal than that of Fatal Fury, Missile Command was released about a decade before Scott's aggressive game and is far inferior in graphic and auditory realism. Thus, while the two studies claimed to find similar results, it could be argued that their measurement scales were much mor
e different than is superficially evident.
In this way, it could be argued that the findings of many studies, whether conflicting or in agreement, are not especially relevant to one another if the games used are different in technical or substantive aspects. Because of the rapidly changing nature of video games over the approximately 25 years of their existence, it is reasonable to claim that studies, to an extent, become out-dated as quickly as the video games they use, with studies of the effects of some games bearing little relevance to more recent games and studies. The implications of this reasoning are many. One could encourage that all findings from studies that examine older video games be completely discounted in favor of the exclusive use of new studies and opinions of the effects of current games. However, this seems an extreme measure. For example, it is legitimate to argue that a study that finds increased aggression as a result of a game manufactured in the 1980s does nothing to prove that a very differe
nt game manufactured much later will have similar effects, but a converse argument could assert that studies that found aggression is increased by early video games with simple graphics and vague subjects implies that technicially superior games with anti-social messages evoke equal or even greater effects. The precise consequences of the numerous differences in video games used by different studies are unclear, but it is clear that games from different years and systems have enough inherent differences to merit heavy consideration in comparing chronologically diverse research of video game effects. Unfortunately, this fact does little to clarify researchers' conflicting views of video game effects; it serves only to add uncertainty to an image of video game effects that is already very ambiguous.
Regulation
The lack of conclusive evidence confirming or refuting negative video effects notwithstanding, the video game industry has dealt with attempts to regulate its content for over a decade. In 1975, before studies of video game effects even existed, Exidy's Deathrace 2000 was discontinued shortly after publication, presumably because of criticism of its violent content. Fourteen years later, the previously mentioned 1989 National Coalition On Television Violence report on video game violence gave an "X" rating to 44% of 176 games included in the study ("Video Games," 1989).
While the video game industry has consistently maintained that there is no connection between violent games and violent behavior (Dickinson, 2000; "Video Games," 1989), it has yielded to pressure to regulate its content. After testifying in 1993 to a U. S. Senate subcommittee investigating video game content, Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) president Dawn Wiener agreed to create a voluntary self-rating system in order to avoid legislation to regulate software content. After the agreement, Wiener stated, "We believe the creation of any governmental or quasi-governmental organization . . . would set a dangerous precedent" (quoted in Goldstein, 1993). However, Balkam claims that Congress maintained a heavy hand in regulating the video game industry by pressuring national retailers to stock only games that had been subjected by manufacturers to a content rating. Therefore, Balkam concludes that "through a process of carrot and stick, the government has ensured that the i
ndustry has 'voluntarily' imposed a regulatory rating scheme upon itself without the need of a dedicated government department and all the expenditure required to bring one into place" (quoted in Campbell, 1999). Regardless of the impetus behind regulation, there is evidence that suggests a failure of existing ratings systems to serve their purpose. According to West Coast Entertainment executive Ken Graffeo, some games' sales have been boosted by violence warnings and negative publicity (cited in Goldstein, 1993).
Considering recent public concern over video game effects, it is likely that the issue of video game content regulation will continue to receive scrutiny. U. S. Senator Sam Brownback decried the effects of video games on children in 1999 hearings, asserting that "bloodshed" is the reward granted a video game user (quoted in Hanson, 1999, p. 14). In 1999, President Clinton ordered the Federal Trade Commision and Justice Department to undertake an 18-month study investigating the marketing of violent media products, including video games, to children (Stern & Petrikin, 1999). Meanwhile, video game manufacturers have stood firm in their denial that video games negatively affect children, and some have claimed that increased regulation jeopardizes their First Amendment rights. Interactive Digital Software Association president Douglas Lowenstein's disappointment is clear when he says, "Alarmingly, people seem willing to accept constitutional restrictions on the entertainment indus
try" (Quoted in Lynch, 2000, 21). While research has failed to provide firm conclusions on how best to guide the video game industry's production and regulation, attitudes remain quite polarized.
Discussion
On all fronts, the issue of video game effects on children is a disputed one. Varied research, some based on theoretical models, has claimed a number of negative effects, including short- and long-term aggression, delinquency, poor academic performance, low self-esteem and poor social skills, and increased propensity toward illegal or anti-social acts. However, research and theory refuting these claims also exists, preventing the formation of a clear model of video game effects. Further clouding the issue is the fact that video games have evolved rapidly, both in technological aspects and message content. This certainty brings into question the relevance and relationship between studies involving products from different "eras" in the history of video games.
While public concern regarding video game effects has existed for almost as long as the medium itself, reports linking video games to recent tragedies involving adolescent acts of violence has given the issue more weight and visibility than ever in the national agenda. Video games are a very prevalent part of the lives of children in the United States and strong attitudes regarding their effects abound. However, a clear understanding of the games' role in child development is lacking. In the absence of a consensus opinion or a well-established ratings system, parents often are advised to make their own decisions to observe and regulate their children's consumption of video games. MIT media scholar Henry Jenkins notes, "So far, most of the conversation about Littleton has reflected a desire to understand what the media are doing to our children. Instead, we should be focusing on what our children are doing with the media" (quoted in Hanson, 1999, p. 26). Unfortunately, literature presented here suggests that many parents are ill-informed concerning the nature of their children's video game use.
Like other mass media sources, video games have received both praise and criticism, and debate over video game effects is not likely to subside soon. However, the concern about the issue brought on by recent tragedies and subsequent reports of video game influence on violence has created great demand for agreement on video effects, or, lacking that, cooperation in attempts to gain insight on the issue. As Lang states: "The problem is societal. We all need to come together on this issue because, like it or not, there will always be the one person who walks a thin line and just needs a nudge in a society brimming with violent messages and guns at easy access" (quoted in Gillespie, 2000).
Illustration A: 1981-1983 home video game screen shots
Source:
Gamespot.com.Retrievable online: http://videogames.about.com/games/videogames
(INCLUDED WITH PRINTED COPIES, BUT NOT DIGITAL)
Illustration B: 1998-2000 home video game screen shots:
Sources:
GTA2 Mainframe. Retrievable Online: http://www.gta-2.freeserve.co.uk/
Neoseeker. Retrievable Online: http://neoseeker.com/images/view.html
(INCLUDED WITH PRINTED COPIES, BUT NOT DIGITAL)
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