Violent video games making children aggressive: study

New Delhi, Aug 20: Children are becoming increasingly aggressive with their exposure to violent video games, according to a new study. Teachers of 600 children aged between 13 and 15, said children who spent more time playing such video games were more hostile than others. They are also more likely to argue with authorities and peers.

The report was a result of 17 studies conducted over 20 years by Kevin Kieffer and Jessica Nicoll of Saint Leo University, Florida. According to the review, there’s a strong link between these games and how children and adolescents behave. However, long-term effects are as yet unclear.

Commenting on it Dr Sameer Parekh, Psychologist, Max Healthcare told FE: “No violence can have a healthy effect on children. It makes children less inhibited and desensitised to violence. It also leads to a distortion of reality wherein they tend to justify violence.”

Playing games with violent moves such as karate kicks, for example, leads children to use these moves in real life. Another study showed that playing video games using flame-throwers and automatic weapons made them more “mean and angry” afterwards.

Children who play violent games are less likely to be helpful. But whether these attributes translate a behaviour is still unclear. Said Keiffer: “Imagine a child playing these very violent games from the age of 10 until adulthood. It’s hard to speculate that he would not have some adverse effects as a result of this.”