Harvard Researchers look into the effects of violent video games on children

Politicians are constantly ranting and raving about violent video games and their affect on children. Well some researchers, including two Harvard researchers have come up with a conclusion that is bound to really piss off anyone who has cried wolf about video games causing violence.

Actually, they will likely just ignore it entirely. The study began in 2004 and took $1.5 million to pull off. They closely examined 1,200 children after they had played games like Grand Theft Auto as well as the less violent games such as Sims.

The Psychologists, Cheryl Olson and Lawrence Kutner came to the shocking conclusion that for most kids the game worked as a stress reliever. Some of the children did indeed display a bit of playful aggressiveness after spending hours on the violent games. However, it was no more than when kids watched a movie filled with martial arts. They even decided that the games had a positive effect on the child’s brain. If you’d like to read more on their research, you might want to pick up Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games by Kutner and Olson as well as Everything Bad is Good for you: How Today’s Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter by Steven Johnson.

[via crave]