Reddit reviews Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy

I agree. I was out of school by then, but the research I remember being the biggest deal at that time was coming out of Iowa State University from a professor named Craig Anderson.

The first studies Anderson and his team did compared games of different styles to the level of aggression they witnessed in the people who played them, but he later went on to tie it all in with tendencies toward criminal behavior and violence. If I remember right, he then wrote it all up and went on book tours, using his status as a scientist to promote his ideas about the regulation of violent games.

I remember Hilary making this speech -- or one almost exactly like it. I also remember Jack Thompson was enjoying his revival around that time, getting lots of press talking about "Hot Coffee" and naked Sims, while child psychiatry expert (and rising State Assemblyman) Yeland Lee was pushing for anti-game laws in California.

You should at least acknowledge some psychology or real sources. Your blog entry is just a recycled rant that r/gaming loves to pass around. You are rightfully criticizing a general social ignorance about video games, but you don't even come close to discussing real causes and roots of violence and how video games might be involved.

Most psychologists I have read do not believe that video games cause violence. However, many do agree with something called "The General Aggression Model." This, in a super nutshell, argues that aggressive media, be it books, images, movies and games can add to a pool of potential aggressive responses.

So, if a dog were charging you, you might think to run away, climb a tree, or take a submissive position. The more people consume all forms of violent media, the more common they are to think of solutions like stab the dog, shoot the dog, fight the dog. This is because seeing these solutions used in media over and over slowly validates their potential use in real life and keep them more active in our subconscious, primed and at hand.

Do video games and other media force us to take a gun in our hand as a solution to a problem? No. But they add to a larger pool of aggressive responses, validate them, and might prime them for use. Some people are more resistant to these forms of media, others are not.

I recommend this: It outright says that games do not cause violence, but argues that violent media consumption does have an impact on how we process potential responses to different situations.

It will help you form a more nuanced argument about your topic. Otherwise, read up on the General Aggression Model. Its pretty neat.

http://www.amazon.com/Violent-Video-Effects-Children-Adolescents/dp/0195309839/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344994804&sr=1-1&keywords=violence+in+video+games