After doing a research project where I wrote a 20 page paper on video game violence and its effect on children, it really bugs me how people constantly misrepresent the truth of the issue. I am getting pretty tired of people claiming that the issue has been settled and that there is enough research to prove that video game violence harms children. From my research on the subject I have learned that those studies are far from conclusive. The fact of the matter is that for every study that says there is some sort of relationship, there is another that says there isn’t. Even those studies that say there is some sort of link never claim that it is a cause and effect relationship. For the most part those studies could just mean that violent children prefer violent entertainment. There are even some good studies that show violent video games could be beneficial to children. Surely these politicians must know this, but they ignore all of the evidence to the contrary. I think a main part of the problem is that it is a generational issue. The simple fact is that those in office are for the most part ignorant when it comes to video games. The whole idea of playing a video game is alien to them. They have no idea what it is like and they can’t be bothered to try it out. I am willing to bet that once that generation is out of power, the whole issue about video game violence will pretty much disappear as it has before with comic books and rock music. But until then, feel free to laugh at how absurd they are:
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