EducationNews.org

Wow, all those problems listed, and one very simple answer, be a parent and take charge of what games your kids play and how long they play them.

There is absolutely no rule, no law, nothing that says you can't turn off the game system, turn off the TV, hide everything, and send your kids outside. There are ratings on every game that is sold in a store, which give an age recommendation and why they got the ratings they did. Need more info on game ratings, go to http://www.esrb.org/index-js.jsp .

Please don't make these claims about video games unless you have proof of their accuracy and sources to back them up.

Funny, in high school, I had two friends who were avid gamers, to say the very least (one was WoW, another was a Nintendo fanboy who never went anywhere without his DS and hosted SSBM parties after school in the library), and they both ended up getting full rides to good colleges...

I play video games for about 4 hours a day on weekdays and about 10 on weekends, and I have all A's and B's at school, I am not very aggressive, and I am certainly not overweight. I don't know where you are getting your facts, but they are certainly wrong.

What are the sources of these "studies"? And there have also been studies to show that games like GTA IV (which shouldn't be in a young boy's hands anyway - which is the parents fault) and Halo actually act as a way to release agression.

And I personally, probably played the most video games of anyone in my year back in school and got the best grades the school had ever seen. Hell, I still play quite a bit of video games now and I'm doing perfectly fine at college. I'm also perfectly healthly too.

Like someone in the comments above have said, video games can be beneficial to a growing child's brain and body. If moderated correctly (like many things). Reaction times, puzzle-solving skills, hand-eye coordination, socialisation and communication skills, creativity etc.
The list can go on and on since gaming is can be so diverse.

Where are the citations for the claims? This article wouldn't pass any high school english class.

Don't get your kids them video games! Buy them a rifle and teach them how to kill living things, like a real man!

This article is a joke right?

Oh... It is not a joke!

Then we are in problems, people that teach parents about education are saying that video games are bad :/

I would say to not take your son to McDonald and Burger King each week, this solve obesity.

Also spend more time with your kids, talk with them, teach them how to play basketball... this solve the time problem...

Also taking your kids to a doc to see if they do not have any learning disability or to see if the kids do not has a problem with the curriculum or school solves the problem of bad school performance...

OMG, I am not even a parent, neither a educator, and I win from that guy...

What was you hoping to achieve with this article? You are pretty much stating the obvious with a blend of the usual misinformed dinosaur chants.

We have videogames in Europe but we don't have your obesity and underperformance.

And no there is no definite bond proven between violence and violent games. The study you fail to link to was biased and contained a whole bunch of loopholes.

I find it deliciously ironic that someone who heads an organization called "Making Minds Matter" has decided to brainlessly scapegoat.

way to be a hypocrite, Bill Costello!

Can I get a job at EdNews.org? I don't know anything about education, but if I can make information up and present it as fact, like Mr. Costello did, I should be pretty good here. I'm also quite skilled at taking correlations and making them sound like causative factors.

Right...a definite link....says who? All the studies I have seen have been AGAINST that link. In fact, since 1993 youth violence arrests have dropped as a whole. You know what else happened in 1993? The release of the playstation.

http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/youthviolenc...

Source Page:

http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/youthviolenc...

Hey bill. you are a 8===D Get the picture?

Completely baseless and outdated scaremongering. If this 'columnist' has any input on any form of education curriculum, then God help us.

Apparently you have yet to play the game otherwise known as Dewey's Adventure.

You tell me how that game can self destruct someone's life who is under 18 and then I'll agree with you.

If not then sorry your whole article is full of dookie.

And yes its the video games that make me use immature words like dookie. Please help me from myself.

Oh wait I can help myself by turning the game off.

Huray I'm saved!!!

Incoherent gibberish.

No definite link, no link to being fat, this guy is a moron who is a hypocrite for calling others stupid

Well I have to say you are pretty much wrong. Anti-social gamers are very rare, heck, if it's called the gamer community I have to say that well that's proof of some form of socializing. Look at many games right now. The more popular games are the ones that support multiplayer. This basically shows that these games support interaction and teamwork with other people.

These people think that just because I'm a gamer, I'm a violent sadistic person. I have never murdered anyone, and am the kind of person that wouldn't harm another human being. I help in the youth group at my church, and am sick and tired of being stereotyped because of the games I play.

I would like to see your studies. As mentioned in VSDA v Schwarzenegger, there is no empirical proof that video games cause harm.

I would love a follow up article or reply to be posted with your 'studies'. Furthermore, I would like you to read some court transcripts of recently failed video game legislation along with the result of the Pennsylvanian Task Force on Violent Interactive Video Games.

Wow, you know absolutely nothing about video games or education!

First of all, there have been no studies that prove a solid link between video games and aggression. Second, games have been proven to be very educational, so shut up.

Oh, and 13 hours a week isn't that much. In case you don't know basic math, thats less than 2 hours a day. Idiot.

I don't often trot out the word "bloviate," but here it fits. This is a collection of contested, correlational claims from unnamed studies, woven into a fear-mongering opinion piece that shifts the blame for a host of exaggerated ills from irresponsible parents to the easy media scapegoat du jour.

Mr. Costello, you should be ashamed of yourself for having put pen to paper on a topic about which you clearly understand so little. You come off as a modern-day Fredric Wertham (look him up), and your handlers are hopefully mortified to have handed you a soapbox.

Drop by the campus of any Ivy League university and discover for yourself what proportion of students identify as avid gamers. See how that jibes with your junk psychology.

http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact...
Read.

Correlation, not causal link Bill. There has yet to be an objective study that identifies a causal link between video games of any sort and violence, agression, etc.

If you want to prove me, and more than a few others wrong, please feel free to post these supposed studies which identify a causal link.

You want to fix obesity and sedentary lifestyles? Make playing a sport a mandatory requirement for passing high school. Increase the intensity and quantity of physical activity that grade school gym classes require. I can clearly remember most of my gym class consisting of either basketball or sitting around until the next period.

Are you sure you're not Jack Thompson? Or uses him as your reference? because your arguments is similar to his, not to mention he has ZERO credibility and a compulsive liar, especially to this issue.

To echo several of the above posters... Wow.

Your information is at best flawed and misinterpretted. At its worst, it is outright wrong and harmful to the very people you're trying to help.

If you can list ONE study, just one single study, that agrees with what you say and is scientifically sound, I will personally apologise to you.

But given that I pay attention to these studies as they're published and have yet to find anything even remotely indicating a cause and effect between video games and violence, I don't expect I'll need to post another comment.

Next time, your opinion would be better presented as just that.

(Psst, here's a little tip that you failed to mention. In the past 30 years, violent juvenille criminal activity has actually dropped by significantly measurable quantities. Care to field THAT one with your assertions of violence caused by video games?)

I do not take this seriously. Bill Costello is not an "expert" - he has a 2-year Master's degree in education with no rigorous background in research methods (e.g. Ph.D.) and is not sufficiently qualified in this area to take seriously.

He runs a business in training boys. Of course he's going to denounce anything that's not his training program - he has a financial interest in doing so.

Move along, nothing to see here...

I notice there is lot of emotion to this excellent article, but no facts to refute what the article says. The attached site further supports the case made in the article. For those who disagree, I suggest they provide their own studies and/or facts to refute the case made in the article. This will lead to a more fruitful discussion.
http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/familyresources/a...

The author of this article quotes tenuous-at-best studies, and presents them as fact. A link has NOT been definitely established between violent video games and anti-social behavior, and the tone suggests that the author knows NOTHING about video games except what Jack Thompson has told him.

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/PIP_Teens_Games_...

A Newer report stating something else.

Which is exactly what I meant by 'You can choose the Reseach to say what you want it to'

I notice that the article itself, until you posted that link, also had no facts to support its case. So maybe people on both sides of the debate should start reading up on the details?

We did know about Craig Andersons' research and you might want to read the details on how 'aggressiveness' was actually measured, which was using the difference *in milliseconds* between people applying a mild, non harmful electric shock to someone else.

At best the results of the research were inconclusive, at worst they were partisan.

You might also enjoy reading Grand Theft Childhood which also helps to unravel some of the misconceptions about the effects of Video Games.

@ AlexJohnson

''I notice there is lot of emotion to this excellent article, but no facts to refute what the article says''

i see what your saying but havent you got it backwards?

Surely the WRITER should be the one providing evidence to back up claims in his article in the first place, else how can it be described as an 'excellent' article? It consists of opinion (since opinion is simply statements without evidence to back up said statements).

It shouldnt be up to a journalist to write anything without facts to back it up and then commenters to show evidence to debunk the claims in the article, thats not how it works.

You have a theory, you provide evidence, you see if the evidence supports the theory. If it does can you find any more evidence to support it? is there any opposing evidence? etc.

Not 'My theory is X, its true unless you can disprove it'.

That just isnt how science works!

As for there being a 'definite link' i call BS.

there are just as many studys showing games have no negative effects/ have positive effects as those showing negative effects.

Its not clear cut either way, there are numerous studies on either side, and i find it very irresponsible to write an article that suggests anything otherwise.

Here are some links to studies showing positive / lack of negative effects

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/09/16/new-study-t...

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2007/11/19/researcher-...

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/04/02/new-study-g...

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2007/07/10/video-resea...

Alex Johnson, you should have followed Mark Twain's advice and stayed silent, because now, there is absolutely no doubt that you are a fool. Just as is the writer of this article.

Fact: Youth violence is on the decline.
http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violenc...
This chart is based on data from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Fact: Game sales are skyrocketing.
http://forum.pcvsconsole.com/viewthread.php?tid=15...

I'm guessing (although could find no studies) that violent video games make up a higher percentage of video games today than in the past.

So, IF violent video games promote youth violence, as this author stipulates without any supporting evidence, then why is youth violence plummeting if games are becoming more popular?

Are games unique? How about violent movies? Violent TV shows? Violent books? Do other forms of media exhibit the same problems alluded to by this author?

I really feel unconfortable when a pseudo-journalist suggest to people that videogames and children are a danger for society, BECAUSE THAT´
S EXACTLY WHAT THE AUTHOR IS DOING. He is helping no one by telling that all children are mindless ticking time-bombs waiting to shoot their parents or classmates on the heads, just for playing Grand Theft Auto (the only game this "journalists" know just by name).

Even when the author names "many studies", he didn´t post any source to backup his words.

Children of all ages play violent videogames and there is not a school massacre every single hour of the day like the author would like to suggest.

Violence has even more deep roots than just to play some games for many hours.

Another scaremonger for this week. Good job, Mr. Costello. Get used to more criticism and sarcasm when you write stuff like this against people who paly games.

We don´t like to be called sociopaths for any good reason than a "hollier than thou" stand.

Alex Johnson:
First, off I’m a graduate dietetics student preventing obesity is my job and the fact that you find this article to be excellent saddens me as it makes several mistakes that would get undergrads a C if that:

1) The general rule is you would ideal spend 20% describing the problem and 80% working on solutions to the problem, the article provides one, very bad solution, don’t buy them video games. Why is it bad?
2) You do not spend all your time tell people what not to do! You give them multiple alternatives and help them overcome barriers. The acronym is Listen Explain Acknowledge Recommend Negotiate. This doesn’t listen or Acknowledge kids in this age will play video games; it is fun kids tend to like fun. Gave one poor recommendation and offers no alternative to negotiate or ways to overcome barriers, because it doesn’t even acknowledge any barriers.
3) The problems listed in this article are mutifactorial, I can guarantee you could get rid of all game consoles tomorrow and the impact would be minimal if any (except maybe making the economy even worse.) Sticking to obesity, the problem is not any one thing it is that we live in a sedentary culture take away sedentary activate A and they will merely go to sedentary active B. The solution going back to #2 is telling people physical activities they can do i.e. buy a will fit, buy DDR, (these two also meet the LEARN acronym they are fun non-violent video games were you actually move) enroll your child in sport, you the parent playing the sport with them, buying a new basketball hoop instead and so on.

In addition, you want facts to refute this ok here we go: yes studies have found a link between games and “aggression” however they also found the same link between the bible and aggression: http://www.gamepolitics.com/2007/02/27/new-researc... . The problem is that the definition of aggression is lose and non-specific and the methods not particularly meaningful measures of real world aggression. The courts have repeatedly locked at the evidenced and found the links tenuous at best (at least in terms of any aggressive behaviors that would be of interest to the legal system) thus I’ll refer you to the decision of the safe Illinois video games act for the breakdown: http://www.daledietrich.com/gaming/decisions/ESA_v...(Dec_2_2005).htm#FOF1 . However since most people don’t click link in my expreces here are some highlights:

“once the results were adjusted to exclude nonserious behavior, such as throwing snowballs, less than ten percent of the participants reported engaging in aggressive behavior. Tr. 298-302.” And “there was a high (0.4 to 0.5) correlation between aggression at the beginning and end of the study; and at most, only four percent of the increase in aggression was associated with exposure to video game violence”. This is not a definitive result and even if they were they constitute a minor problem 4 percent at most. More specifically in studies using the duration of hornblast as the measure of aggression Dr. Anderson also indicated that exposure to violent video games only incrementally affected the amount of aggressive behavior they engaged in.”.” “The Court, however, questions the overall import of Dr. Anderson’s findings, given that on a one to ten scale of intensity, the most “aggressive” violent video game players administered an average blast of 5.93, and the least “aggressive” non-violent video game players administered an average blast of 3.98. There was only a two point difference, and both averages were in the middle of the intensity scale” and this “those participants who played a violent video game administered an average noise blast that was less than one point higher than the average noise blast of non-violent video game players.” Lastly my personal favorite: “In his testimony, however, Dr. Anderson stated that the difference between the two groups was a matter of milliseconds.” Let me repeat that milliseconds of blasting a horn.

I whould offer more advice but I have to go but I have to ask: So what is it you find excellent about this article again?

"However, they are the group most likely to suffer the destructive effects of video games." According to who? You? Is this statement based on valid research, or your anecdotal observation of your neighbors, Bill?

"On average, boys are spending more than thirteen hours a week playing video games." Again, says who? Please cite your sources for these claims. Otherwise, they are meaningless opinion from an uninformed blogger.

"Research consistently confirms that the more time boys spend playing video games, the more likely they are to do poorly in school

This is a tired and useless argument Mr. Costello.

This guy makes money off of this. He charges thousands of dollars for "training" and lectures. No wonder he's bashing video games, its his business. The more evil he can make video games seem, the more money he makes.

I play games a lot and when i heard this information, along like many others, it was hard to take in. Infact, all of this is very true. Boys have the desire to achieve, it is natural. Games make them think they are achieving something when they are actually achieving nothing in the real world. this changes the pathway in their brains. i know, it sucks because i love video games but the truth is that they can do some damage. 40 minutes a day should be max. an hour on weekends.

An interesting article, but over-dramatised. Slumping in front of the TV is just as harmful to health as playing Video Games or any other sedentary pastime.

Yes, there are reports that state that Video Games increase Aggression, there is also research that watching Rocky IV can have precisely the same effect, there's also research that states the Video Games can improve cognitive and co-ordination skills, you can pick and choose research depending on what you are trying to say.

Yes, parents should encourage their children not to lead a sedentary life, I'd even strongly suggest leading by example, but I'm not sure I hold with making a 'bogeyman' out of Video Games, they aren't the real problem, our lifestyle is.

oh my...

I see Making Minds Matter has no clue about educating kids. Thanks for the heads up, Bill!

Your info is wrong and is baseless. At least get your facts straight.

I'm a female who plays video games, and is giving video game gifts to a family member who *ahem* is a younger girl.
Oh well, I guess I don't exist. I'm so evil then, what, with my comic books, my music, my video games, my horror movies, and my books tearing apart the moral fabric of the world. Not.

I'm sorry to inform you, Bill Costello, but you're an antiquated dinosaur with views that hold about as much truth as the studies you've obviously spent so much time researching.

It's amazing really, that columnists pop up and write things so completely based on prejudice and so absent of fact. Every time, a slew of comments and/or poor ratings completely eradicate the points raised, unless of course the site censors them for the sake of saving a little face.

No link between violent behaviour has ever been proved. You'd think if one existed, it would have been spotted by the hundreds of studies commissioned by censor-happy governments and morally-twisted conservative christian organisations.

It's probably true to say that violent people often play violent video games. But so obsessed are you with trying to discredit any new media you don't understand, you miss the possibility that these people were already violent due to social conditions in their upbringing - and that this simply attracts them to violence in any media. After all, if every one of the 30 million people who own an Xbox 360 went out and committed violent crimes, then prisons would be a little bit more full than they are now.

I suggest that next time you want to come save the planet from a scourge that nobody except yourself has noticed, you should do your homework, and try to make sure that you're not writing your arguments like a pre-school child's history essay.

So many problems with this article. For one, all of these "research" statements need citations. I don't believe you. Period. I'm a gamer. My brother is a gamer. My husband is a gamer. My best friend is a gamer. I did poorly in school due to depression, my brother due to boredom with the curriculum, and my husband and best friend due to learning disabilities. It had nothing to actually do with the gaming, and if the CAUSES of our problems were addressed? We wouldn't have been playing them that much.

And NO. There HAS BEEN NO DEFINITE LINK between violent video games and antisocial behavior. There are STUDIES. Flawed, biased STUDIES that don't prove a THING- unless something new has come by that has successfully isolated all possible variants, including, but not limited to, personality type, home life, general attitude, and accounts for time between playing sessions. NO study that has given that "direct link" has done so. NONE.

Looks like you need to train yourself a little bit, Costello. I wouldn't take instruction from you if this kind of sloppy warning is what you give parents.

This article contains absolutely no references to back up the claims research into video games. This from someone who specialises in education; perhaps if the article contained more education and less opinion I would feel comfortable rating it higher.