The New York Times recently wrote that "the young men who opened fire at Columbine High School, at the movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and in other massacres had this in common: they were video gamers who seemed to be acting out some dark digital fantasy." However, research doesn't support the theory that violent games led to the horrific events. In fact, there's some evidence that such games actually reduce youth violence.
Games Make Kids Violent, or Do they?
Anyone who has played a violent video game knows full well that they either get your blood pumping or completely turn you off. You either like the adrenaline, or you stick to other fare. TheTimes notes that there is a lot of research that suggests that “mildly aggressive behavior” results for a short period after playing a violent video game. While that's probably the same thing that one would find after polling people coming out of an action movie, it doesn't honestly speak to the long-term impact of such games.
In fact, The New York times reviewed government data and video games sales data and found that “The number of violent youth offenders fell by more than half between 1994 and 2010, to 224 per 100,000 population, according to government statistics, while video game sales have more than doubled since 1996. “ Interesting, that suggests that violent video games are, in fact, a good thing for society. That may seem counterintuitive, but perhaps not.
Self Selection
For example, no one forces a person to play a