An excellent “open letter” to Sen. Hillary Clinton regarding her hopping the “Violent Videogames Cause Berserk Teens” bandwagon over “Grand Theft Auto” — always good publicity, but not very good science.
On to the issue of aggression, and what causes it in kids, especially teenage boys. Congress should be interested in the facts: The last 10 years have seen the release of many popular violent games, including “Quake” and “Grand Theft Auto”; that period has also seen the most dramatic drop in violent crime in recent memory. According to Duke University’s Child Well-Being Index, today’s kids are less violent than kids have been at any time since the study began in 1975. Perhaps, Sen. Clinton, your investigation should explore the theory that violent games function as a safety valve, letting children explore their natural aggression without acting it out in the real world.
Many juvenile crimes — such as the carjacking that is so central to “Grand Theft Auto” — are conventionally described as “thrill-seeking” crimes. Isn’t it possible that kids no longer need real-world environments to get those thrills, now that the games simulate them so vividly? The national carjacking rate has dropped substantially since “Grand Theft Auto” came out. Isn’t it conceivable that the would-be carjackers are now getting their thrills on the screen instead of the street?
Worth reading.