Don't demonize video games for violence: Column

When a man recently left a loaded 9mm handgun in the toy section of a South Carolina Target, it was big news. Yet when our stores sell toy guns, parents rarely give it a second thought. That's because most parents don't associate toy guns with making their children violent.

The same cannot be said of video games, but I think they've gotten an unfair rap. I'm amazed at how often we demonize video games as violent. But as a video game designer, I can tell you these games can teach critical skills and offer social outlets. They can also promote positive values with conscientious designing.

At least 97% of American youth now play video games, and the average young player plays games about two hours per week. Many parents try to limit the time their kids play and worry about the violent reputation these games have received.

Yet back in the 1980s, when I used to go to an arcade, playing these games was considered a teenage rebel activity, as well as perceived as a waste of time and money by parents. Some perceptions are hard to break.

But the games then were not linked with violence. For example, Pac-Man just ate dots. Fears of violence in that decade were confined to geeky tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons.

Granted, today's children who play excessively violent games might tend toward aggressive behaviors and thoughts.

Dartmouth College researcher Jay Hull and his team found that violent video games can result in aggressive behavior, especially among youth who tend to identify with more subversive aspects of their personalities. The rewards and incentives for violence also can desensitize youth toward others, the researchers found, and promote values out of balance with those taught in their families.

Youth who suffer from attention disorders can aggravate their condition based on particular types of play scenarios.

There is an inordinate focus on violent games, but many video games have positive influences. Research shows that digital games can promote hand-eye coordination and foster abstract thinking, better decision-making, systems thinking, problem solving, logistical planning, strategy and accuracy under duress.

Designers also are beginning to design digital games that promote more positive, universal values. As part of the Values at Play project, these game designers are calling for conscientious design to promote values that Western democracies espouse. The design community is responding, but the research is slow in coming.

The bottom line is that popular media often incriminate video games as a broad category that merely teaches violence. Video games are far more than violent, and many can be as harmless as a toy gun.

Mary Flanagan is a professor of digital humanities at Dartmouth College. She is also a fellow of The OpEd Project.

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