Analysis of Grand Theft Childhood

Grand Theft Childhood describes research on the link between violent video game play and violent behavior. The research was conducted by Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and studied by the FBI and the Secret Service. According to the research, there is no reliable link between casual violent video game play and violent behavior. Children who exclusively play violent video games for fifteen or more hours per week are at a statistically higher risk of engaging in violent behavior, as are male children who completely abstain from video games altogether. The research indicated that video games allow children to participate in social simulations, where they are allowed to practice, make mistakes, and try again, which can be advantageous in real-life social situations. (Cheryl K. Olson, 2011)

Personally, I am in agreement with the findings of Grand Theft Childhood. In my own life, I have encountered more people who play violent video games than not. I have played "violent" video games myself. In every case, the response from the player is the same: It is just a game. I believe that if a person is inclined to behave in a violent way, they will do so. Violence is a response, typically to fear or anger. I do not believe a well-adjusted person becomes violent and unstable simply because they play violent games. I believe part of playing a game is pretending, or separating reality from playing. An individual can pretend to be a soldier or a car thief just like they can pretend to be an Italian plumber who rides a dinosaur and saves princesses.

Although I believe a person can be influenced to be violent under certain conditions, I do not believe playing video games is one of those circumstances. I fully support and agree with the findings of Dr. Olson in Grand Theft Childhood, and hope this research will ease the mind of parents who worry unnecessarily about their children playing video games. I hope instead the parents will focus on the amount of time a child spends playing video games and teach them to balance their time appropriately with other social activities.