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Graphic shows how video games affect a child’s brain.
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MEDICAL

Study confirms link between violent video games and physical aggression

By Duncan Mil

October 3, 2018 - An international study looking at more than 17,000 adolescents aged between nine and 19, from 2010 to 2017, found playing violent video games led to increased physical aggression over time.

The analysis of 24 studies found students who played violent video games such as “Grand Theft Auto,” “Manhunt” and “Call of Duty” were about twice as likely to be sent to school principal’s office for fighting or hitting non-family member during an eight-month period.

“Although no single research project is definitive, our research aims to provide the most current and compelling responses to key criticisms on this topic,” said Jay Hull, lead author of the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Based on our findings, we feel it is clear that violent video game play is associated with subsequent increases in physical aggression,” said Hull, associate dean of faculty for the social sciences at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Research on video games’ potential for violence increased after the 1999 Columbine High School shooting when it was learned Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two teenage shooters, played the shooting computer game “Doom.”

Hull and the co-authors of the study say they hope the findings will help research move “past the question of whether violent video games increase aggressive behaviour, and toward questions regarding why, when, and for whom they have such effects.”

Sources
PUBLISHED: 03/10/2018; STORY: Graphic News
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