Can you believe that shooting someone in the head in a videogame could be good for you? A new study by Drs. Christopher Ferguson and Cheryl Olson discovered violent video games such as ‘Mortal Kombat,’ ‘Halo’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto’ did not cause high-risk teens (those with symptoms of depression to become aggressive bullies or delinquents.

"Psychological studies purporting to show a connection between exposure to violent video games and harmful effects on children do not prove that such exposure causes minors to act aggressively."
— Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, majority opinion in Brown v. EMA/ESA
Facts, common sense and numerous studies all debunk the myth that there is a link between videogames and violence. In fact, numerous authorities, including the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Surgeon General, Federal Trade Commission, and Federal Communications Commission, examined the scientific record and found that it does not establish any causal link between violent programming and violent behavior. The truth is, there is no scientific research that validates a link between computer and video games and violence. Instead, a host of respected researchers has concluded that there is no link between media violence and violent crime.
Playing video games is beneficial.

Playing video games, including violent shooter games, may boost children’s learning, health and social skills. "Video games change your brain," according to University of Wisconsin psychologist, C. Shawn Green. The study also says that playing video games changes the brain’s physical structure the same way as do learning to read, playing the piano, or navigating using a map. Much like exercise can build muscle, the powerful combination of concentration and rewarding surges of neurotransmitters like dopamine strengthen neural circuits that can build the brain.

Playing violent video games provides a safe outlet for aggressive and angry feelings. Journal of Adolescent Health, July 2007 study reported that 45% of boys played video games because "It helps me get my anger out" and 62% played because it "helps me relax." In the study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, researchers also found that the playing the video games actually had a very slight calming effect on youths with attention deficit symptoms and helped to reduce aggressive and bullying behavior.



According to a review of research on the positive effects of video game play to be published by the American Psychological Association. “Violent video games provide healthy and safe opportunities for children to virtually explore rules and consequences of violent actions. Violent games also allow youth to experiment with issues such as war, violence and death without real world consequences.” Violent video games may affect the form of violence, but does not cause the violence to occur. Youth might model violent acts on what they have seen in video games, but the violence would still occur in the absence of the video games.