Lt. Col. Dave Grossman on violent video games and media

In an interview with Fox Business host Lou Dobb's on 12/18/2012, Colonel Grossman provides his observations of the impact of violent video games and imagery that children are exposed to.

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  News & Politics

[Dan Rullo]

In his books and seminars, he speaks in length about the development of the human brain at various stages. He also discusses the difference between the way that the military utilizes violence inoculation and conditioning with proper safeguards as opposed to the way that children are exposed to violence without such parameters. This isn't some hair-brained idea that he came up with because he doesn't like video games. This is real data based on real killers and their history.

[Dan Rullo]

nevadahooker189, First of all, thank you for your service in the military - I mean that sincerely. Colonel Grossman is far from an idiot. He is, in fact, one of the leading experts on this subject matter and is recognized and studied throughout the law enforcement and psychological community. He is not saying that EVERYBODY who's exposed to violent media becomes a killer. You'd have to read his writings for full context. But he's pointing out that in some people, it's a contributing factor.

[V1xxy]

Actually its not - its twisting science for his own ideology. If you actually look at research from a wide array of sources you will see a general lack of consensus amongst psychologists on this subject, to the point that in 2005 the APA suggested that video games were a dangerous risk to children, in 2012 they revised their initial statement.

[Marcus Games]

Cont.

There has always been violent media, it's always been there. Since going back to Ancient Greece and even before that. Books, stories, theatre, movies, comicbooks, music. Just because games is a rising trend doesn't mean it is to blame for the tragic events that happened. Didn't people already try to blame stuff like this on music and it turned out to be unfounded? I'm seriously baffled how people are repeating themselves like a broken record.

[Marcus Games]

Wouldn't violent movies, comics and books also contribute to this then? It makes no sense to blame video games, yeah you shouldn't buy an R-Rated game to a kid but we haven't had any video game related massacre here in Europe. The problem is kids are being alienated in their environments and everyone has a fucking gun. You can't point at something else and say, this is the killer. When the person who did the killing clearly has a fucking gun, it's moronic logic.

[aaronclark2007]

Dave Grossman is such an idiot!

[greg phippard]

.... Alright... so guns have always been there, but games are new?..

I think the correct answer is, there IS no answer. You emphasize visual aid in your combative training, but where are you to physically train the kids when they're sitting in their living room playing these games?

I'll hand to you your comment on this not pertaining to -anyone- playing, but do you really think ANYTHING you do or say will solve such a Minority Report-esque issue?

You like actors, enjoy Tom Cruise.

[Cardshark45]

(Cont. 3) If there is a kid that is known to have a highly unstable mental state or has some kind of problem than the parents shouldn't let them play those kinds of games. The same thing goes for movies, they have ratings too. It's the adults jobs to make sure their kids grow up properly. I know this is anecdotal but in my experience I did play violent video games before I was of age however my parents gave me a talk teaching me the difference between fantasy and reality and right from wrong.

[Cardshark45]

(Cont. 2) Whether its driving on the way to work, making a business decision or even playing sports. All those activities require some level of aggression. Even so, I do agree that not all children should play violent video games until they are ready for it. It's ultimately up to the parents to decide whether or not kids can play these violent video games. There's a rating system for a reason and M rated games such as CoD or GTA require parental permission to purchase those games.

[Cardshark45]

(Cont.) And if you look look at the statistics provided by the National Center for Juvenile Justice it actually shows that violence among children has actually decreased significantly over the past 20 years. If anything, violent video games have shown to increase aggressiveness but on a minimal level. But what the media tends to do is twist the word and conclude that aggression=violence. We have to remember that aggression is something that everyone experiences on a daily basis.

[Cardshark45]

The point he's making is that there is no conclusive evidence that there is a causal link between the two. For example, the Ohio University study that was carried out by a psychologist by the name of Anderson supposedly found "causal" links between the two. However, it was dismissed because the study was flawed. The Supreme Court even overturned the law on the banning the sale of violent vid games to children because there hasn't been any evidence YET to prove that there is a link.

[Sandy Gonsalves]

u cannot generalize ur personal history and assume that "Well it didn't happen to me, despite my circumstances, so there is no effect".