Hijack a guy’s Lambourghini, pick up a prostitute, beat her to death. Then buy a flame-thrower, incinerate the general public on a busy shopping street, get into a city-wide police chase, and finally drive off a dam.
Wake up in hospital and repeat.
That’s a fairly mundane afternoon’s work in the best-selling video game franchise Grand Theft Auto (GTA). So no wonder people have repeatedly spoken out about its corrosive effect on our defenceless youth.
But now new research has directly linked violent games – including GTA – to what it terms “deviant behaviour”.
What are the findings?
Young people who play violent games such as GTA are more likely to get involved in thrill-seeking and risky behaviour. This includes excessive drinking, smoking, stealing, fighting and unsafe sex.
Research showed increases in deviancy over four years that were not seen in teenagers who did not play violent video games.
Similar effects were seen in boys and girls. The keenest gamers showed the strongest trends.
Are there doubters?
Well the research hasn’t shown whether the behaviour is caused by these games, or whether “bad seed” teenagers are more likely to play violent games in the first place.
How were the tests done?
More than 5,000 American teenagers were recruited for the experiment. Their game playing and social behaviour were monitored from the age of 14.
What do the experts say?
Professor James Sargent, from Dartmouth College in the USA, said, “This study is important because it is the first to suggest that possible effects of violent video games go well beyond violence to apply to substance use, risky driving and risk-taking sexual behaviour.”
Either way it’s unlikely this will change teenagers’ gaming behaviour. Besides, they probably can’t hear the warnings over those screams and the sound of that chainsaw
GTA linked to 'deviant behaviour'
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