If you have time today try and make a point of reading the Byron Review. If you don’t want to wade through the pages upon pages of the full report you can browse the Executive Summary and get a lot of the information quickly.
It’s surprising to read a well informed article out of Britain in the wake of recent reports of tabloids paying people to blame their life of crime on video games. While there are still some points of contention to be had with the Byron Review, it is on average a level headed view on the digital media children consume. The report wisely recognizes the difference between short term aggression in children playing violent games and long term increase in aggression being caused by such activities.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if anti-gaming advocates outright ignore the findings presented in the report. Heaven forbid parents be responsible for guiding their children through this digital age instead of merely sequestering them away, hiding them from the big scary world.
As I grow up I find myself contemplating what it will be like to raise a child in today’s world. I often view outrageous stories about children and video game violence from both sides. As an outraged gamer, who can’t possibly imagine games affecting him the way the news tell me they should, and as someone who is the next in line to father a new generation, wondering how to protect a future child from the world.
It’s a scary internet out there. I know first hand just how hateful and awful the internet can be. It’s nice to read a report that talks about how we need to prepare children for this strange new world instead of hide them from it, leaving them ill equipped to handle the world when the day comes.
