Pediatrics Group Cautions Against Violent Video Games For Children

Pixabay Images

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is reiterating its long-standing appeal for parents to keep children away from violent movies and video games.

“Although there is broad scientific consensus that virtual violence increases aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, there has been little public action to help mitigate children’s exposure to it,” an AAP report, published today in the journal Pediatrics, states.

The authors point to decades of research that they say shows a link between exposure to violent video games and increased aggressive tendencies.

They also express frustration at the skepticism many maintain about the significance of that link.

“Some contend, rightly, that these correlations are in the small to moderate range, but they are stronger than the associations between passive smoking and lung cancer, and many municipalities have banned smoking because of that risk,” the authors write.