
During a question-and-answer session, a leading expert on family violence largely dismissed the role of video games in promoting violent behavior among teens.
Richard J. Gelles is dean of the
School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania and also serves as the director of the
Center for Research on Youth and Social Policy.
Gelles, who has appeared on the
Today Show,
Good Morning, America and
Oprah answered readers' questions about violence over the last few days on
Philly.com, the website of the
Philadelphia Inquirer and
Philadelphia Daily News.
While reading over Dr. Gelles' answers to numerous reader-submitted questions, we noticed this exchange:
Q: Excuse me sir, but what is your opinion on video games and the lack of parenting to control the ever increasing teen violence? A student, Philadelphia, Pennslyvania 10/05/06
A: Video games play almost no important role in teen violence. Teens with a predisposition to being violent may be drawn to violent video games, but overall, other factors (besides television, music, or video games) are more important risk factors for teen violence. Richard Gelles 10/05/06
We should mention that GamePolitics editor Dennis McCauley writes a column on video games for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Comments
nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Not -supposed- to be. It -is- decreasing and has been for thirteen years.
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/teens.htm . Go down to "Homicide offending by age"
Watch now as this guy will get crucified for doing the right thing. What a crazy world.
REASON ONE: A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow human; it was physically impossible . The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah". The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl replied, "Then you ask him ".
REASON TWO: A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."
See all seven reasons:
http://www.madweird.com/weird-news/avoiding-school-and-teen-violence