'Violent games breed violence'

Frequent playing of violent video games increases aggressiveness in children.

This is a finding of a three-year study in which the gaming behaviour of more than 3000 children and teenagers in Singapore was tracked.

A report on the study was published in the journal Jama Pediatrics on Monday.

But academics in the UK have criticised the study's methodology, saying that it fails to prove that video games cause aggression.

They argue that aggressive children might be choosing to play more violent games.

Some games popular with children in South Africa involve a lot of virtual killing. For example, in South Park: The Stick of Truth, characters can be burned to death with a candle, and Grand Theft Auto V is "training the gamer how to be a violent criminal", according to a local gamer.

The study followed youths aged eight to 17 who had played video games regularly for at least three years.

It found that the more they played violent games, the more likely they were to report aggressive thoughts, irrespective of gender or how aggressive they were before gaming.

The researchers said they were surprised to find that parental involvement did not mitigate the effects on their children of playing violent games.

Johannesburg educational psychologist Cara Blackie said she had noticed that children who played aggressive video games were more likely to express their anger with phrases such as "I would like to shoot them or cut their legs off".

David Spiegelhalter, the Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk, at the University of Cambridge, criticised the study yesterday.

"The authors assume from the start that violent game play is influencing aggressive thoughts.

"The possibility that kids with latent aggressive tendencies tend to play violent video games does not seem to have been considered," Spiegelhalter said.

Not all academics think video games have a deleterious effect on behaviour.

Isabela Granic, author of The Benefits of Playing Video Games, published in the American Psychologist journal in January, found that video games improved attention span, creativity and problem solving.

She argued that shooting games improved spatial reasoning, a predictor of success in maths.

"The benefits are probably a product of the visually rich, three-dimensional navigational spaces, and fast-paced demands that require split-second decision-making and acute attention to unpredictable changes in context," she wrote.

What Johannesburg children say about their favourite video games:

• "Violent games are not for girls": Boipelo, 11.
• "If I am really angry Grand Theft Auto V helps me relax '': Masego, 12
• "Grand Theft Auto V is fun because you are stealing cars you like": Mofenyi, 12.