author: Bart Swiatek
Expert: „Games as Responsible For Shootings as Bananas For Suicides”
In connection with the tragic events in the United States, comments have been made that the responsible for them is a „culture of violence”, which is to be manifested, among other things, in video games. Scientists from the universities of Stetson and New Virginia have debunked this thesis, hard.
Tragic events have recently taken place In the USA - in El Paso (Texas) and Dayton (Ohio) there have been two mass shootings, in which dozens of people have died. Unfortunately, as is often the case in such situations, some politicians - including President Donald Trump - believe video games to be one of the culprits. New York Times interviewed Dr. Chris Ferguson, a professor of psychology at Stetson University, who debunked every thread of this theory.
“The data on bananas causing suicide is about as conclusive,” notes Dr. Ferguson. “Literally. The numbers work out about the same.”
A similar opinion is expressed by James Ivory, Professor and Research Director at Virginia Tech.
“It is very similar to saying the perpetrator wears shoes,” Dr. Ivory explained. “They do, but so do their peers in the general population.”
“We should think about when we are more comfortable looking for something else to blame,” he said, adding, “I haven’t heard any senators talk about video games when an immigrant commits a crime.”
The theories of politicians were also ruthlessly dealt with by the former CEO of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime, who published an interesting post on Twitter.
The theme of the influence of video games on the psyche of youth returns like a boomerang every time a similar tragedy occurs. So far, no professional studies have emerged to confirm the link between the tendency to violence and digital entertainment.