Video Games – Violence – And Brain Development

Former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, declared violent or pornographic media a “crushing public health problem . . . a clear and present danger … blatantly anti-human….We must oppose it as we oppose all violence and prejudice.”

“Violence and pornography, which is a felony against the human spirit, are the atrocities of despair” Dr. Koop explained, adding, “The people who commit them have an appetite for outrage. They devour what we cling to as civilized life.”

Violent Video Games

Recently studies have shown that video game violence produces deleterious affects on brain activity.

Specifically, increased activity in the amygdala, which is that part of the brain involved with emotional arousal.  There is also a corresponding decrease in another part of the brain having to do with self-control, inhibition, and attention.

The net result — a desensitization to violence — as witnessed recently in New York city when  a good Samaritan, rushing to help a woman who was being assaulted was stabbed by the assailant.  The assailant and the woman fled, the man laid on the street bleeding and 24 people walked by without doing anything to help him. The Samaritan died.

So Why Are We Writing About This On A Blog Dedicated To Marketing?

Because when we are committed to Soft Sell Marketing — we are committed to respect and care for those who buy from us and the effects of our products and programs on our customers and clients.

As Dr, Koop said, violent media is blatantly anti-human and an atrocity of despair.

Studies have been produced that disagree. Specifically they point out that violent games have potential benefits — that is, they sharpen decision  making skills and hone reaction times to a fine point.

However, these studies lose their credibility when it is revealed that they were performed by researchers funded by the multi-billion-dollar game industry.

Kidz Time

Several weeks ago Judith and I, wandering around a casino here in Las Vegas, walked into an arcade called “Kidz Time,” and it was packed with kids ranging in age from 10 to about 16 — males and females.  They were excitedly, some rabidly, shooting at electronic figures on the screen. One “couple,” a boy and a girl about 12 years old each, had huge guns. They were in a fierce competition, each determined to get more kills to defeat the other.   As we watched, they didn’t even know we were there.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take on a case in which a California law banning the sale of violent video games to children is at issue. The justices will decide whether or not the law is too restrictive because it denies access by minors to material that is often very graphic.

Makers of video games argue that the law goes too far. They want to rely on their own voluntary in-house ratings system as providing sufficient information for parents to decide the appropriateness of various video games.

Deep and Abiding Impact

As practicing clinical psychologists for many years, studying the deep and abiding impact of our early years on the developing brain and forming the basis for a lifetime of behaviors, we know that the compelling intensity and high drama of violent video games captures the mind in a way that is profoundly damaging.

The war and battle video games reward violence and mayhem and killing with high point totals, flashing lights, clanging electronic music, the peer approval of everyone watching, leaving the child, teen, or adult with a sense of accomplishment and triumph – and a sense of pride and well-being for having engaged in this blatant anti-human behavior.

We all know this kind of competitive massacre is blatantly anti-human. We don’t need Dr. Koop to tell us that. Or do we?

The video-gaming industry claims more studies are needed because the correlation between their products and anti-social behavior is not proven.

What this translates to in simple terms is — the whole point is to make more and more money regardless of the impact on the users and the industry will do whatever it can to maintain its profit levels.

Mind Abuse

This kind of  marketing and selling is avaricious. Those who engage in it have no sense of and perhaps even no desire to know the impact of their mind-abuse on others, especially children.  At bottom they have no sense of the other, period, or they couldn’t blithely promote their violence to the public under the protection of being “within the law.”

We are glad to see the insidious power of these violence-driven video games coming under scrutiny. That investigation will be a service to us all – we trust.

Because It’s All in the Connection,