Another Shooting Disaster Brings Study Linking Gaming To Mental Problems

http://www.lockergnome.com/theoracle/2011/01/17/another-shooting-disaster-brings-study-linking-gaming-to-mental-problems/

It is as if we had no idea that this was coming.  Every time we have some mental defectives coming up on the radar, there is a need for some to link it to anything with which they have a personal disdain.

Once again, it is video gaming that is being put up as the whipping boy which causes the problems.

While I am certain that this affects some, no study – not even the one cited in the Reuters article – has ever published anything that shows a causal link between video gaming and anything, conclusively. Not even eye strain.

The problem that is shown is that the studies are always lacking in some form of control; many seem haphazard in their implementation, and none of the recent studies seem to be originating in the United States. (The one cited is a group of 3000 from Singapore; there is nothing giving any clues to what else might be affecting the study.)

Gentile said it appeared that unhealthy gaming habits were fueling the kids’ mental problems, which then in turn might cause them to up their screen time and so forth. But he acknowledged his research didn’t prove that point.

In an earlier U.S. study, he found that children who watched a lot of TV or played a lot of video games had slightly more problems concentrating on school work. However, that study couldn’t prove that screen time was at the root of the narrowing attention span, either.

So again, another study with no distinct results that can be pointed to as scientifically relevant, but plenty of people with the anti-gaming agenda will link to it, only revealing what augurs for their cause, and not giving the full picture.

I must say that I don’t play games to any large extent, other than the card variety, such as FreeCell and Klondike. So I have no pro-bias. I also have a son, heavily into gaming, and other than his reticence to leave a game in mid-play, when asked to do something around the house, I can see no ill effects.

As for those who would speak of attention problems caused by gaming, in my reflections on those I have watched, including my son, daughter, and a few of their cousins, their friends, and some other children only in passing, I can attest to the increase of concentration provided, and that it seems to carry over into other realms, such as other forms of play and certain schoolwork. Though my results are not scientific, I have viewed personally at least as large a sample as the study above over a period of 10 years, give or take a few days, so I would say that my results should certainly be as valid as those in the Reuters piece.

In the viewing of the people directly in my control, my children, their cousins, and at times, their friends, I have watched in a 24 hour fashion, over a number of days (long weekends, vacations) so what I have observed is much more than spot checking.

Perhaps, if those so worried about the attention spans, conduct, and general well-being of these children would do some (measured) study, with a statistically significant group, we could take what they are trowelling out with more than a bit of skepticism.

I am more worried about the physical environment my children have to tolerate (solar radiation, smog, ozone, general pollution), than any sort of mental deviation caused by some specious studies in Singapore.

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