By Mark Pattison
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Don’t like what you see on TV? Pick your poison.
One kind of poison is the unwelcome stuff that’s sent through the airwaves (or public rights-of-way, thanks to cable) with offensive or objectionable content that you, the viewer, never asked for.

Another kind of poison is the offensive and objectionable material that’s part and parcel of many top-selling video games.

“You can’t fast-forward through a video game,” said Cheryl K. Olson, the former teen issues columnist for Parents magazine and the co-author — with her husband, one-time Parents magazine “Ask the Expert” columnist Lawrence Kutner — of a new book, “Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do.”

Olson was the principal investigator of the first federally funded large-scale research project to look at the effects of electronic games on teenagers and preteens.

Among the findings: Children who play games rated “M” (for “mature” — beyond their age range) spend more hours and days per week on video games; are more likely to play with older siblings; are more likely to play games to “get my anger out” or because “I like to compete and win”; are more likely to play with friends than kids who don’t play M-rated games; and are more likely to have a game system or computer in their bedroom.

One solution is to “keep game consoles in a common area of the house,” Olson said.

Problems were also detected with the violent content of M-rated games. Boys who played violent M-rated games were more than twice as likely to get into physical fights, to hit or beat up someone, to “damage property for fun,” steal something from a store, report poor school grades or get into trouble with a teacher or principal.

They were also three times more likely to report being “threatened or injured with a weapon such as a gun, knife or club.” The odds of boys’ involvement in all of these behaviors increased with each additional M-rated title on their “frequently played” game list.

Although a smaller percentage of girls play M-rated video games, the numbers for them are worse. Girls were four times more likely to be in physical fights; three times more likely to damage property just for fun, to skip classes or school without an excuse, to be suspended from school, or get poor grades; and twice as likely to hit or beat up someone, to get into trouble with a teacher or principal, or to be threatened or injured with a weapon.

Olson told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview from Boston, that her first surprise was “how many seventh- and eighth-grade children were playing M-rated video games” — two-thirds of the boys and one-third of the girls.

While there is an allure to M-rated video games, Olson cautioned parents against giving the games a “forbidden fruit” effect. “If you say ‘you will play that game over my dead body,’ that cuts off the opportunity to talk with your child about your values and your concerns,” she said. “Video games they can certainly play all they want at college (and outside of parental control). If you don’t talk with them about your values, they won’t have anything to go on. They’ll talk to their peers.”

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