Blast video game violence

In recent research involving the violence in video games, common sense has come out ahead. Again. The American Psychological Association has determined that all the gunplay and gratuitous muggings actually lead to aggressive thoughts and behavior in the children who play them.

To borrow a line from a Disney parrot:

"Surprise! We are so surprised!"

Despite the rantings and ravings of the video game industry, despite marketing ploys and the spin given to studies, parents have known, down inside, that such has been case all along. Just as they knew that movie stars who smoke on the big screen influenced teens to smoke, and just as they knew that eating too much sugar was bad. In fact, many of the amazing lessons science keeps teaching today echo what mothers and fathers have known for centuries.

As for video game violence, the APA also notes that perpetrators of violence in the games go unpunished a whopping 73 percent of the time. And pain and suffering are seldom seen in the games as consequences of bad choices. The message of many video games is this: Violence has an upside. Winning, in life, means destroying all others.

Needless to say, the video game industry claims the APA slanted the facts and that no study proves violent video games affect children in a negative way. Amazingly, the game industry was able to keep a straight face while making that statement — just as the tobacco companies kept a straight face when claiming the cartoon character Joe Camel was not aimed at kids, or as television executives look serious when defending the sex and violence in their programs.

Common sense dictates: Children must be taught there are dire consequences for injuring others needlessly. They must learn lessons of accountability. They must learn to judge the media influences in their lives with a dry eye and some "critical distance."

Who will teach them?

Not Hollywood, the tobacco companies or the video game companies. That lot of "common sense education" falls to the churches, schools and parents.

Along with the APA, we urge parents to talk with their children about interactive media, to teach consequences and encourage the video game industry to develop a rating system that accurately reflects the true content of its games.

From where we sit, that would be the common sense thing to do.