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The title worried me a little. Due out next month, Grand TheftChildhood, is an academic analysis of violent games and the effectsthey have on younger players. But the subtitle, 'The Surprising TruthAbout Violent Video Games and What Parents Can do' hints at somethingmore considered than a reactionary fright-fest aimed at impressionableparents and hamfisted polticos looking for their next moral sitting target.
My favourite 'serious' games blog, Watercooler Games, drew my attention to the book and links to a hugely encouraging interviewwith one half of the writing team, Harvard researcher, Cheryl Olson.It's one long, considered de-bunking of various myths associated withviolent games and, indeed, game playing in general. For example:
One very encouraging finding was how sophisticatedmiddle-school boys were in their understanding of violent games. Theycould enjoy playing bad guys without wanting to be them.
When asked about the way that certain politicians have taken up the crusade about violent games, Olson replies:
It's upsetting to see a group of boys laughing as theywatch one game character literally rip the guts out of another. Butwhen you know more about the context, motivations and other factorsinvolved, you may see this differently. Also, for politicians it's anissue that they can campaign easily on, even if the scientific datadon't support their claims.
With the Byron Report set to publish its findings this week, I hopeits compilers have been as rigorous and open-minded in theirexamination of supposed truths concerning games culture and gamesplaying. The authors of Grand Theft Childhood even rebuke themselvesfor not interviewing more girls about GTA - they had assumed that thegame attracted a meagre female user-base, but it turned out that afifth of the girls they surveyed had played the game regularly.
I'm not sure, and this is dangerous territory to get into I suppose,but I feel, if I had a teenage daughter, I'd rather she played GTA thanMiss Bimbo.Rockstar's series has some dislikable misogynistic undertones, but thelead character is essentially on a quest for power and authority withina society where respect is garnered via actions rather thanappearances. Breast augmentation and pathetic fame fantasies do notenter in the equation.
The book, due out on April 15, has a website, here.