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Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games
by Lawrence Kutner, PHD and Cheryl K. Olson, Scd.
Drs. Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl K. Olson attempt to reveal the truth about violent video games.
When you have a medium that grossed $17.94 billion dollars last year has become popular with individuals of all ages, and stands to become increasingly integral to our society, one would readily embrace it, right?
Unfortunately, video games, the respective medium that currently enjoys these accomplishments, is still routinely subjected to public scrutiny. Despite reports of companies seeing the potential of games as positive means of entertainment and interaction, such as Kaplan’s proposals to create a portable game to expedite SAT preparation, games are still unfairly subjected to public scrutiny. Politicians, media outlets, religious groups, and various other associations have decried video games as an entertainment medium that will negatively affect children and lead to a downturn in our society.
Are these accusations true? Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl K. Olson disagree, and attempt to explain why in their book Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games.
In the book, Kutner and Olson do their best to find out whether or not the “truths” about violent video games as given through mainstream media and advocacy groups are actually valid. What they have found, through the use of a federally funded $1.5 billion dollar study, is that it is simply not the case. The information that Kutner and Olson share does not conform to either camp, rather they do their best to place responsibility back on parents and give them the means to understand what their children are playing and the roles that games play in their daily lives.
In making sense of video games’ controversies in mainstream media, the authors even delve into early history and mention examples of media that could be regarded as violent during that time. They mention movies such as Gunsmoke, The Lone Ranger and Have Gun, Will Travel as movies that are in many cases just as violent as the games that children experience today. The authors then delve into the rationale used by the ‘experts’ that allows them to form certain opinions regarding video game violence. The authors observed the studies that were used and challenged readers to express skepticism, as these tabulations often lack a specific definition of violence or are inconsistent in measuring their exposure to video game violence. Kutner and Olsen then do their own studies on whether or not video games lead to violence among children, using a method that focuses more on individual input rather than numerical analysis.
The authors conclude this book by noting what parents, the media and the video game industry can do to make children of all ages aware of the violence that exists in video games. For those who wish to gain a better understanding of the specifics regarding violence in video games and other media, this book comes highly recommended. I believe that it does an excellent job in highlighting the specifics of the issue without resorting to the scare tactics that have become prevalent in this generation.
Title: Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games
Author: Lawrence Kutner, PHD and Cheryl K. Olson, Scd.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 0743299515
Review written by: Jason Townsend-Rogers
Reviewer's Rating:8
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
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