Video Games as Stress Relief

A Clear Gaming Advantage

Over the course of the last decade there has been active efforts to limit access to M-rated games by children, with many states proposing stricter policy for both the state and national level to restrict access at retailers.

Ironically thanks to the studies above - and other studies - it has become very evident that not only does M-rated game play not lead to violence, but it prevents it.

One of the most interesting statistics revealed in the studies is that during the period in which game play of violent and M-rated games by children was being studied, juvenile crimes of all types declined.

Demonizing video games is a convenient choice when you are looking for something to blame for the rare but highly publicized acts of youth violence such as school shootings, but placing that blame and then legislating the matter when the games are not the cause or even a contributing factor only serves to provide a highly visible appearance of doing something about the issue without actually doing anything to prevent or correct it.

Considering the proven stress-relief benefits of gaming, and the preventative nature of violent game play towards real-world violence, instead of trying to ban video games perhaps it is a better idea to issue them to middle and high school students with their books at the start of the school term?