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Special
Report
Videogames cause alcoholism and drug use? If you believe The
Telegraph...
We're long accustomed to the right-wing press' fear of
modern videogame culture. But, even so, this
particular story seems a little far-fetched. The
Telegraph reported last weekend that a new American study
provided worrying evidence that regular gaming led to drinking,
drug use and social isolation.
You can read the article here.
Alarm bells rang as soon as we saw it. Though The
Telegraph hasn't always been at the forefront of the
movement, there's certainly been a developing trend for such
media to lambaste our hobby and all the things it's doing to
our poor children. An article about the negative
consequences of gaming, published in the Journal of Youth
and Adolescents, was always going to spark up some nasty
interest. But we weren't convinced. So we
tracked down the original research paper and had a good read
for ourselves. And we've been nice enough to take the
time to re-write The Telegraph's piece,
from the opposite camp, for your reading pleasure.
Compare and contrast!
"Gamers" have long denied the accusation that they are anti-social loners, and in a recent study, scientists have found that there's not necessarily a link between the ever-growing hobby and risk behaviours.
The study stated that, while links could be drawn between gaming and negative consequences, the research was not in-depth enough to come to any real conclusions.
"There needs to be caution against overstating the impact of videogames on the development of young people based on the current findings," said Prof Laura Walker, from Brigham Young University, in Utah, who led the study.
Research into the habits of more than 800 university students found that most of the men asked, 55 per cent, were regular players, using their games console at least every other day.
By contrast, only around 7 per cent of women admitted that they played computer games that often.
The study confirmed the common assumption that gaming was considered more acceptable in male circles, and certain female players said their self-confidence
was lowered as a result of this stigma.
Regular gamers were also marginally more likely to drink alcohol and use cannabis than those who never played, and the quality of their relationships tended to be slightly lower, the findings show.
But Prof Walker was keen to emphasise that the preliminary nature of the study meant a
causative effect was impossible to establish.
"It may be that people who already struggle with relationships are trying to find other ways to spend their time," she said.
The research also found that gaming and internet use
had a positive effect on many participants.
The study's main point was in finding that there may possibly be links between gaming and young people's development, and its authors stress that it's an area which needs to be researched more before any
casual conclusions are drawn. |
This
is the problem when the mass media picks up on basic,
preliminary research such as this. It's not intended
to be anything other than an investigation into whether or
not the area could be of more interest to researchers in the
future. But it's always going to present certain
findings that are easy to manipulate. There's always
going to be a broad range of possible conclusions.
Ignore the good, and you get an article like The
Telegraph's. Ignore the bad, and you get one like
ours.
If a study comes along that conclusively proves games have a
negative effect on the minds of young people, we'll be more
than happy to accept it. But this study isn't it, nor
does it try to be. It's such a shame that the papers
only have an interesting story if they exaggerate these
findings, but it is, unfortunately, a sad truth. It
just happens.
As with any sensationalist story, this just goes to show the
importance of not taking the media at face value. Do
your own research, look into it deeper. And then write
to The Telegraph calling them all old grumpy ninnies, or
something.
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What is
Resolution?
Resolution is a monthly videogames e-zine run primarily by a group of
egocentric misfits in Leeds, UK.
It's all delivered in the lovely, straightforward format of HTML, so you've no silly PDF files to download. We aim to talk about videogames in the most diverse and relevant way possible, meaning we've the standard 'news and reviews' gubbins, but also plenty of other worthwhile articles for you to cast your watchful eyes
over.
We do this because we bloody love videogames, we bloody love writing about them, and we're bloody proud of both of these facts. We hope that you - yes, sir/madam, you! - can share in this gleeful excitement about this most wonderful of creative media, and that you enjoy reading the words what we have written.
Contact
Resolution.
Any queries, troubles, pleas or death threats should be sent to
contact@resolution-magazine.co.uk.
If it's for the attention of a particular writer, say so in the subject line and it'll be passed on
accordingly.
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