Children's exposure to violent video games and desensitization to violence

Concern about the impact of media violence on children and adolescents is shared by the six signatories to the Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children: the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Psychiatric Association [1]. Although a less well-researched medium at this point, violent video and computer games (referred to simply as video games) may have particular impact because of their actively engaging, content-generating nature [2,3]. Recent content analyses suggested that up to 90% of all video games contain some sort of violent content, with at least half of these games including the potential for serious harm toward game characters [4]. Such violent video games have become especially popular, even with relatively young children. In a recent survey of first through third graders, 53% of the children's favorite games had violent content, as rated by the children themselves (Jeanne Funk, PhD, Margaret Chan, unpublished data, 2004). In another recent survey of middle school volunteers, students listed and rated up to three favorite games using a list of six categories and descriptors developed with the help of children and adolescents [5] and used in several previous studies. In that study, 99% of boys and 84% of girls categorized at least one of their current preferred video games as having violent content [6]. The inescapable conclusion is that across childhood and adolescence and across gender, violent video games enjoy considerable popularity.