May 8, 2008
Research on Connections Between Computer Use and School Violence
A psychiatrist presented research on connections between excessive computer use and school shootings at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual summit on Tuesday.
Dr. Jerald J. Block, a psychiatrist and professor at Oregon Health & Science University, argued that the shooters in the Columbine High School massacre “spent a significant amount of time playing first-person-shooter computer games and creating game levels for others to use,” and that they became “unable to distinguish the boundaries between their virtual lives and their real lives, in effect mixing the two,” according to a news release. His research was published last year in an article for the American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry titled “Lessons From Columbine: Virtual and Real Rage.”
“[A]s they got into trouble with school authorities, limits were put on their use of the computer. This made them react with homicidal rage and suicidal depression,” Dr. Block told WebMD of the Columbine shooters.
Dr. Block has also studied student violence at Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University, and other institutions.
Other scholars have criticized connections between violence and computer or video game use and theories relating to “Internet addiction.”—Catherine Rampell
Posted on Thursday May 8, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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I think that it is MUCH more likely that the effects of anti-depressants are the cause of the school shootings. Why is it that no one seems concerned that in every single school shooting case the shooter either was on, or had just gone off anti-depressants? Not that I think that playing first person shooters is devoid of negative psychological impacts, but I want to know why no psychiatrists are asking the tough questions about the impact of medication. Do a little googling on the increased likelihood of suicide while on anti-depressants and you will start to get an idea of how they may have played a key role in all of these shootings going all the way back to the shootings in the south pre-Columbine… For Pete’s sake, Michael Moore didn’t even ask that question…
— Tim O'Brien May 9, 08:45 AM #
I think a connection should be made in the reverse direction- perhaps these individuals already had a predisposition to violence, therefore they were DRAWN to the violent COMPUTER GAMES.
— Jen May 9, 08:52 AM #
Though the research as summarized is not clear, personal experience causes me to suspect there is something to the assertion. As the parent of a young (7) son who loves playing computer games (at present, his favorite is “Bookworm Adventure”, a game where the player spells words [longer is more powerful] to have the protagonist bookworm combat opponents [with a cartoon “whomp”), I have observed that he is very driven by the intensity, not of the violence, but of the nearly continual positive reinforcement. Though he is limited to 1 hour a day (and often doesn’t get that much), the punishment of “no computer” is considered by him to be very severe and he truly does seem to suffer (or at least complain a lot ;) when he can’t play. It is not a stretch for me to believe that a person who plays these things continually could actually become really depressed if deprived of the stimulation, which is extreme.
— Susan May 9, 08:58 AM #
I am part of the first generation to grow up with computer games as a normal part of our lives. I have played first person shooter games (the infamous Doom) and I’ve played interactive puzzle solving games where no death occurs. I’ve even played a game based on Bladerunner where the only way to “win” was to kill a human. I think that some of these games are likely to affect people with a predisposition towards violence. There is an urge, when you’re playing, to get to the next level that will keep you up all night eating cheetos and drinking soda. That urge is very addictive.
Couple that with a kid who is also depressed, bullied and anti-social and I think that’s one way we get these problems.
Do I think that therefore the video game companies are liable? Not really. As Susan above indirectly demonstrates, it’s up to parents to limit their kids’ computer use. I have two young kids myself and I can promise that they will be monintored IF they ever get one of those systems.
This research is crucial to an understanding of what is going on. But are antidepressents also a problem? I’ll bet they are.
— Kim Wells May 9, 09:44 AM #
Isn’t there something a bit strange about people (teens or otherwise) who seem to prefer virtual reality to the real thing? True, computer games allow young people to have quasi-experiences that they could not otherwise have for lack of age (12 year olds can drive race cars virtually), but in extreme cases quite a few people come to prefer the make-believe to the real world. Perhaps, this is also an area that needs good, scientific investigation.
— Sally May 9, 10:12 AM #
Just like so many things in life, kids (and adults) can develop pathological behaviors regarding the distractions that surround them.
In the case of adults, they need to recognize the problem and seek help.
In the case of kids, there are two things going on: 1) A failure of parents to understand what appropriate boundaries are (in this case on the use of computer games, violent or otherwise) and 2) the subsequent failure to articulate, apply, and maintain those boundaries.
I am so tired of hearing the two most common cop outs – “I don’t really understand what that online stuff is all about”, or worse: “I am tired of fighting it”.
That is what being a parent, or educator, is all about.
— jrb May 9, 12:10 PM #
Books are virtual reality too. Kids reading Harry Potter incessantly are also immersed in a virtual world, albeit far less interactive. They would suffer just as much if deprived of their book “fix” as well as any gamer. However books are socially sanctioned (and conceptually invisible as media for that matter) forms of virtual reality, so we are less likely to deprive our kids of reading as a punishment.
I’m not condoning digital games by comparing them directly to reading but the tendency to not see that these two forms of media are highly comparable calls attention to our limited understanding of and theorizing about mediated experiences. I expect a generation or two ago, parents with kids who read “too much” were giving their kids grief and sending them outside w/o their books (where the kids no doubt engaged in virtual reality play such as cops and robbers).
And then there is the question of effect size — Out of all the people playing digital games, what teeny percentage act out in antisocial ways as a direct result of playing these games?
Finally, what can a single psychiatrist possibly say with any authority about the general relationship between digital game playing and propensity to engage in violence based on a post hoc forensic analysis of a couple kids he never met? But it does make for good press, no?
— Kelly Aune May 10, 01:57 PM #