Report: 58% of US adults blame violent games for violent behavior
Studies have shown that violent behavior is both linked and not linked to violent video games, but the majority of Americans have decided for themselves: A new poll says that 58 percent of adult Americans do believe that playing violent video games can contribute to violent behavior in teenagers. The independent survey studied 2,278 US adults, and found that nearly three out of five of them believed the link was there.
However, those same adults aren't too bothered with keeping violent video games out of the hands of children. 38 percent of survey takers said they know nothing about the Entertainment Software Ratings Board's system for rating game content, and 33 percent of those surveyed say their kids can play whatever they want anyway. Only 32 percent of respondents say the ESRB can keep violent games out of the hands of children, which is less credit than those surveyed give the movies or music ratings systems.
In reality, the FTC actually says the gaming ratings system is the best at keeping illicit content out of the hands of minors, though the media doesn't always report it that way. The full results of the report, from Harris Poll, are set to be released on Wednesday this week.
