It Takes Napalming a Village to Raise a Child

This blog is for those who cannot get enough of research found on violence in video games. It talks primarily about Clinton singling out the game Quake and studying its effects. In June, President Clinton ordered the surgeon general to study the effects of all violent media on children and young adults. He singled out video games in particular, pointing to research showing that half the electronic games a typical seventh-grader plays are violent. "What kind of values are we promoting," chimed in Hillary Clinton, "when a child can walk into a store and find video games where you win based on how many people you can kill or how many places you can blow up?"

The industry launched a counteroffensive, arguing that the vast majority of video games sold today are not violent, and emphasizing that no causal link has ever been established between aggressive behavior and prior exposure to violent media. The makers of these games claim that it is not the violence that is making the industry grow it is their ability to provide users with, "some of the most compelling, stimulating, and challenging entertainment available anywhere, in any form."