Kids admit violent video games make them aggressive

A majority of kids in Britain believe that playing violent computer games, such as the recently launched Grand Theft Auto IV, are responsible for aggressive behaviour, according to a new survey.

London, May 17 : A majority of kids in Britain believe that playing violent computer games, such as the recently launched Grand Theft Auto IV, are responsible for aggressive behaviour, according to a new survey.

The survey conducted by Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, has revealed that two thirds of children between ages ranging from 12 to 15 confessed that violence in games was more responsible for aggressive behaviour than the violence in television or films.

The findings follow the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV (GAT 1V), where the protagonist in the game robs and murders his way through the criminal underworld.

While GAT 1V comes with a 18-certificate, it has raised concerns for parenting groups, who think that the game will still land into the hands of younger children sooner or later, reports Telegraph.

The survey also pointed out that kids' bedrooms were largely turning into multi-media centres", as most of the children between the age of 12 and 15 had their bedrooms equipped with at least six media devices, like the internet, MP3 players, digital cameras and mobile phones and those aged 8 to 11 had, on average, four devices in their rooms.

Despite growing concerns, children are still exposed to unsuitable content on the Internet without any supervision.

And parents have said that they did not think it was necessary to install blocking software as they trusted their children to "self-regulate" their Internet behaviour.

ANI