Kids these days with their guns and their drugs and their video games
I saw a couple of news articles linking to this report by the RAC (a British motoring organization) that discusses the link between playing video games and aggressive driving.
Over one third (34%) of young male and female drivers confess they are more likely to drive faster on roads shortly after indulging in on-screen driving action and a quarter (27%) of young drivers admit they take greater driving risks after a gaming session.
The study, by the UK’s largest driving school, BSM, shows nearly a quarter (22%) of young drivers even claim they have imagined they’re in a driving simulation game while driving on the UK’s roads.
The sociologist in me wants to scream! You’d almost think that they actually sat with the respondents of this survey to see if they drove differently after they played games. But, based on what I saw on the BSM’s website, this is just a regular old Internet based survey. They don’t let you log in unless you’re a student, so I can only imagine the leading formatting and biased questions…. Still, even if the survey was designed in an unbiased way, you have to wonder about the results they’re getting.
First of all, they’re asking the respondents if they feel like they drive faster or take more risks after a gaming session. I feel a lot of things that I know aren’t accurate, and I especially remember that when I was a teenager, my perception of reality and my own actions were a bit warped to say the least. There’s also the aspect of correlation does not mean causation. Even if the kids are actually driving differently after gaming, does that mean that it is caused by the gaming? Might it be that they’re just more aware of their driving habits after playing games? Or perhaps those who play games are already more disposed to driving in this fashion. Or perhaps there isn’t any effect at all, but the respondent says, “Hunh, now that they ask, I guess I drive differently.”
Without a whole lot of questions answered, or at least making the data available, I’m calling BS on this one. Yes, I’m seeing what I want to see, as I obviously don’t think that video games “cause” anything that isn’t already present in some form in an individual. But I think the sponsors of this survey are guilty of the same thing, in reverse. It doesn’t help that the people who put this info out there have a lot to gain by saying kids are worse off.
I’ve played plenty of video games and I never felt the urge to kill anyone who wasn’t a hooker or a homless person so I think this is totally unfounded.
jason said this on March 9th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Avid gamer. Not so avid sociopath. Though I’ve noticed the more gamers are stereotyped as mom’s basement dwelling, no income losers, just waiting to snap … the more I want to move in with my mom, quit my job, and put together an elaborate scheme to violently kill all of videogameland’s enemies. Is that irony, or DESTINY !!!
Sol740 said this on March 18th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Self-fulfilling prophecy perhaps.
brandie said this on March 18th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Hmmmm … maybe a psychologist is in order. That or some really good chinese food. Ya, I think that’ll do.
Sol740 said this on March 18th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
I’ve often found that eating your feelings is just as effective and twice as delicious as psychotherapy.
brandie said this on March 19th, 2007 at 8:12 am
The sociologist in you? Does Jason know about this?
r3dw0rm said this on April 6th, 2007 at 4:21 am
He condones it even! Giggidy.
brandie said this on April 6th, 2007 at 7:55 am