Folks... She has an MD and an MPH; ridicule all you want but the woman is a real physician with impressive credentials. She is not alone in her beliefs: "The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, along with medical organizations, has been a strong advocate for television ratings and installation of chips to block certain programs. Physicians, in their role as health promoters, should become more active in educating the media to become more sensitive to the impact of violence on youth. We should be speaking up to the networks, cable vendors, local stations, federal agencies, and our political officials to help insure that programming decisions are made with an eye open to the potential consequences to the viewing audience, and that when violence is present, there are adequate warnings provided to the public. The arena of media violence is a new frontier where physicians can promote health through public education and advocacy." http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/developmentor/the_impact_of_media_violence_on_children_and_adolescents_opportunities_for_clinical_interventions
There is no dearth of professional organizations that recognize a possible link between violent imagery and aggressive behavior. Personally, I think it is a bit simplistic to reduce human behavior to cause and effect. There are so many other factors: brain chemistry, brain injury, drugs, genetic predisposition, abuse in childhood, and other contributing causes too numerous to mention.
First, if it was said on Fox there is a 99.9% chance that it is complete bullshit (er, I mean propaganda). That goes without saying. I am surprised they didn't advocate abstinence-only videogames.
I tried to find Lieberman's initial statement because this is a snippet. If you have ever played telephone you know that when a statement is made and then filtered through a chain of people, by the end of that chain it doesn't even vaguely resemble what was said at the outset. Not having her actual statement nor the context in which it was made, I can only say:
I disagree with her, but I am neither an MD nor do I have access to the studies,journals, continuing education (including Webinars) that a physician must process to keep a medical license active and current. There are experts on BOTH sides of this issue. Naturally I gravitate toward the experts whose theories support my opinion and love of videogames.
I find it particularly annoying when content in games, movies, and TV shows is censored/restricted because parents are not supervising their own kids. How many times have I watched a parent wait outside of Gamestop in the Mall while little Johnie or Janie buys a video game that is clearly NOT appropriate. I feel that if people choose to have kids it is up to them to police what their kids are playing. Don't infantilize my videogames because they are too graphic for Joe sixpack's 9 year old!
If you want to challenge Dr. Lieberman's opinion, do so intellectually. Making fun of her and calling her names only makes us sound like a bunch of adolescents. Back in the day, experts claimed that "sin" was attributable to alcohol and prostitution. Next it was attributed to vaudeville, and dancing. When movies became popular guess what they blamed? Then it was rock 'n' roll music... It drove conservatives crazy! Decadence in society has been blamed on many things: 30 years ago, sex education was blamed for teen pregnancy.
Let the "experts" opine. They mean well and sincerely believe their theories. The bottom line is to respect everyone's beliefs, ESPECIALLY when you don't agree with them.
