Speaking to the games media for the first time since the publication of her government report into the games industry, Dr. Tanya Byron has said that she doesn't believe that games are responsible for violence in modern society.
Dr. Byron, famous from the child-psychology show The House of Tiny Tearaways, recently completed a government report into games which came to the conclusion that all games need to be rated using a film-style rating system.
Speaking to GI.biz, Dr. Byron said that she doesn't believe that the games industry is responsible for all the violence it is scapegoated for.
"Let's stop blaming industry for things industry isn't responsible for, that's number one," said Dr. Byron.
"Number two, the industry has worked really positively with me. I do believe this industry does not intend to corrupt young people. Number three, I think there's a positive that adult games are created with adult content for adults to play."
"There are a lot of really good videogames." She went on, "I think games are very positive for children. They engage with them through thinking as well as playing...We need to stop panicking, get a grip, move on in the debate and just be sensible about who plays what at what age, and what's appropriate."
"We can't just isolate videogames as being responsible for the ills of society. I am really clear from the child development literature that there are some games that kids shouldn't play and it could have a really, really negative impact on them if they do play them...But my instinct is that the videogames industry is completely next to me on that one, because again, yes there are adult games and adult material that people can read and look at."
Agree with the good doctor, or is this little more than automatic crowd-pleasing spiel? Let us know what you think in the forums.
Dr. Byron, famous from the child-psychology show The House of Tiny Tearaways, recently completed a government report into games which came to the conclusion that all games need to be rated using a film-style rating system.
Speaking to GI.biz, Dr. Byron said that she doesn't believe that the games industry is responsible for all the violence it is scapegoated for.
"Let's stop blaming industry for things industry isn't responsible for, that's number one," said Dr. Byron.
"Number two, the industry has worked really positively with me. I do believe this industry does not intend to corrupt young people. Number three, I think there's a positive that adult games are created with adult content for adults to play."
"There are a lot of really good videogames." She went on, "I think games are very positive for children. They engage with them through thinking as well as playing...We need to stop panicking, get a grip, move on in the debate and just be sensible about who plays what at what age, and what's appropriate."
"We can't just isolate videogames as being responsible for the ills of society. I am really clear from the child development literature that there are some games that kids shouldn't play and it could have a really, really negative impact on them if they do play them...But my instinct is that the videogames industry is completely next to me on that one, because again, yes there are adult games and adult material that people can read and look at."
Agree with the good doctor, or is this little more than automatic crowd-pleasing spiel? Let us know what you think in the forums.
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