During my usual morning routine of secret cutting and reading all the fun biofeedback journals, I came across yet another study that seemed to confirm my fears that maybe, horribly, people like Jack Thompson are right. Now obviously that’s crazy talk, but let’s not dismiss the possible effects of very violent video games on the thought processes of young people just because some jack*ss in Florida totally hates you.

This particular study found that young men are more likely to see hostility in the attitudes of others if they have recently played a violent video game. 100 male college students (I like this already) played one of two games: the first involved car theft and braining drug dealers with a baseball bat, while the second was a snoozer that had players racing to get their kids’ homework to school on time.

Afterward, the men were shown a presentation about cheating in school and were asked to imagine themselves as a student who’d been asked to stay behind after class. Those who’d played the violent game were more likely to think they’d be accused of cheating; they also had higher blood pressure and were more likely to find use of alcohol and marijuana acceptable after playing a violent video game. Effects were exaggerated in men who came from violent environments, but everyone who’d played dirty was less cooperative and more competitive compared to the peaceniks who got nerfed with the homework game.

It doesn’t seem to me like anyone sane is really claiming that video games create murderers, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be responsible about examining the content of our recreational activities, and it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think about how the games we love to play might influence our thought processes. Mostly, it seems to me like the smartest thing to do is keep an open dialogue between game enthusiasts and concerned parents/teachers/etc, without getting all crazy and legislative about it. If we can handle the debate about violence in media like mature adults, maybe there will be room for mature adults to enjoy bashing the brains out of goons and driving trucks over hookers…just like God intended.