No evidence playing violent video games leads to aggressive behaviour in teens, study finds

Teenagers who play violent video games are no more prone to real world aggressive behaviour than their peers, according to UK researchers who say their negative effects have been overstated. Fears that gory games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty might make children think on-screen behaviours are acceptable have been a major concern for parents and policy makers for years. Last year President Donald Trump said violent games were "shaping young people's thoughts" in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting in Parklands, Florida. But one of the most comprehensive studies to date, led by University of Oxford researchers, found no evidence of increased aggression among teens who had spent longer playing violent games in the past month. "The idea that violent video games drive real-world aggression is a popular one, but it hasn't tested very well over time," says lead researcher Professor Andrew Przybylski, director of research at the Oxford Internet Institute.