Dr. Craig Anderson from the University of Iowa is one of the most frequently cited and published researchers in the field of video game violence. Anderson’s work has been used in a variety of venues from scholarly publications to State Supreme Court arguments. Anderson research was used in the Illinois video game legislation defense where he was described as, “The nation’s pre-eminent researcher on the effect of exposure to violent video games.” Anderson’s work has been published in a multiple books, from Children in the Digital Age: Influences of Electronic Media on Development (2002) to his own Violent Video Games Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Public Policy (2006).
Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents Theory, Research, and Public Policy (Oxford University Press, 2006)
by Craig A. Anderson, Douglas A. Gentile and Katherine E. Buckley
Description
Violent video games are successfully marketed to and easily obtained by children and adolescents. Even the U.S. government distributes one such game, America’s Army, through both the internet and its recruiting offices. Is there any scientific evidence to support the claims that violent games contribute to aggressive and violent behavior?
Anderson, Gentile, and Buckley first present an overview of empirical research on the effects of violent video games, and then add to this literature three new studies that fill the most important gaps. They update the traditional General Aggression Model to focus on both developmental processes and how media-violence exposure can increase the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both short- and long-term contexts. Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents also reviews the history of these games’ explosive growth, and explores the public policy options for controlling their distribution. Anderson et al. describe the reaction of the games industry to scientific findings that exposure to violent video games and other forms of media violence constitutes a significant risk factor for later aggressive and violent behavior. They argue that society should begin a more productive debate about whether to reduce the high rates of exposure to media violence, and delineate the public policy options that are likely be most effective.
Dad Argues for right to hit son
The Nelson Mail, Friday, 07 December 2007
By SALLY KIDSON – A Nelson father charged with assaulting his son, in one of the region’s first prosecutions under a controversial new child discipline law, says he is prepared to go to jail for his right as a parent and a Christian to hit his child.
Rowan Flynn has been charged with two counts of assaulting his 11-year-old son under the new legislation, which came into effect in June and removed a parent’s right to use “reasonable force” when disciplining a child.
The 52-year-old denied the charges when he appeared in the Nelson District Court this week, and has chosen to have a judge and jury hear the case.
UK Child Support Agency forces sperm donor to pay child support
A 37 year old British man, Andy Bathie, who donated his sperm to a “married” lesbian couple so they could have two children, is now being forced to pay thousands of pounds in child support by the the British government’s Child Support Agency (CSA). He initially agreed to help lesbians Sharon and Terri Arnold after being assured he would not have to be involved in the upbringing of their young boy and girl or have any financial responsibility towards them. However, the CSA has begun to dock his pay, forcing him to contribute financially to the children’s upbringing because the lesbian couple have split up.
The Evening Standard newspaper (see link below) has reported that Mr Bathie has launched unprecedented court action in an attempt to ensure he cannot be recognised as a legal parent to the children. He told the paper: “These women wanted to be parents and take on all the responsibilities that brings.”
“I would never have agreed to this unless they had been living as a committed family. And now I can’t afford to have children with my own wife — it’s crippling me financially.” [Read more…]
What REALLY Happens During an Abortion
What REALLY happens during an abortion: One surgeon finally tells the truth
By DEBORAH DAVIES – Daily Mail UK Last updated 12th October 2007
The blonde teenager, waiting to go into the operating theatre, is 16 years old and nearly 16 weeks pregnant. She’ll be one of up to 60 women having an abortion that day at the Marie Stopes clinic in south London.
She realised she was pregnant about eight weeks earlier, but couldn’t pluck up the courage to tell her mother. The weeks ticked by. She agonised over what to do: she had plans to go to college; her boyfriend said he’d stand by her whatever she decided.
She had considered having an abortion in secret, but eventually her mum guessed and made the appointment for her.
The abortion she’s about to have would be illegal in many European countries, where the time limit is 12 weeks, unless the foetus is severely disabled or the mother’s life is at risk.
But in Britain, abortions performed for those critical health reasons accounted for only 2 per cent of the 200,000 abortions carried out last year.