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Games focusing on physical prowess, not violence, could be the answer

Portions of the brain do get activated by exposure to and participation in violence.

Could you comment on the current violent trend among young children?
Inadequate supervision and participation by parents or elders, not allowing proper channeling of the child’s energies and lack of reality checks on the child’s fantasies, could foster this trend.

Is it true that their minds get massively affected while playing such violent games?
Portions of the brain do get activated by exposure to and participation in violence. As there is no visible fatal/bloody consequence, the child, still unable to distinguish between the virtual and the real world, finds this stimulation quite exciting. Adults need to monitor and restrict the child’s gaming activity in order to reduce violent content.

Is there a solution, maybe a way of diverting their minds from all this?
Of course! Healthier games even on the computer/net would seem the solution, but one must remember that these may be too boring in comparison to those that provide the stimulation the child derives from virtual violence. Actual demonstration of the consequences of violence in the short and the long run would seem an important ingredient of any strategy to wean the child away from grotesquely bloody games. Certain newer games calling for physical prowess, but not violence, are now available and they may prove to be good substitutes.

How many such cases do you witness? And what are the different kinds of treatments for the same?
I have personally seen only one case where violent gaming may have contributed to the violent behaviour in a child. Apart from all the above, addressing violent behaviour, verbal and physical, at home, addressing additional contributory factors like family pathology are very important in getting a child to stop tripping on violent games!

( Source : deccan chronicle )
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