29. Violent Video Games What Every Parent Needs To Know with Lt Col Dave Grossman
For decades, the video game industry has provided hours of enjoyment for millions of people worldwide. With many competitors wanting a share of the pie, video game companies must constantly innovate to keep competitive. Part of this comes in the form of marketing and selling video games to children. On the surface, this may seem harmless enough. However, notice the number of hours your child spends on the screen. Do they lack sleep, exercise, and socialization? Are they becoming more aggressive?
If you answered yes to both of these questions, you’re not alone. The video games that our children play are increasingly becoming more addictive and violent. The consequences of these to our young are far-reaching. In this episode, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman shares how the video game industry and the government are turning a blind eye to the effects of violent video games. He talks about why it’s problematic to have our children be exposed to these. We also learn how violent video games are connected to sleep deprivation, mass murder, suicide, and more. But not all is lost. Even if we cannot change the industry immediately, we can take control of our family’s habits. Lt. Col. Dave shares simple changes we can make to create a big impact, not just in our children’s lives but also in our own.
Listen to this episode to learn more about the harms of violent video games and how to overcome addiction to them.
3 reasons why you should listen to the full episode:
Get informed on the current state of the video game industry and why it’s becoming more dangerous.
Discover why it’s so easy to get addicted to games and our screens.
Learn the ways we can overcome addiction and create better habits for our children.
Resources
● Connect with Lt. Col. Dave Grossman: Facebook I Grossman Academy
● Killology: Killology Research Group I info@killology.com I 618-566-4682
● Episode 29: Psychology of Killing with Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
● Free your children from addictive screen habits with Screen Strong. They provide resources, actionable steps, and a supportive community to help you and your family reduce screen time!
● Want to learn more from Lt. Col. Dave? Check out his books:
Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence
Assassination Generation: Video Games, Aggression, and the Psychology of Killing
You can also check his other books here!
Episode Highlights
[04:53] The Current State of the Video Game Industry
● Lt. Col. Dave’s first book came out in 1995. Since then, he has been fighting against violent video games.
● Every year, the video game industry makes more money than the movie industry worldwide. This is because games are increasingly designed to be addictive.
● The industry claims that violent video games are harmless to children despite all the definitive studies and research available.
● The industry had a Supreme Court hearing and brought several experts to defend their position, but none of them were experts in psychology, pediatrics, or health.
[11:49] Video Games are Designed to Be Addictive
● The video game industry is constantly tracking how people play so they can keep changing to make the game impossible to stop.
● When people are told to stop playing, they often become violent and angry.
● Cell phone addiction is also widespread.
● People go through withdrawals whenever they need to stop playing or using their phones.
● When children are left on their own, it’s so much easier for them to succumb to addiction and let it destroy their lives.
[14:19] How Industries Change
● At some point, we need to make sure that violent video games are not marketed and sold to children.
● We had cars for 50 years before the industry accepted that children shouldn’t be driving them.
● Cigarettes, on the other hand, took 100 years before they could not be sold to children.
Lt. Col. Dave: “The tobacco industry fought tooth and nail, decade after a decade over one thing: to sell tobacco to children. And so this is the evil of [the video game] industry, that they followed the tobacco industry path. And when tobacco kills you, it does it 60 years later. When media violence kills you, it does it now.”
[16:22] Why We Should Fight Back
● Murder rates have been increasing worldwide.
● While medical technology saves more lives, this is not enough to keep up with the murder rate.
● A study showed that if we had the medical technology of the 1960s, the murder rate now would be 3-4 times higher than during the 1960s to 1990s.
● Violence and murder is a hidden problem, and it’s just getting bigger over time.
● Listen to the full episode to learn more about how this problem is present everywhere.
[21:22] The Rise of a Different Kind of Murder
● Not only can video game addiction lead to poor grades and performance, but it can also lead to terrible murders.
● People are not themselves when they’re addicted to violent video games.
● Throughout history, cases of children murdering their parents are rare. However, this is happening everywhere now.
● There are also cases where children are murdered because the parents, older kids, or babysitters were interrupted from their game.
● Despite these problems, we still see violent video games like Fortnite is rated for 13 years old and above.
[26:58] The Loophole of the Rating System in Violent Video Games
● Violent video games condition children to violence and killing. It also teaches children they can do anything, even if it’s dangerous.
● When children see violent visual imagery, their body goes into fight or flight mode.
● The video game industry may have created a rating system, but they are often hard to find. The industry will always push to find ways to sell to children.
● The rating system is as follows: Adults (18 years old and above), Mature (17 years old and above), T or PG13 (13 years old and above), and Everyone (5 years old and above).
● These ratings are not scientifically based on children’s developmental stages.
[33:51] Addiction Leads to Sleep Deprivation
● We are also living in an epidemic of sleep deprivation, which creates impaired judgment and bad decision-making.
● Sleep deprivation is also a key factor in suicide.
● In America, suicide rates among teenage girls have tripled per capita in the last decade.
● People are meant to sleep in dark rooms, but more children are having their sleeping cycles disrupted because of video games.
[39:26] Why Violent Video Games, TV, and Movies are Acceptable
● There is systematic desensitization that makes it more acceptable to like and play violent video games.
● Violence can be addictive because our survival instincts demand that we watch and learn from it.
● Adults know that violent video games and movies are not real, but children cannot distinguish that yet.
● Humans have two biological desires: survive and reproduce.
● Many violent video games will combine these two biological dynamics. This makes these games biologically addictive.
Lt. Col. Dave: “Our great survival mechanism is that we can learn from other people's experiences. If there's violence in your environment and you're not immediately personally threatened, your survival demands that you watch.”
[43:59] Start with Education and Detox
● We may not be able to change the industry immediately, but we can control our children’s consumption.
● Learn what these violent video games are doing to you and your family. Then, undergo a detox where you don’t watch any TV or play any games.
● It was found that 10 days of this detox can cut violence in schools by half.
● Lt. Col. Dave recommends taking up martial arts, which teaches discipline and focus.
● Learn more about the study that observed this incredible change in the full episode!
Lt. Col. Dave: “When you're playing these [violent video] games, you're a different person. Your ability to focus, your ability to remember, [and] your ability to perform is vastly reduced.”
[53:20] Create Better Habits
● Start limiting screen and game times and strictly enforce the ratings.
● Make your children conscious of how violent video games are affecting their behaviors.
● You can also observe how violent video games affect you as a parent and spouse.
● As a parent, you have the power to take your children off the toxic babysitter that is violent video games.
[56:14] Talking to the Government about Violent Video Games
● Lt. Col. Dave briefed the Vice President on the issues surrounding violent video games in 2019. However, there’s no widespread action to control the situation yet.
● Aside from suicide, sleep deprivation can also lead to traffic accidents and chronic pain.
● Chronic pain, in turn, creates an epidemic of opiate overdose.
● We need to make sure our children are sleeping enough.
[59:20] Boredom is Important
● Boredom is a state that will make people read, play complex games, and explore.
● Let your children play in parks and playgrounds.
● Make the time and effort to spend time with your children; don’t let screens and video games become their babysitters.
About Lt. Col. Dave
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is a US Army Ranger, paratrooper, and former West Point Psychology Professor. He has written and published four novels, two children’s books, and six non-fiction books, including Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill and Assassination Generation. His research was cited by the President of the United States in a national address and he has testified before numerous state legislatures including the US Senate and the US Congress.
Lt. Col. Dave is also the director of the Killology Research Group and has written extensively on terrorist threats and violence. For over 19 years, he has been training military, law enforcement, mental health providers, and school safety organizations. He has helped train mental health professionals after the wake of the Jonesboro school massacre and several other cases.
As a recognized expert on the field, Lt. Col Dave was inducted as a “Life Diplomate” by the American Board for Certification in Homeland Security and a “Life Member” of the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute.
If you want to learn more about Lt. Col. Dave you can find him on Facebook and the Grossman Academy. You can also check the Killology Research Group and reach him through info@killology.com
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