Finally some people who are on our side. We’ve all heard the argument time and time again that violent video games rub off on children, and thus, make them violent as well. I think that’s rubbish because for all the years my friends and I have played violent games, we have yet to hold up the mini-mart. Sure that formula doesn’t work for everyone. There are some people out there who are highly impressionable. Be that as it may, G4’s X-Play host Adam Sessler interviewed the directors and co-founders of the Harvard Medical School Center for Mental Health and Media (so you know they know what they’re talking about) about their research and findings. I’m happy to say they offer quite a rebuttal in our favor.

Dr. Lawrence Kutner and Dr. Cheryl Olson explain how in fact players of violent video games show more social competence than those who don’t. Over the several years in which this research was conducted they found that people who didn’t play videogames were more likely to exhibit violent behavior than those who do. They go on to detail their skepticism of other research, and why it may be flawed.

Bravo to X-Play for giving us gamers credible researchers to help us in our fight against those who would try to oppress us. I strongly encourage everyone to check out the video above to get the full gist of what this argument entails.