Nancy Pelosi isn’t always on our good side. She caused a bit of controversy a few years back when she supported the use of waterboarding on suspected terrorists. However, when it comes to gaming, she seems to be one of the only politicians with her head screwed on straight.
Last weekend, on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace questioned Pelosi about the current administration’s stance on violence in video games. “As part of your plan, you call for more scientific research on the connection between popular culture and violence. We don’t need another study, respectfully,” said Wallace. “I mean, we know that these video games, where people have their heads splattered, these movies, these TV shows—why don’t you go to your friends in Hollywood and challenge them, shame them, and say, ‘Knock it off?'”
Luckily, Pelosi isn’t a member of a Wallace’s anti-science club, which incidentally includes Ralph Nader and the entire NRA . She responded by attempting to explain that people shouldn’t be afraid of research: “I’m a mother; I’m a grandmother. But, they—not Hollywood, but the evidence—says that, in Japan, for example, they have the most violent games and the lowest death—mortality—from guns. I don’t know what the explanation is for that except they may have good gun laws.”
For some reason, many pundits hold the opinion that action needs to be taken without an understanding of the facts. Or perhaps they think that the facts are plain enough to support whatever drastic action they’ve deemed necessary. Either way, they’re incorrect.
We don’t know why Americans are more prone to violent behavior than similarly cosmopolitan countries. However, we do know that our violent crime rate is dropping, and video games still remain extremely popular. So, the correlation is not as plain as many pundits would like.
Source: Huffington Post
 | By Josh Engen News Director Date: February 13, 2013 |