暴力遊戲之爭——到底對青少年有沒有影響？

Do violent video games trigger real-world violence? It's easy to believe that they might, especially in the wake of recent tragedies like the fatal shooting of an elderly woman allegedly by an 8-year-old who had been playing "Grand Theft Auto."

玩暴力遊戲會不會在現實生活中也變得很暴力？是的，最近一個八歲的孩子因爲玩“俠盜獵車手”，之後混淆了現實生活與虛幻的遊戲場景，將一名老太太打死了。

But despite decades of research into the possibility that the mayhem depicted in "Grand Theft Auto," "Mortal Kombat," and similar games is turning our kids into merciless killers, scientists have yet to find a smoking gun. At least they haven't been able to agree which way the gun is pointing.

儘管幾十年以來，很多研究都指出，像《俠盜獵車手》和《真人快打》之類的暴力血腥遊戲有可能會影響未成年人對真實世界的判斷，以至於最後殺人，成爲犯罪分子。然而，科學家還沒有確鑿的證據證明暴力遊戲可以直接導致未成年人犯罪，至少說還不能對暴力遊戲就是犯罪的元兇這一點上達成一致。

The research has yielded conflicting results, with some studies showing a link between the games and real-world violence and others showing no such link.

關於暴力遊戲與現實中的暴力之間的關係的研究出現了爭議。一些研究認爲兩者間有着必然聯繫，而另一些研究認爲兩者間沒有必然聯繫。

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry maintains that "studies ofchildren exposed to violence have shown that they can become 'immune' or numb to the horror of violence, imitate the violence they see, and show more aggressive behavior with greater exposure to violence."

美國兒童和青少年精神病協會認爲“有研究表明，兒童長期接觸暴力可以導致他們對暴力或恐懼免疫，或是對暴力和恐懼不敏感。他們可能會模仿他們所接觸過的暴力場景，在暴力環境裏成長的孩子會更好鬥。”

But not everyone is convinced.

但是這一點不是所有的人都同意的。

Research "has really not provided much evidence for links between video game violence and youth violence, at least not within general samples of kids," Dr. Christopher Ferguson, professor of psychology at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. and a leading expert on the psychological and behavioral effects of video game playing, told The Huffington Post in an email. "At this point the evidence has pretty well ruled out the idea that video game violence causes 'normal' kids to behave violently."

佛羅里達州迪蘭的斯泰森大學心理學教授Christopher Ferguson是心理學領域的專家，同時也是研究行爲與遊戲之間的聯繫的專家。他在給哈芬頓郵報的郵件中講到：“所有的相關研究沒有提供足夠的證據來說明暴力遊戲和青少年暴力行爲之間的關係，至少這些研究沒有針對廣大的普通兒童。”“這些相關的證據也排除了暴力遊戲會造成普通青少年暴力行爲的直接聯繫。

The same may also hold true for "vulnerable" children -- those with emotional and neurodevelopmental disorders. A new study by Ferguson and a colleague showed thatkids with symptoms of depression or ADHD who played violent video games were no more likely than other kids to become bullies or delinquents. In fact, playing the games seemed to have a mild calming effect on youths with attentional deficits, reducing their aggression and bullying behaviorThe study involved 377 American children from various ethnic groups, with an average age of 13. It was published online in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence

暴力遊戲可能對某些情緒化和神經發育障礙的孩子造成影響。費格森和他的同事的研究表明患有抑鬱症和多動症的孩子相比正常的孩子更容易受暴力遊戲的影響變成惡霸。其實，遊戲對於正常孩子來講有輕微的鎮靜作用，將暴力情緒轉移到遊戲中，從而減少在現實生活中的暴力行爲。費格森的研究對象爲377名平均年齡13歲的不同種族的美國兒童。這一項研究發表在在線雜誌《青少年》上發表。

Ferguson acknowledged that the new findings might not apply in extreme cases, such as those involving youths who commit mass homicides. But, he added, "Statistically speaking it would actually be more unusual if a youth delinquent or shooter did not play violent video games, given that the majority of youth and young men play such games at least occasionally."

費格森承認，他的研究不針對一些極端個案，比如說一些青少年殺人犯。但他補充道：“從數據上看，品行不端或殺人的青少年一般都玩過暴力遊戲，然而大多數青少年或多或少地都玩過此類遊戲。”

Adam Lanza, the 20-year-old responsible for last year's Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, reportedly was obsessed with video games.

20歲的Adam Lanza，是近期聖地胡可小學槍擊案主犯。根據報道，他曾沉迷於遊戲。

What's a parent to do? "Learn the ESRB ratings," Ferguson said, referring to the ratings issued by the Entertainment Software Review Board. "If parents understand the ratings systems, they may be less worried about not having control over their children's media access."

父母應該怎樣做呢？“要對遊戲分級有意識” 費格森說道。遊戲分級是指娛樂軟件審覈會對遊戲的定級。如果父母明白遊戲的分級, 父母就不用那麼擔心對孩子在多媒體娛樂方面的管控。

That might not help a video-game-obsessed child get fitter or earn better grades, but it could protect parents from what Ferguson calls the "moral panic" that stems from the misguided assumption that shoot-'em-up games turn kids into shooters.

這個方法可能對遊戲上癮的孩子沒有太大的幫助，但是確實可以幫助父母不會那麼恐慌遊戲對孩子的負面影響，不會覺得射擊遊戲就會把孩子變成槍手。

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