14 DAY TRIAL // To say it short and begin as no news should, here is the conclusion: video games make you dumb. Loud and clear, that is what some German scientists from Kriminologischen Forschungsinstituts Niedersachsen (KFN) have found out. And, yes, I will always be fascinated by the results of these studies. Then laugh for a whole week.
According to gamer.tm, who understood the German report (available here as a PDF document, if it makes any difference), violent media, including violent video games affect the school grades of the youngsters and, generally, the minds of everybody who likes to consume such mischievous products. The study was based on the school grades received by a group of schoolboys divided into gamers and game-haters (or at least, non-gamers). Yes, everything is bad!
The German KFN found out that the average grades for maths and other general studies for children aged 16 and under, were 0.1 to 0.5 below the national average. By contrast, boys who never play such games typically receive grades slightly above this. Even worse, according to the research, students aged 18 and above suffer bigger consequences. These guys had their grades 0.3 to 0.66 below the national average, while those who never played such titles were again marginally above.
The study continues with details that some could consider discrimination: not only the average intelligence of the parents matters, too, but also the ethnicity of the child. Hmm... that sounds a little bit harsh!
Now, back to the games, since that's our business - did any of those researchers, scientists, or whatever they are paid attention to the amounts of time kids spend in front of the computer or gaming console? Because we couldn't say that violent games make people dumb if they play them for 6 hours straight and ignore their homework, could we?