According to a newly released Harris Poll concerning violence and video games, 58% of US adults blame violent video games for violent behavior. The survey spoke to 2,278 US adults and in addition to more than half of them believing violence and video games are linked they found the following:
- 38% respondents said they were unaware of the ESRB or the fact that they place age warnings on mature games.
- 33% of respondents said they allow their children to play whatever they want.
- 47% do not have faith in the ESRB to keep mature-rated games away from children.
When the respondents were asked about the ESRB, this is how they responded:
- 66 percent of households with game-playing children use the ESRB’s age guidelines to help make purchasing decisions.
- Of the 66% of households that use the guidelines, 14% of Americans claimed to fully understand said guidelines, 18% said they understood a lot of it.
While these numbers are staggering and confusing for video game fans, Harris Poll president Mike de Vere explained it best with this statement.
“The findings underscore the lack of awareness Americans have about the video game rating system, as well as the confusion in the market,” Harris Poll president Mike de Vere said in a statement. “They also factor into a larger discussion playing out across our country and on a political stage around how violent games impact our youth, with President Obama recently announcing his desire to look into ways to fund research examining the impact of violent video games on children.”
The Harris Poll ran this survey independently. No outside corporations or interests funded or requested the research.
