Nearly two weeks ago, US Vice President Joe Biden met with figures of the videogame industry as part of a series of meetings meant to gather information on what can be done to limit gun violence in the country. Now, Mr. Biden is urging everyone to not “be afraid of the facts” when it comes to research on violent media.
During a “fireside hangout” via Google Plus on discussing gun violence with the American people, entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki asked the Vice President about the influence that special interest groups can have on the government, especially through Congressional lobbying.
“How did it come to this point where special interests seems to control Congress,” Kawasaki asked, “even to the point of what research can be done?”
Biden responded by stating that these groups are “afraid of facts,” insinuating that it’s because those facts may go against those groups’ goals.
“Let the facts lead where they will. Let the research be done,” said Biden. “That’s one of the things the president and I believe very strongly: Let the facts work, including with regard to the entertainment industry.
“There is no hard data as to whether or not these excessively violent video games, in fact, cause people to engage in behavior that is antisocial, including using guns.”
However, the Vice President went on to say that the research already conducted hasn’t gone far enough nor sought to see if connections that may be present can be made. He continued:
There is one study done [by] The American Academy of Pediatrics. They said if [kids] watch three to six hours of video games, and a lot of kids do that, [it] can lead to aggressive behavior. They didn’t make the next connection saying that leads to violent behavior. But there’s no studies done. So I recommended to the President that we do significant research. Let CDC, let the National Institute of Health, let these people go out and look at the pathology that’s behind this, if there is a pathology related to gun violence. We shouldn’t be afraid of the facts.”
President Barack Obama has already issued a Presidential Memorandum, calling upon Congress to grant $10 million for the CDC towards new research. Some of that research would include investigating the relationship between video games, “media images,” and violence.
Video of Mr. Biden’s answer can be found below. Also, be sure to lend us your thoughts on the President and Vice President’s stance on this issue in the comments section.
Let’s grant that $10 million to some other research instead. There are always schools full of undereducated kids… like, everywhere. And medical research can take us leaps and bounds beyond our current procedures.