It's the holiday season and that means kids by the millions are asking Santa for the opportunity to blow away enemy soldiers and aliens on the Xbox or PlayStation. Would parents be worried about buying such gifts?(1)____ Violent video games are now an established part of our culture; recent releases of games such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Skyrim have setting sales records for media releases (topping even blockbuster movies) and garnishing lavish reviews for their artistic merits. Ten years ago, scholars and politicians raised the possibility such games might contribute to school shootings or other youth violence.(2)____(3)____
Our modem fears over Violent video games appear to be in
line with prior moral panics over media as diversely as jazz music, comic books and Harry Potter.(4)____ Granted, too much passive activity, including video games, can contribute to obesity. Unlike anything else, gaming should be enjoyed in moderation, balanced with outdoor activity, allowed enough time for family and schoolwork.(5)____(6)____ A very small number of kids exhibit signs of pathological gaming. And regarding concerns about aggression, it appears to be that, fairly early on, children leam to distinguish between fantasy and reality, and their brains don't treat these phenomena the same.(7)____ Santa Claus is a primary example.(8)____ Despite that not only their parents but all of society conspiring to lie to children about the reality of this fellow, children can reason out the improbability of its existence by the mid-elementary years.(9)____ With those kinds of reasoning powers, kids can handle a video game that doesn't even claim to be real.(10)____