In a recent study by the University of Michigan, researchers found that children, teenagers and college students acted similar to how they played in video games in real life, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported.
Those who played violent games were linked behaviorally to harming others and those who played games with little or no violence were linked behaviorally to being kind to others, according to the study.
Here is part of what the abstract of the study said:
"In the correlational study, Singaporean middle-school students who played more prosocial games behaved more prosocially. In the two longitudinal samples of Japanese children and adolescents, prosocial game play predicted later increases in prosocial behavior. In the experimental study, U.S. undergraduates randomly assigned to play prosocial games behaved more prosocially toward another student."
The abstract added this:
"Although dozens of studies have documented a relationship between violent video games and aggressive behaviors, very little attention has been paid to potential effects of prosocial games. Theoretically, games in which game characters help and support each other in nonviolent ways should increase both short-term and long-term prosocial behaviors."
It seems to me that video games in this age have at least some form of violence, so I'm curious as to which video games were played in the study. Although this is great to hear for people who play non-violent video games, I think that those who play violent video games are a much higher percentage of the population.
It would be best for parents to encourage children to play the pro-social video games. When they're older, you can show them this study as proof of the importance of playing non-violent video games over violent ones.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/healthbeat/2009/07/20090722a.html
http://psp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/35/6/752