Do violent video games make teenagers more aggressive? A common question that has been asked by parents, the media and even researchers.

Enthusiastic arguments that violent video games do nothing more than simulate violence abound, but scientists point to the fact that there is very little data to confirm this, and what data there is available is up for interpretation.

So is Niko Bellic from the violent Grand Theft Auto video game series the anti-role model some claim? Is Counter-Strike to blame for school shootings?

The folks over at Brainlink (Brainlink.org), the public education project of the Center for Mental Health and Media, a division of the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, have other ideas. Their research suggests that video games may have developed a bad reputation due to an age old human reaction to new forms of entertainment or media; namely “moral panic”.

They point to the fact that, the paperback novel, gangster films and comic books all created “moral panic” in various generations, similar to what we are experiencing with video games. The point is that all are now an accepted part of contemporary culture and society.

What their research also highlights is that not all children who play violent video games become violent individuals. In fact the majority don’t. They point to the fact that we should be looking to identify a subgroup of individuals in whom violent video games may reinforce behavioural problems.

Like most other research that we’ve come across on the subject, Brainlink’s has a few holes and while it may offer some insight it lacks definitive conclusions. But if nothing else, it should teach us all to stop drawing conclusions before the question has been answered.