In the wake of the Parkland, Fla., shooting, many -- including President Trump -- are pointing the finger at violent video games for potentially shaping player behaviors. But the industry is just “a very convenient scapegoat for a lot of politicians,” according to Ashley Jenkins, Host of Rooster Teeth’s “The Know.”
There have been several studies looking into the impact of video games, and none have found any causal links with behavioral issues, Jenkins told Cheddar.
She pointed out that the games in question are often played around the world, and those countries “don’t have the same level of gun violence, so it’s unlikely that the correlation there has anything to do with actual video games.”
President Trump has said he’ll meet with video game executives at some point this week to discuss the violent content in their products.
But it seems like the industry, including companies such as Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, is unaware of this meeting.
“At this point no one in the industry has any idea who Trump plans on meeting with,” said Jenkins.
This debate around the impact of video games isn’t new and tends to resurface after every violent tragedy.
For example, there were similar calls for restraints after the Columbine shooting in 1999. But that movement didn’t really go anywhere.
Instead, the video game industry set up the Entertainment Software Association, which functions as “an independent regulatory body to avoid government interference,” much like the Motion Picture Association of America self-regulates for movies, said Jenkins.
Trump, though, doesn’t seem aware that the body exists, suggesting at a meeting with shooting survivors last month that video games should be subject to a “ratings system.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/trump-planning-to-meet-with-video-game-makers).
Authorities on Thursday were trying to determine who sent letters filled with fentanyl or other substances to local election offices, an attack that appears to have targeted multiple states in the latest instance of threats faced by election workers around the country.
The White House said Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza starting on Thursday, as the Biden administration said it has secured a second pathway for civilians to flee fighting.
Columnist and political analyst Jonathan Harris joined Cheddar News to break down what stood out from Wednesday's third Republican presidential primary debate.
Mississippi's largest county ran out of ballots during Wednesday's governor's election as some voters say they had to wait for up to an hour for new ballots to be printed before they could cast their votes.
Republican presidential candidates used the third debate of the GOP primary campaign to show their support for Israel and display at least some willingness to criticize Donald Trump.
The National Zoo's three giant pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji. on Wednesday began their long trip to China, leaving behind an empty panda exhibit with no certainty that pandas ever would again take up residence there.
Palestinians living in the heart of Gaza’s largest city said Wednesday they could see and hear Israeli ground forces closing in from multiple directions, accelerating the exodus of thousands of civilians as food and water become scarce and urban fighting between Israel and Hamas heats up.
