暴力游戏之争——到底对青少年有没有影响？

Do violent video games trigger real-world violence? It's easy to believe that they might, especially in the wake of recent tragedies like the fatal shooting of an elderly woman allegedly by an 8-year-old who had been playing "Grand Theft Auto."

玩暴力游戏会不会在现实生活中也变得很暴力？是的，最近一个八岁的孩子因为玩“侠盗猎车手”，之后混淆了现实生活与虚幻的游戏场景，将一名老太太打死了。

But despite decades of research into the possibility that the mayhem depicted in "Grand Theft Auto," "Mortal Kombat," and similar games is turning our kids into merciless killers, scientists have yet to find a smoking gun. At least they haven't been able to agree which way the gun is pointing.

尽管几十年以来，很多研究都指出，像《侠盗猎车手》和《真人快打》之类的暴力血腥游戏有可能会影响未成年人对真实世界的判断，以至于最后杀人，成为犯罪分子。然而，科学家还没有确凿的证据证明暴力游戏可以直接导致未成年人犯罪，至少说还不能对暴力游戏就是犯罪的元凶这一点上达成一致。

The research has yielded conflicting results, with some studies showing a link between the games and real-world violence and others showing no such link.

关于暴力游戏与现实中的暴力之间的关系的研究出现了争议。一些研究认为两者间有着必然联系，而另一些研究认为两者间没有必然联系。

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry maintains that "studies ofchildren exposed to violence have shown that they can become 'immune' or numb to the horror of violence, imitate the violence they see, and show more aggressive behavior with greater exposure to violence."

美国儿童和青少年精神病协会认为“有研究表明，儿童长期接触暴力可以导致他们对暴力或恐惧免疫，或是对暴力和恐惧不敏感。他们可能会模仿他们所接触过的暴力场景，在暴力环境里成长的孩子会更好斗。”

But not everyone is convinced.

但是这一点不是所有的人都同意的。

Research "has really not provided much evidence for links between video game violence and youth violence, at least not within general samples of kids," Dr. Christopher Ferguson, professor of psychology at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. and a leading expert on the psychological and behavioral effects of video game playing, told The Huffington Post in an email. "At this point the evidence has pretty well ruled out the idea that video game violence causes 'normal' kids to behave violently."

佛罗里达州迪兰的斯泰森大学心理学教授Christopher Ferguson是心理学领域的专家，同时也是研究行为与游戏之间的联系的专家。他在给哈芬顿邮报的邮件中讲到：“所有的相关研究没有提供足够的证据来说明暴力游戏和青少年暴力行为之间的关系，至少这些研究没有针对广大的普通儿童。”“这些相关的证据也排除了暴力游戏会造成普通青少年暴力行为的直接联系。

The same may also hold true for "vulnerable" children -- those with emotional and neurodevelopmental disorders. A new study by Ferguson and a colleague showed thatkids with symptoms of depression or ADHD who played violent video games were no more likely than other kids to become bullies or delinquents. In fact, playing the games seemed to have a mild calming effect on youths with attentional deficits, reducing their aggression and bullying behaviorThe study involved 377 American children from various ethnic groups, with an average age of 13. It was published online in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence

暴力游戏可能对某些情绪化和神经发育障碍的孩子造成影响。费格森和他的同事的研究表明患有抑郁症和多动症的孩子相比正常的孩子更容易受暴力游戏的影响变成恶霸。其实，游戏对于正常孩子来讲有轻微的镇静作用，将暴力情绪转移到游戏中，从而减少在现实生活中的暴力行为。费格森的研究对象为377名平均年龄13岁的不同种族的美国儿童。这一项研究发表在在线杂志《青少年》上发表。

Ferguson acknowledged that the new findings might not apply in extreme cases, such as those involving youths who commit mass homicides. But, he added, "Statistically speaking it would actually be more unusual if a youth delinquent or shooter did not play violent video games, given that the majority of youth and young men play such games at least occasionally."

费格森承认，他的研究不针对一些极端个案，比如说一些青少年杀人犯。但他补充道：“从数据上看，品行不端或杀人的青少年一般都玩过暴力游戏，然而大多数青少年或多或少地都玩过此类游戏。”

Adam Lanza, the 20-year-old responsible for last year's Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, reportedly was obsessed with video games.

20岁的Adam Lanza，是近期圣地胡可小学枪击案主犯。根据报道，他曾沉迷于游戏。

What's a parent to do? "Learn the ESRB ratings," Ferguson said, referring to the ratings issued by the Entertainment Software Review Board. "If parents understand the ratings systems, they may be less worried about not having control over their children's media access."

父母应该怎样做呢？“要对游戏分级有意识” 费格森说道。游戏分级是指娱乐软件审核会对游戏的定级。如果父母明白游戏的分级, 父母就不用那么担心对孩子在多媒体娱乐方面的管控。

That might not help a video-game-obsessed child get fitter or earn better grades, but it could protect parents from what Ferguson calls the "moral panic" that stems from the misguided assumption that shoot-'em-up games turn kids into shooters.

这个方法可能对游戏上瘾的孩子没有太大的帮助，但是确实可以帮助父母不会那么恐慌游戏对孩子的负面影响，不会觉得射击游戏就会把孩子变成枪手。

本译文属未经允许请勿转载