The latest edition of the sociology journal Contexts features an article by Karen Sternheimer that tackles the subject of the effect of violent games on teens. Entitled Do Video Games Kill?, it explores the use of video games as a "folk devil"; a device allowing society to focus blame and fear, offering up an easy explanation for complex problems.

Such games have come to represent a variety of social anxieties: about youth violence, new computer technology, and the apparent decline in the ability of adults to control what young people do and know.

Sternheimer really nails the subject here, delving deeply into the motivations behind the push to villify gaming. In the course of the five page essay she delves into the effects of the mainstream press and politics on how people view video games and violence, our growing need to not blame or punish our children for much of anything, and an interesting racial angle I hadn't considered. Definitely worth a read. Michael Fahey

do video games kill? [contexts via GamePolitics.com]