A study on CBC News also peeked at the effect of violent "M-rated" games on youth. In this study, the authors found that while a large number of kids had played this kind of game, they did not report adverse social effects that some pundits attribute to violent games.

"Violent game play is so common, and youth crime has actually declined, so most kids who play these games occasionally are probably doing fine," says Cheryl K. Olson, ScD, co-director of the Center for Mental Health and Media.

"We hope that this study is a first step toward reframing the debate from 'violent games are terrible and destroying society' to 'what types of game content might be harmful to what types of kids, in what situations.' We need to take a fresh look at what types of rules or policies make sense."

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