While a few anti-video gaming folks keep insisting that the evidence shows that violent video games are bad for kids, anyone who looks closely at the research has found that there does not appear to be any real connection between violence in kids and violent video games. For a while, though, the American Psychological Association had warned about violent video games, despite the lack of real evidence. It looks like, perhaps, the APA is realizing this was a mistake. In a new "special issue" of Review of General Psychology, published by the APA, a variety of studies are reviewed, and the findings suggest that the moral panic over violent video games is almost totally misplaced.

The only issue is that in a small group of kids, who already appear to have other psychological issues, the video games may contribute to and exacerbate those issues. In other words, it's not the video games that are the issue, but a separate problem. But for most children, there are no problems with them playing violent video games, despite what you may have heard on the nightly news:

"Violent video games are like peanut butter," said Christopher J. Ferguson, of Texas A&M International University. "They are harmless for the vast majority of kids but are harmful to a small minority with pre-existing personality or mental health problems."

He added that studies have revealed that violent games have not created a generation of problem youngsters.

"Recent research has shown that as video games have become more popular, children in the United States and Europe are having fewer behavior problems, are less violent and score better on standardized tests," Ferguson, a guest editor for the journal, explained.

Other studies also found that many video games have positive aspects, and can be quite useful to kids.