A European Union report on Wednesday concluded that video games can in fact be good for children, and also said that there was no definitive link between violence in video games and violent behaviour.
"Video games can stimulate learning of facts and skills such as strategic thinking, creativity, cooperation and innovative thinking, which are important skills in the information society," the report said.
According to Reuters, the report did say that some violent video games could "stimulate" violent behaviour in specific situations. It also noted that while not all games are appropriate for children, some books and movies are aimed at older audiences as well.
The study, by the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, urged the bloc's 27 member states to work together on strengthening the Pan European Game Information, or "PEGI", game content rating system.
Although the report did not elaborate, it suggested that video games should also have a "red button" that would allow parents to disable inappropriate games, stressing how important parental supervision is. According to the BBC, more than half of European children are left unsupervised when using computers.
Toine Manders, a Dutch liberal lawmaker who drafted the report, said, "Videogames are in most cases not dangerous and can even contribute to the development of important skills."
The report also stated that not only children play video games, with the average age of a European gamer being 33.
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