Bryan here! I'm going to be writing a weekly fact column about video games every Sunday. Each week, I will make a list of random facts about video games and the video game industry, all for the sole purpose of education (but really, it's just for entertainment.)

This week's list focuses on the many myths that people associate with violent video games, but we've managed to narrow it down to just eleven.

Violent video games have always been a sort of taboo in our pop culture world. From Fox News to the Huffington Post, and even the Supreme Court, violent video games have made headlines and outcries across the board for years. 

Even back when Mortal Kombat was new, parents thought this game was unfit for children, even though there's a label on the box stating "mature content" thanks to Mrs. Tipper Gore and her lashing out against anything she considered obscene (movies, music, video games etc). She started the rating system we all know and love today, and yet it is still ignored. Why is that?

Do violent video games cause violent behavior? Can you blame Marilyn Manson for the Columbine shootings? I personally don't think so, but I don't want to be viewed as strictly opinionated. Here are a list of 11 myths from the American Psychology Association regarding violent video games.

1. Violent video game research has yielded very mixed results.
Fact: Some studies have brought about non significant effects, just like smoking is directly correlated to lung cancer. When one combines all relevant studies, five separate effects emerge: Increased aggressive thoughts and affect, physiological arousal, decreased prosocial behavior. Average affect size is comparable.

2. The studies that find significant effects are the weakest methodologically. 
Fact: Methodologically stronger studies have yielded the largest effects. 

3. Lab experiments are irrelevant.
Fact: Arguments against lab experiments have been debunked time and time again. Constant evidence of aggression have consistently  found evidence of high validity. 

4. Field experiments are irrelevant. 
Fact: Some field experiments have used biting, pinching, hitting, among others that were not modeled in the game. The fact that these behaviors occur does not make "normal play behavior" but it does increase validity.

5. Correlational studies are irrelevant.
Fact: Correlational studies are used routinely in modern science to test theories that are inherently causal. They allow for statistical controls of plausible alternative explanations.

6. There are no studies linking violent video game play to serious aggression.
Fact: High levels of exposure to violent video gameplay have been linked to delinquency, fighting, and violent criminal behavior.

7. Violent video games only affect a small fraction of players.
Fact: There are no theoretical reasons to expect some populations to be more susceptible to the effects than others, the research hasn't substantiated this yet. Though there are many immune, there are still a good number effected.

8. Unrealistic video game violence is completely safe for adolescents and older youths.
Facts: Fantasy violence is perceived by parents to be acceptable for children, however experimental studies have proven to have found aggression among college students after playing E rated violent games.

9. The effects of violent video games.
Fact: Analyses have revealed that violent video game effect greater sizes than second hand smoke.

10. Arousal, not violent content, accounts for video game induced increases in aggression. 
Fact: Arousal did not occur immediately after violent video games were played. 

11. If violent video games cause increases in aggression, violent crime would increase instead of decreasing.
Fact: Three assumptions must be true: Exposure to media, youth crime rates decreasing, and video games being the only factor contributing to societal violence. This is most likely true, the second is untrue, and the third is also untrue.

Verdict: I personally am unconvinced  that this study is true. I don't believe violent video games cause violence anymore than violent movies, music, or art does. 

I think the violence in children this study speaks about lie within the home life. I've played a plethora of gratuitous, gory,  violent video games, and I am not behind bars. 

At the risk of sounding opinionated, I don't believe video games cause inherent violence in children. I think the parents should do a better job of teaching their kids the difference between fantasy and reality.

What say you? Do you think violent video games, among other things, cause violent behavior?