Encouraging violence - Video games and aggression

THIS weekend, as anyone who watched ceremonies in London marking the Japanese surrender 70 years ago will confirm, real, life-challengeing violence leaves a lifelong impression and haunts those who witness it forever. 

Veterans, most in their late 80s or 90s now, recalled the horror of war and lost comrades rather than the victory they achieved. The price, not the outcome, haunted their memories.

It was not recognised, or accepted by military authorities, until World War I that prolonged exposure to carnage and mayhem can have a deep psychological impact and destroy a person’s emotional stability. Hunderds of men suffering from shell shock were executed as cowards before this new realisation changed perceptions. Hundreds of thousands more were sent home broken, distressed men unable to resume a normal life.