The Department of Justice is teaming up with researchers in Rhode Island and a multimedia company in Colorado to develop a video game designed to limit dating violence in eighth grade boys, spending almost $800,000 for the experiment.

“'Research has also shown that game playing is the most popular internet activity for early adolescent boys; thus interactive, web-based games and videos are ideal to engage young males in dating violence programming,' the grant said," according to news published on FreeBeacon.com.

The grant is part of Rhode Island's reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (WAWA) and seeks to capitalize on children's—particularly boy's—love for video games to prevent dating violence.

In addition to attempting to prevent dating violence, the game developers and researchers will also try to determine if video games can be successful in limiting overall aggression in young boys.

"Dr. Christine Rizzo, a psychologist at Rhode Island Hospital, led the research and worked with Klein Buendel, Inc., to build the game. The company specializes in building 'sustainable health programs and products' in its mission to 'facilitate behavior change, prevent chronic disease, and make a difference in people’s lives,'" the article said.

Researchers said they were inspired by a lack of options available to help boys develop emotionally and limit negative feeling such as anger and jealousy using an accessible tool like technology.

The project, which began last year, is listed as closed, but no word on the expected release of results, according to the article.

Read the full article here and comment below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

06/09/15