Commissioner for Children, Pauline Miceli, warned that video games are often violent and stimulate aggression, at a Family Affairs Committee, today. 

She told MPs that video games were especially attractive to young boys and that these games allow young men to take the role of the aggressor in virtual reality. Miceli also noted that social media was also a platform where false scenarios are played out, cut-off from reality.

“It has become a problem for children to find a balance between online and offline life,” the Commissioner noted. The most common age bracket, in which aggression is manifested, is between 14 and 18 years, which are the most difficult years in a youngster’s life.

Commissioner for Domestic Violence Simone Cini who was present at the committee meeting as well, reiterated Miceli's statements on video game culture. “The internet is most often acting as a babysitter for most adolescents and they are constantly being exposed to virtual violence here," she said.

Miceli said that parents are not supervising their children more often nowadays, due to modern life. "Children might be also exhibiting aggression because they see their parents solve their issues with aggression or because there seems to be no agreements between the parents, and the kids solve their bottled-down frustration in this way," she said.