Adam Lanza

Studies have shown that repeated exposure to violent video games over time does affect the structure and functioning of the adolescent brain. The brain is a malleable and ‘plastic’ structure that can change and evolve with every stimulus we give it. Whether this stimulus comes from studying Spanish, training in basketball or playing a video game, every single input can affect the structure and functions of the brain if the conditions are right. While some video games enhance multitasking, visual perception and the brain’s ability to process information, research has suggested that violent video games can influence aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognition and physiological arousal. A study conducted by Doctor Vincent Matthews and his colleagues at Indiana University School of Medicine have found that there were sustained changes in the regions of the brain associated with cognitive function and emotional control after a group of young adult men were playing violent video games for a week. Similarly, in laboratory studies, some researchers have found an increase of about four percent in gamers’ levels of aggression after playing violent video games. However, other research groups have concluded that factors such as family background, mental health and

Another set of randomized experiments also examined the effects of violent video games on psychology. In these experiments, after two groups of participants played violent or nonviolent video games, they were required to list their thoughts on paper to assess their aggressive cognition. Unfortunately, the results tell us that violent video games appear to make people generate more aggressive thoughts than those who played nonviolent video games

The most extensive argument many have argued toward violent video games affecting one’s behavior can simply be described as that many shooters were fans of violent video games before committing the shootings. A common example people making this argument raise are the Columbine shooters, who were big fans of the video game Doom. While many believe that Doom’s excessive gore and violence led the two teens to perpetrate the mass shooting, that is not the case. What those who argue against video games fail to realize that those who commit these crimes had a history of other conditions. After many mass shootings, researchers often discovered in autopsies that the suspect had a long history of aggression or mental health problems that gaming was not responsible for. Patrick Markey and Christopher J. Ferguson, writers for US News, wrote

Video games have become very influential on children and adults (Stafford, 1999). With violent video games humans are more prone to act aggressively, to have aggressive thoughts and become numb towards violence (Harding, 2009). Apart from these they are

The main argument of this article is that video games have a direct link to short term and long term aggression. The author presents this argument by providing studies from peer reviewed articles that all conclude that video games do cause an increase of aggression. The main point of this article is to answer the question, “Do violent video games lead to aggression.” The article is about the effects of violent video games leading to aggression. The author uses recent examples, like the Sandy Hook and Washington Navy Yard shooting. In both of these examples, the author cites that both shooters had a history with playing violent video games. The author uses a study which selected individuals to play violent video games for a certain period of time. The study would then compare the results to a group who played non-violent video games. The study concluded that violent video games cause a direct link in aggression due to humans reenacting the actions the characters within the video games perform.

“According to data recently released by The NPD Group, in 2012, U.S. video game software sales reached $6.7 billion (174.8 million units) and computer game sales were $380 million (13.2 million units)” (Improving Economy). To many, the violent video game industry has turned all adolescents into mass murderers. However, they’re absolutely wrong. Very seldom do adolescents who play violent video games commit acts of violence, and the ones who do usually have a mental disorder. Instead of blaming the tragedies that occur on violent video games, the news media should explain to people that a large percentage of young males play violent video games, indicating that the two are uncorrelated. They should alternatively research other possible solutions to the crisis. In lieu of negatively affecting people’s lives, video games could potentially improve their lives!

Did you know that according to Dr. Bret Conrad, the majority of gamers believe that video game violence has few, if any harmful effects on them personally? Well, many people today play games with simulated violence ranging from games like “Killer” to games like Grand Theft Auto. One example, “Killer”, takes place in multiple New York City high schools at the end of the year. It consists of two teams, each student is assigned a person to shoot and they have to shoot them before they are shot. The students have to use water pistols to shoot their person. Once they are killed, their game is over. While some agree that games with simulated violence are perilous for teens, games with simulated violence are beneficial for teens because they help kids with problem solving skills, keep them busy and helps them help others.

Some people think kids shouldn’t play violent role playing games because they think it gets kids to stalk other kids, but i think it’s good because it promotes teamwork, strategy, and espionage, all three of which will help the student in the future. At St. Ann's high school a game lasts two and a half weeks and has built up a seventeen-point rule book, a map of the safe zones around the school, a judge, and an entry fee, all for a harmless water pistol game. In the end this was all just about Killer, a last-man-standing game of water-pistol ambush, just because people considered it a violent role playing game even though it teaches the kids a lot and is just a water pistol game and if you still disagree with me go out out and try it for yourselves

The story line behind some violent video games includes games in which players earn points by carjacking taxis, scoring drugs from cursing thugs, and mowing down pedestrians.(see http://www.feedmag.com/vgs/duncan.html>) Some cartoonish tag lines in some sadistic video games include : -- "As easy as killing babies with axes" and "More fun than killing your neighbour's cats". This kind of themes definitely influence the players, especially the younger ones, and inflict violent tendencies on them. It is no wonder, that this killing mania in violent games was seen to seep out into the actual world when a high school junior opened fire in his school cafetaria in Littleton, Colorado, killing two of his classmates. The gunman was reported to be an ardent fan of Quake and Doom, some rather violent video games. More proof of the relationship between video games and violence is revealed by a study which clearly reveals how this kind of entertainment affects our lives. Greater details of the history of how high school students turned gunmen in Columbine High School are given, which shows that the effect of video games in their lives was a major source of influence in doing what they did best.

As the level of violence in video games increases, so does the level of concern for those who play them. Some people are quick to blame school shootings on games just because the kid played a “violent” game. “The topic of videogames and violence can be compared to the chicken or the egg question, which came first, violent games or violent behavior”(Violence and Videogames). However most kids in mass shootings tend to have easy access to guns and are mentally unstable.

There are thousands of problems troubling our society today, one being the increase in school shootings. In this case Sandy Hook Elementary School where 22 year old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, 20 of which we children. The investigators at Sandy Hook looked towards science to determine why Adam Lanza did this. The scientist found one factor that stood above all the rest. Adam’s increase in violent video games he played, such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Grand Theft Auto. Each of these games give a 1st person view of killing civilians and the realism of death.

A casual day turned into a tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. The Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 was “the second deadliest shooting in U.S history” where Adam Lanza went on a killing spree shooting 20 first graders and 6 adults; he even took his own life as well. There was no clear indication why Lanza committed this mass killing at the elementary school. Reports have said that video games influence is motive to the killings because “he was so enormously isolated” that he would shut “himself in the bedroom and play violent video games all day” (Smith). He would create videos depicting gunshot suicides and pictures of himself pointing guns at his own head like he had seen in videos games. The violent video games had deeply brainwashed his mind making Americans believe that violent video games are a factor in contributing violence in people.

After the elementary school shooting of Sandy Hook in 2012 this issue of violent video games became a hot issue calling for a connection of violence to video games. However, the final investigative report suggested that he was more a fan of nonviolent games (Ferguson, 2015). Video game violence is an issue that continues to be studied due to the inability to come to a general conclusion on whether or not the games provoke violence in connection to mass shootings. With shootings occurring and receiving mass coverage the media and public often seek a person/item to place the blame on. After the tragic events that left people dead or injured one of the topics that emerged was that of video games affects/effects on the person.

Risky behavior by children and young adults can include violence against others or lack of remorse for consequences. The type of faulty thinking creates stressors in children which can lead to the onset of many symptoms. Children who partake in video game violence are more likely to have increased feelings of hostility, decreased emotional response to the portrayal of violence, and injury that lead to violent behavior through imitation. A new study employing state-of-the-art brain-scanning technology says that violent video games can cause an individual to become violent. Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine say that brain scans of kids who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal and a corresponding decrease of activity in brain areas involved in self-control, inhibition, and attention. In short, when playing a violent game, an individual’s brain processes the game playing as “fictional”, but later can project some of the unknown effects as violence or aggression.

On July 22, 2016, an 18 year old male began to open fire on the Olympia Shopping Mall in Munich, Germany. After successfully killing ten and injuring 36 more, the gunner turned the firearm on himself and ended his own life. After a long investigation, it was reported that the shooter was a fan of First Person Shooter (FPS) video games. This newfound information sparked a new flame to the decade old argument of how video game violence leads to aggressive behavior and more real world violence in teens and young adults. While many news posts spread the word that videogame violence is negative, there have actually been an overwhelming amount of studies and debates that result in videogames with violence having mental and physical benefits to the player.