Do Games Like 'Grand Theft Auto V' Cause Real World

In my most recent essay I wrote of the violence attributed to video games in light of various shootings and other tragedies that occurred in the past year or so. In this essay I argued that despite their violent content, video games are not completely to blame for acts of violence committed by children. Throughout this essay I tried to convince the reader by, first, establishing my own credibility with video games, then sharing my own experiences with violent games, and providing both empirical data and valuable insight from trusted sources.

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

Since video games have been introduced, video games have been accused of contributing too many atrocities, and acts of violence. News outlets paint video games as being a source of which some acts of violence happen. Yes, violent video games have become more popular, meanwhile becoming controversial, but still there exist no links between aggression and video games. The University of Bologna says that “owning videogames does not in fact seem to have negative effects on aggressive human behavior” (Koffler par.7). Meanwhile, news outlets keep on missing the point on how beneficial video games are. Video games do not contribute to violence, can be educational, and they can improve us in different ways.

A huge controversy in today’s society is violent video games and their behavioral effect on the children and adults who play them. Violent video games have been blamed for bullying, school shootings, and even violence towards women. Many have fought that violent video games desensitize players to real-life violence, and that they are teaching the youth that violence is an acceptable conflict-solving strategy. Other sources have stated otherwise. The 2004 Secret Service has stated that only one-eighth of attackers have exhibited interests in video games. Violent Video games do not cause violent behavior or behavior problems because it has not been proven that there is a link between violent video games and behavioral issues, playing video games provide a safe outlet for aggressive and angry feelings and reduces violence in young children, and violent juvenile crime has actually gone down since the violent video game popularity has increased.

Violence in video games has been proved to raise the aggression on video gamers in the short and long term, whether it’s in their language, attitude or actions. Also video games not only cause this but they also decrease prosocial behavior and empathy (Anderson, 2010). Violent video games have been one of the main reasons why students decide to shoot everyone in an educational institution like the well known Columbine Massacre in 1999. “[They] liked to play Doom (a computer game) in the afternoons”,“No one can say for sure why...theories including...violent video games (Doom)” (Rosenberg, Unknown). As we can see very clearly violent video games

“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!

Video games are prevalent among impressionable children and teenagers. There has been a great deal of controversy surrounding the violent themes used in video games. Teenage shootings in schools have led society to question the relationship between video violence and criminal activity. After considerable research, expert opinions, and research findings, the American Psychological Association found that there is no link between gaming and criminal behavior (Casey). With this, the pursuit of video violent games continues to grow in our society. With games that show execution style murders, blood oozing from gunshot wounds, and victims moaning from wounds, it certainly is gratifying for the indulgent player. The ongoing concern about aggression and violence has once again been proven to be non-existent (Alert). My thoughts are that this cartoon like violence is appeals to the need for violence in an artificially designed environment. In this manner, violence is contained within the boundaries of fantasy. This is unlike “The Crucible” which occurs in with real people, events, and situations. Thus, directing violence in the realm of societal dysfunction that has endured with

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.

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.

In recent years, many technological advancements have led to a new form of entertainment for society. One of the soaring forms of this entertainment is video games. While the sale of games continue to rise at a drastic rate, game designers and the media focus the public's attention on violent video games, since it seems to currently be to the more attractive type of game, not only among the public, but the gaming industries as well. As these games become increasingly popular, there has been an abundance of researchers and health officials that say that such games result in increased violence among juveniles. Many believe that violent video games cause behavioral problems and

There are some who think that video games promote real-life violence. Newport, Tennessee 2003, a 15-year old and 13-year old took their fathers .22 caliber rifles and opened fire on an interstate highway. Before this event, earlier that day they had been playing Grand Theft Auto III. It was the 13-year olds idea to steal the guns and go shoot at the real thing, instead of the virtual thing. When they were caught, they told the police that they didn’t intend on hurting anyone; they just wanted to do it like the game. Without knowing it, they had killed a 45-year old man and seriously injured women. Both of the boys were tried in juvenile court, they both pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and other charges. Tennessee law will release them when they turn 19 years of age. Now some may say “it’s the games

“Recent contents analyses of video games show that many as 89% of games contain some violent contents” (Gentile, Lynch, Linder, Walsh 3). More than half of video games being sold around the world contain some form of violence. All of the violence involved in the video games being played by children is a pattern leading to aggression. Aggression can be caused by many things; however, violent video games are the main cause of aggression in young adults. “If a child began playing violent video games at a young age, then he might think that violence in real life is the same as the game violence and that it doesn’t have a real impact on others” (Gilad, Alto 1). Thinking that violence in the virtual world is the same as in the real world is the first step to showing aggression. Aggression in children caused by video games is the biggest effect parents and researchers worry about. Violent video games teach children that shooting and killing people are

First, violence video games shouldn’t be punished for a person’s individual action. When one mention violence and the youth in the same sentence, some will argue that video games have a way of guiding the youth in a destructive manner in some cases, this may be true, but however, people who mention this reason tends to forget that some teens do not play video games or video games has not always existed, but violence has especially during the upbringing of the child. When you think about violent acts between teenagers, you have to pay attention to the early years of someone's childhood. 60% of adult’s report experiencing abuse

By their nature, video games require the participant to actively engage in the game. This can become very dangerous when playing violent video games. It is inevitable that children develop according to their surroundings and when a child is playing as a character in a violent video game, it is common for them to begin to act as if they are their character. “A 2004 study by Gentile, Lynch, Linder & Walsh found that teens who play violent video games for extended periods of time tend to be more aggressive, are more prone to confrontation with their parents and may engage in fights with their peers” (Palo Alto Medical Foundation, 2015). Not only can violence in video games cause a change in adolescent's mental state but they can also lead to negative changes in their actions and violent actions within the games are rewarded. When a child commits an action of violence within the game they are playing they are rewarded with points or some other type of reward. At young ages, children begin learning what is socially acceptable and what is not and if their learning process is interrupted by violent video games they will learn that violence is acceptable and will be rewarded. The rapid increase in the production of violent video games may ultimately lead to a world of aggression and violence.