Do Video Games Cause Violence?

Prolonged scenes of massive violence, graphic sexual content, and animated blood are examples of statements that the Entertainment Software Rating Board uses to depict the content in over fifty- five percent of the video games rated yearly. The debate of whether the aggressive nature of these video games influences youth violence in our country has been heatedly battled for decades. Since the mid 1980’s, it has been suggested that high profile cases of violence are due to an aggressor’s excessive video game use. However, much like a cold case the type of connection between video game use and youth violence remains without a definite answer. Most believe that video game use negatively influences child aggression acts in our country. Others firmly declare that video games provide a realm of opportunity for child development. Ultimately, it is impossible to say that video game use affects every child the same way. New studies suggest that video games do not affect every child that plays a game. Although violent video games are innocuous for the majority of adolescents between the ages of twelve and eighteen, the effects of these games are aggravated in those with pre- existing antisocial or depressive traits.

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.

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.

Video Games have come a long way since their first introduction into the main stream. With video games becoming more sophisticated and using advanced technology, it seems as if video games are closing in on the gap between games and reality. However, as video games become ever so life-like it brings up the question of if the violence associated with video games is having a negative consequence. There have been many accusations over the years over the harm video games are causing children and teenagers. Experiments have been conducted trying to associate a link between video games and aggressive behavior. Even the media has been known to point fingers at video games for the cause of children

A video game is “an electronic game in which players control images on a television or computer screen” (Merriam-Webster). Video games have been entertaining and challenging gamers since the Game Boy to modern console games. Despite the simplicity of the definition of video games, a video game, especially ones containing violence can have a large effect on the gamer. Because of the realism and advancements in the video game industry, video games can influence the player, and can make the gamer more aggressive, even if the game is not a violent video game. Even though video games have grown in popularity over the past decade, some have not been too popular with parents, for the reason that they are too violent. Violent video games affect

It has been proven that violent video games have been causing the recent school massacres in schools and public places. Teens should not be aloud to play these video games because it is proven that the violent video games have been causing all or most of the school shootings in the past recent years. Teens and kids should not be able to be exposed to these types of violent video games because it is mainly boys that have been causing deaths of teens and kids by school schoolings, the violent video games are causing school shootings , and the violent video games are causing mental health issues amongst this age group.

As technology as progressed, more people, especially youth, take part in playing video games. There has been an steady increase of video game usage because of the fact that video games have become more life-like and realistic. While they have become more realistic in aesthetic ways, they have also become more violent in content as well. Games like Call of Duty

Video games in their entirety do not cause violence. When you look at the games that are out now, most depict events in life past or present. Others go on a fairy tale ride that most people can discern the difference.

If there were no violent video games, would it just be that people turn to other entertainment mediums such as movies and still cause these brutal outbursts. They are a runaway train heading on a course of utter brutality and destruction. A study was published in the United States showing that only 12% of people in a school of misbehaved pupils causing or taking part in aggressive behaviour had an interest in violent video games while 37% “exhibited an interest in their own writings, such as poems, essays or journal entries”. In addition to this, the idea of using different media sources as a scapegoat is not new. In the 1950’s comic books were blamed for violence and that was verified not to be the case. So it is the same story just a different media getting blamed.

It is agreeable that there are some correlation between teenagers playing video games and how it affects the youth mentally. Heavy consumption of violence video games does indeed stimulate a change reaction in the brain waves, but there is no hard evidence stating that those changes causes teenagers to act aggressively and violently. On the contrary, it is a popular beliefs that violence video games does indeed causes teenagers to displayed unpleasant behaviors and actions because that is what they learned and observed from the games. Therefore, parents should limit and regulate the amount of time their teenagers are playing violence video games so that they can protect their children from negative behaviors.

Video games are played by over 1.2 billion people. Video games have had an impact on the culture that we live in today. There are video games that can help educate the kids, and there are games that are used for entertainment. There is a problem though, that problem is that a lot of people think video games cause kids to commit crimes. Video games do not cause kids to commit criminal behavior.

For as long as I can remember, I have never heard my parents once tell me that videogames are good for me. They were always yelling at me about my eyesight and declaring that videogames cause violence. Videogames are portrayed as devices used to instill violence in children, cause bad eyesight, and overall, are terrible for children to play. You hear in the news about how there was an increase in murder rates and an increase in video game production, so it must be that videogames are causing people to want to kill others. But the truth is, video games aren’t what the adults running these news lines depict. They are devices that can change lives, heal relationships, help people cope with a loss, and etc. Though I have not gone through any traumatic events, videogames have helped me elsewhere. I would not be who I am today without them. I believe in the power of video games.

Hundreds of people all around the world play some sort of game that simulates violence, whether it is a video game or a live action game. Games the simulate violence don't necessarily cause violence in kids and teens. Simulative games can teach good problem solving skills and how to deal with tough decisions. These games can increase cognitive thinking and strengthen reflexes. Many argue that games like these only cause harm. They cause people to act violently and to lash out. Simulative games can help kids release pent up energy and vent out anger through them. The games often are a release to kids and teens who are in a bad situation in similar ways that sports do. Violent games don't lead kids and teens to violence.

In this age of technology, it's very safe to say that a large majority of the world's population has played at least one video game. This can vary from playing games on console, like Xbox-One, Playstation 4, and for the older generation, the NES to playing mobile games like Tetris. There are many consoles that span from the creation of video games. This has opened opportunities to make several kind of games. These can vary from side-scrollers like Super Mario Bros. on the NES, to Role-playing games (RPG) like Final Fantasy IX on the Playstation 1. While this has caused some great games to surface, it has also allowed intense violence to be let into games. Parents and anti-gaming communities state that this is why kids can become violent. This is false, because violent games can be avoided to prevent this issue, and the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has even made various precautions to make sure parents know what they're purchasing. Comprehensible symbols, detailed lists, and age restrictions prevents children from "becoming violent".

Matt Peckham supports the theory that games do not cause bad behavior. In his web document on Time.com, he uses a sarcastic tone but yet provides the reader with a study performed by Stetson University. Surprisingly, “In my recent research we found that for some teens with a pre-existing mental health issue, playing violent video games seemed to be associated with less bullying” (Peckham 2). Other people may argue that the ability of a game to cause conflict with people’s personality is more of a conflict with their mind and body. Robbins states that video games can only cause bad behavior when allowed to by the human brain, so basically, the games are not for the weak-minded. Robbins also asks the question “Would you blame sports?” and then states “I’m not contending that there is no connection between violent games and violent people, but it’s correlative instead of causative. Individuals with personalities that lead to homicide are likely more drawn than others to media that feed their fantasies” (Robbins 1). He states here that people with a pre-existing desire for violence are more likely to display violent behavior after playing these video games.