Games Being The Blame Of Violence

In today’s time with the new head turning technology in video games most of the games have some sort of violence present in them. Many games past and present incorporate some kind of violence such as, killing with weapons, using explosives, and crashing cars. With all of the present day technology all activities portrayed during in-game scenarios are becoming more and more realistic. In 2005 the state of California enacted a law to ban the sale of certain violent games to children without the consent of their parents. The law was created based upon the idea that with the realistic in-game events real behavior could be drastically effected by the violence. The worries are that tragic events such as massacres could occur based on ideas seen in games. Incidents such as high school shooting have heightened concerns of potential connections between violent games and violent actions.

The impact of violence in the media is believed to cause many negative behaviors. Psychologist Anderson states that, “the evidence strongly suggests that exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect and for decreased empathy and prosocial behavior.”(14 Mass Murders List) This claim can be supported from previous violent acts committed by people who played violent video games. Adam Lanza committed a

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

But there are certain things that have happened where they believed people were influenced by games such as the shooting at Columbine High School in Jefferson County, CO on Apr. 20, 1999. “The two teenage shooters were revealed to be avid players of the weapon-based combat games Wolfenstein 3D and Doom.” [1] Karen Sternheimer, "Do video games kill?", contexts. Feb. 2007”

The first body of evidence that supports the claim that video games do not cause violence in reality is that “almost all boys and most girls play video and computer games, including games with violent content” (Olsen, Kutner, and Warner 56). This would suggest that if all children play violent video games and video games did in fact cause children to act violently, then all children would be violent. As absurd as this suggestion is, when the claim came

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.

In the late 90s, it seemed that school violence was on the rise as three separate devastating school shootings occurred over a three-year span. The most severe of the three due to the high death toll was the shooting at Columbine High School, also the one most associated with violent video game influence. The two assailant's levels of gaming expertise and their participation in online gaming was in question as motivation for their killing spree. It was this knowledge that sparked a media frenzy over who's to blame for the heinous acts being committed by these obviously troubled youths. However, other issues in these children's lives can contribute to a deeper explanation.

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.

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.

Some of the world’s worst murderers and serial killers are vicious game players. In recent news, Adam Lanza, who killed twenty-six children at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut, was an avid Call of Duty player. This is crucial because the experience Adam Lanza had with violent video games may have prepared him to commit many homicides. Psychologists and scientists all over America are trying to find connections between aggressive games and murder. Steve Docey, went further into his research and came up with

Adam Lanza, a 20 year old young adult, was a frequent player of “call of duty”. He is the reason why twenty-seven lives were lost on December 14, 2012. Lanza open fired at kids and adults inside Sandy Hook Elementary, injuring many, and killing twenty plus people. Subsequently, killing his mother and himself. Investigations show that Adam Lanza used the game “call of duty” for his training. Researchers are convinced that intense gaming can disrupt the mind into thinking about anger and aggression. A college psychologist held a test to help prove this theory. He first registered the behavior of forty-six undergraduates, then had them play “Mortal Kombat” for fifteen minutes and recorded their behavior afterwards. The results show that the students acted more audacious when the game was over. Scientists predict that as more games release with better graphics, that the violence will only sustain at higher rates.

He gives many examples of shootings and mass violence that were later blamed on video games as the cause.

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.

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".