The Positive Effects Of Violence In Video Games

Hundreds of studies have been done to determine whether violent video games will really make juveniles more violent. Randomized experiments were used in several studies to examine the short-term effect of violent video games (Anderson and Berkowitz et al. 90). In these studies, children were randomly assigned to play violent or nonviolent video games and then were observed when given an opportunity to be aggressive. The result was that children who played violent video games usually behaved aggressively.

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.

On U.S. News Online, professor David Grossman of Arkansas State University, who is also a retired Army officer, said that shooting games resemble military strategies used to train soldiers to overcome their fear towards killing. Usually we feel terrified when we see a wound or blood. But, violent video games allow us to entertain them. Professor Grossman also said, “Pilots train on flight simulators, drivers on driving simulators, and now we have our children on murder simulators.” The same is true for violent video games; they train players how to kill and propagate love for bloodshed. In addition to this, if a child is interested in committing murder and lacks the skill, violent video games can serve as a killing school. The games give bonus based on how deadly the player

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.

The article, “The Truth About Video Games and Gun Violence” by Erik Kain discusses how video games and gun violence correlates. The author opens up with someone by the name of Aaron Alexis who resorted to gun violence while playing video games that contained violence. There is a violent video game that scares parents and behavioral experts. There has been a debate on whether people who play video games later have violent behavior. Throughout the years, video games continue to show images portraying violence.

Moreover, many kids deal with violence and can’t control it. As a result of having issues with violence some people play video games to let their violence and anger out. People need to understand that “ [b]ut overall, violent crime is down in the US-indeed, as violent games have become more popular, violent crime has fallen." (Erik Kain 1) The more popular the game is studies show violent

Americans have been blaming violent forms of entertainment since colonial times. From dime novels to music, to movies to television shows. The most recent medium are video games. Aided by crime-saturated news reports, a lot of people are convinced that video game violence transfers to real-life youth crimes like the school massacres. They think that violent video games make people violent, but that is not the case. Violent people play violent video games. Not everyone who plays video games are violent, but those who already are violent will play them as an outlet for their frustration and rage. If anything, video games keep violent people from going out and killing people in real life because they can vent in the virtual world.

Violent video games cause dangerous and, aggressive thoughts to appear, and may make people act out in violent ways causing them to become harmful to their surroundings. In addition to making the player aggressive, violent video games are also linked to criminal activity. According to the article, "Do Games like 'Grand Theft Auto V' Cause Real-World Violence?", “The Aurora shooter, James Holmes, the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, they’re all described as essentially being addicted to video games” (Kain 1). Becoming addicted to video games, like these people, can reflect in actions, making gamers dangerous. On top of causing aggression playing violent video games, “Increases the likelihood that a person will commit a violent crime, like murder or assault” (Carey 1). Playing violent video games is harmful to the player and, their surroundings because they can have sudden outbursts causing harm to others. Video games, especially addictive, and violent games, are linked to criminal activity and, make people addicted, and harmful.Some people think that if they distract children with enjoyable video games it will cause them to be too distracted to do anything else, like violent behavior.

“Charlie, here’s a group of boys wanting to see you!”, “ mom don't let them in they’re gonna shoot me! Its this game we play at school, last one standing with most kills wins, and I’m gonna win.” Research shows that many kid’s behaviors have changed due to them playing violent video games. These violent games are teaching kids how to hunt other kids down, that shooting other kids is alright, and that you will get rewarded for killing the most people.

In their research of violent videogames and the effect on children, they have found that “the simplistic belief that exposure to media violence will lead directly to individual violence is clearly wrong.” (Kutner, Olsen, 2008) I am going to ask you to look deeper than this. I assert that although violent video games are thought to encourage real world violence, they actually help to prevent it.

Video game makers have even advanced video games to give you the fell of using real weapons, also called virtual reality. There is a professor at the University of Missouri says that violent video games change behavior. First person shooter games help team players how to hurt people because first person shooter games are usually more realistic. Sixty percent sixth to eighth grade boys who play m-rated video games have hit or beat up somebody. Many people who have acted in mass shootings played violent video games. Violent video games have the tendency to lower people's empathy and they also lower people’s kindness. The APA says violent video games will risk the factor for aggression. When violent video games reward a player for violence, kids think violence is a good thing because they learn that you get rewards for committing violent acts. Sixty-seven percent of parents even agree that violent video games do lead to aggression.

“Head shot! That guy was destroyed!” These are just some examples of the dialogue spoken between children who play video games like “Call of Duty” or “Halo.” Children brag about the number of people they have killed in these games. Playing violent video games may cause children to act violently. First, violent video games train players to act aggressively by repeatedly killing an enemy over and over. Second, children mimic what they see, whether it’s in real life or on a video screen. Third, being exposed to the violent behaviors of the game, dead bodies, and blood, make the players insensitive to violence. Because the violence from video games affects the behavior of children, violent video games should not be available for purchase by anyone under age eighteen.

Video games are a part of mostly everybody’s life, whether it be on their phone, a handheld gaming device, or on a console and tv setup. Not all of the games are made for toddlers or children under 13, so it’s safe to say that there are some that can be on the heavier side with the gore and explicit content. These games can get brutal and “Grand Theft Auto” is definitely one of those games that can get to be too much for some people. “Grand Theft Auto” has negative effects on the society because of the foul language, sexual content, exposure to violence, and drugs involved throughout the game.

“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

Originally, the purpose of violent video games is to entertain. However, its content encourages violence and invites to enjoy cruelty. When playing video games, kids are required to kill a human being to get a perfect score. If kids are left to spend plenty of time playing violent video games, they will be obsessed with brutality. As a result they will have difficulty to tell apart fantasy from reality and start dreaming about killing and scoring in real life. As it can be addictive, it also isolates them from human contact, which leads to lack of sympathy. That’s why most school shooters are great video gamers. I will support my thesis with evidences and quotes from expertise.