The Rise Of Teen Violence

“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!

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.

(Procon.org) ¨Over 150 million Americans (71% of teens) play video games.¨ 71 mass shootings have occurred between 1982 and Aug. 2015. seven of them involved teens that are 18 years old or younger¨. (Procon.org) Over the years there have been many mass shootings and a very little amount of those include teens that are 18 and younger. The US Secret Service investigated over 30 incidents of focused school violence between 1974 and 2000. (Procon.org) School violence has been a issue over the years and 37 incidents have happened between 1974 and 2000. ¨A Sandy Hook Elementary School gunman had played shooter games back then. It directly resulted in President Obama requesting Congress to allocate $10 million for research on the effects of violent media.¨ (Video Games, Violence, and Crime) Some people that play violent video games can be just fine playing them and not doing anything that is regrettable. But there are some people out in this world who do something that is so far off the margin that they cause mass shootings. When people play violent video games they can get a little out of hand and cause shootings and some of those are teens. But most teens can realize and know the difference between the virtual violence world and the real

Are violent video games directly correlated to teen violence? This is the burning question many researchers are dedicated to answering. The common form of the question is “Is the increase in violence in games creating killer kids?” The simple answer is no. Instead the opposite has occurred, as games became more violent, the players became calmer. The games create a “safe” outlet for any anger or angst that young people possess. Crime rates in the teen population have lowered and violent teens admit to having little to no interest in violent video games. The games that most people fear are destroying the youth may actually be one of the things helping them grow and become “normal” members in society.

In this day and age it seems as if America's youth is becoming more violent. Concern for those aspects in our society which influence violent acts has become an issue since the tragedy at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Many feel one aspect of today's society affecting our nation's youth in a negative manner is video games. Is this form of entertainment really a factor in teen violence? I think not. Video games are not to blame for increased teen violence.

Guns. Blood. Death. Three of the most prominent words or actions used to describe video games. Arum Steinbeck wakes up, goes to school, comes home and plays video games. His face glued to the television, he is exposed to gruesome acts of violence. Nonetheless, Arum Steinbeck is not a serial killer. How is this possible? Adolescents who play video games are killers. Dead wrong. 90% of children in the US play video games and 90% of those children play games that involved mature content. Yet, it is possible that not one of these children will grow up to commit serious acts of violence. For most of the children who do end up committing crimes other factors are involved in the equation nonetheless, society tends to blame what they cannot explain. It is easier to blame video games than to accept responsibility for our actions. To put a seranio to words say there is an adolescent drunk driver who gets into a car accident and kills a family. When in court the intoxicated driver will plead not guilty putting the blame on anyone besides themselves. We have fingers to point them. People get in trouble with the law and need a way out, society has made videogame companies a revolving door of allegations that a court of law should find the person rather than the fictional game responsible. In summary, violent video games do not cause real life violence, though some people seems to wish it did.

Video games have come a long way since the days of Pong. Advances in technology have allowed games to present state of the art graphics and surreal like qualities to its consumers; from four star simulated battle scenes to enhanced real live fire shoot outs. With all these innovations added to violent video games it attracted the visual needs of our teenage youth. Although video game violence has been blamed for high profile school shootings, video games and its creators should not be held accountable for these tragedies because there is not enough credible evidence to absolutely link video games to outburst of violence amongst juveniles.

The authors continue to point out the various influences that media violence is affecting the youth and studies that back up their arguments. Huesmann and Taylor then shift to another source of violent influence, videogames. The various ratings categories of video games, Everyone, Teen, and Mature, are mentioned and the fact that all three of them allow some sort of violence. It is mentioned that the Teen category consists of roughly 94% violent games which is astonishing. This turns out to become a major issue because of the amount of time that teenagers spend playing video games. The authors then mention studies that show that teenagers who play violent video games demonstrated

Many people say violent video games are the cause of mass shootings without looking at the evidence that would prove them wrong. Violent video games have always had the label, that they cause violent behavior in teens and young adults, but is that label correct. The reasons are violent video games and video games in general lead to less crime and gun violence, the sales of video games has increased and juvenile crime has decreased, and violent video games allow players to release stress and anger. Video games lead to less crime and gun violence because people are spending more time playing video games. The increase in video game sales and the decrease in juvenile violence. Violent video games allow players to release stress and anger in video games.

In Karen Sternheimer’s “Do Video Games Kill?” , she sheds light on a topic that has been controversial since the early 90s, that violence in teenagers can be contributed to playing violent video games. Sternheimer suggest multiple sources are to blame for video games being used as a scapegoat for teen violence. She includes how the media published articles resulting in people thinking school shootings were going to become more common. Along with media outlets she also points out politicians as to being a part of why teens are labeled as evil.

Lately, it seems that there has been an abundance of horrible mass shootings and brutal violence in our world. In today’s seemingly dangerous world, parents are yearning to protect their children from getting involved in these savage crimes. Now, a great deal of people, especially parents, accuse violent video games as the cause of this growing epidemic. The controversy of video game induced violence has a long history, but it didn’t appear in the spotlight until the disturbing Columbine shooting in 1999, when the gunmen were said to have been addicted to violent video games. Since 1999, there have been more mass shootings and vicious crimes that have been accursed on video games. While siding with the belief that video games create violence

Are video games the modern day scapegoat for violent behavior among youths? Christopher Ferguson states that video games have become the newest in a long line of scapegoats, “explanations rely on weak social science… In past centuries, a variety of art forms have taken blame for societies problems. From religious text, to literature, to jazz, to rock ‘n’ roll, and rap… People have viewed various forms of media as being responsible for personal failings” (Ferguson 2007). These statements show that society has also had a tendency to blame their shortcomings on whatever seems to be the newest thing to arise in popular culture, and that no real evidence has been found to prove a correlation between aggression and video games. In his argument Ferguson

Chapter five was centered around the kinds of violence and abuse. They consist of bullying, child abuse, domestic violence, elder abuse, hazing, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape. Abuse is physical or emotional harm to someone. The most common abuse come from people you know and trust, such as family members, friends, boyfriends, or girlfriends. Violence is any physical force that is used to harm people or damage property. We see violence on TV, in movies, in the newspaper, in video games, in our schools, and our own homes. We are surrounded by violence. Section one focused more on how to avoid dangerous situations that can lead to violence and ways to resolve a conflict without being aggressive and using violence. Section two talks about the kinds of abuse and the effects they have on a person. Section three is about the different forms that sexual abuse can present itself.

Video games; a pastime for many people across the world, a form of entertainment, and, of course, a way to destress yourself from the outside world. Video games have been around since October 18, 1958 and have been evolving rapidly through the years. “ More than fifty years ago, before either arcades or home video games, visitors waited in line at Brookhaven National Laboratory to play “Tennis for Two,” an electronic tennis game that is unquestionably a forerunner of the modern video game” (“The First Video Game” 1). Since then, you can play video games at a local arcade or buy a copy of a game you like at a store like Gamestop! There are several companies and millions of titles of games to play from and, definitely, a wide variety of platforms to play on. Video games have a plethora of genres and types of games to play. For example, one could embark on a new journey in a role-playing game like Fallout 3 to playing an american football game in the Madden series. The options do not just end right there! Since video games are advancing so if there content! Specifically, in their action and shooter genre. In a modern action/ shooting games, one can see the blood and even characters get their head blown off. Some video game titles have mass murder scenes and even sexual themes. “As the level of violence in video games has increased, so has concern for the effects on those who play - especially those who play a lot” (“Video Game

With the popularity and production of video games constantly rising since the mid 90s, you would also imagine that the violent and illegal acts in teens would have also risen, but that is not the case. In fact, violent acts in youth have steadily decreased during the past 20 years, and are projected to continue to fall. While there could be many reasons for this drop in violence, the most likely one is that the inclusion of violence in video games actually provides an outlet for frustrated and angry teens to safely discharge their anger in the digital world, and not upon anyone in the real world. Video games offer an area in which your mind can explore and wander with no fear of consequences, so in