Video Game Violence: A Connection To Violent Behavior

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.

In the year 2016, more than 10 million copies of Grand Theft Auto were sold. Grand Theft Auto, among other video games focus on illegal crimes. For example Grand Theft Auto, frequently makes references to drugs, murder, and robbery. Even though video games are much more violent than they were in the 1990’s, video games over the years have managed to make an impact on American culture. Some ask why violent video games are such a concern for America? Well according to Times Magazine,“The average U.S. gamer age 13 or older spent 6.3 hours a week playing video games during 2013.” With people becoming addicted to video games, others begin to worry if videogamers will start to blur the line between the virtual world and reality. In the book Columbine, the author David Cullen states media reporters, partially blamed video games for the Columbine Massacre. “When he was eleven, id Software released the video game Doom. Eric found the perfect virtual playground to explore his fantasies.” (Cullen,114) The shooters Dylan, and Eric before the Columbine Massacre fantasised about murder, and in the video games they played they were allowed to be killers. Although, media reporters stated that videogames, were a reason the Columbine Massacre occurred, David Cullen addresses that video games had nothing to do with the shooting. Although, video games had no effect on the Columbine Massacre, other shootings such as Sandy Hook has been linked to them. As video games grow in popularity and

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

On April 20th, 1999 two teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into their school in Columbine Colorado and began a one-hour long killing spree, which ended in the death of 12 of their fellow classmates and one teacher and left another 28 wounded. The shooters then took their own lives. The two teenage gunmen did not have a previous history of violence but were both enthusiasts of killing-oriented video games. The violence in video games was a major factor in teaching these kids how to shoot other people in real life. Violent video games can and have led children to committing acts of violence against other children and adults.          

Additionally, although violent video games might expose children to violent behavior, the amount of violence are not as great as the ones in movies and television. The news is filled with stories of war and murder, and nearly every movie contains some forms of violence. Plus, these two media are different from games in a very important way because they involve real people, not computer-generated characters. One of the social psychological science faculties in

Often we link school shootings to people who are recluse and spend hours playing violent video games. Most violent video games promote killing, by giving rewards. Evidence supports that this is true, but video games are not the only cause of crazy, illogical shooters walking into an unprotected school setting to kill students and staff. After the intensive investigation of many of the recent school shootings,14 were linked to violent video games including a local one at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. The more violence that our brain becomes accustomed to, the more we think it is acceptable to shoot and kill people. These video games lead to a more dangerous world for all of us.

The most popular games, like Grand Theft Auto IV offer what’s called “free play”. The ability to go where you want and do what you want in the gaming environment. The bigger the virtual world, the more exciting this can be. There are no signs, however, that tell you to punch or shoot someone” (Ulanoff). While Highland talked about how playing video games enough will “make you believe” you can actually do what you are doing inside the game, it goes hand in hand with something that Jones said in his article, Violent Media is Good for Kids. “Suddenly, I had a fantasy self to carry my stifled rage and buried desire for power. I had a fantasy self who was a self: unafraid of his desires and the world’s disapproval, unhesitating and effective in action” (Jones 195). This realization of games being our way of releasing our worries and anger onto the world being the primary reason that video games have become very appealing over the years and their evolution as an escape. Despite any regulations set out by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB, video games have been becoming more of a part of people’s lives than ever before, just as Michael Highland stated about his own life.

Technology is an important aspect of change in our world. As time goes on, we are introduced to more and more technology every year, which includes media such as video games. The increase of technology has also increased and improved the world including ways of communicating and distribution of information. More often used outlets of media are those used for entertainment purposes, like television, internet and video games. The ones who are most likely to engage in these media outlets are millennials and the most recent generation Z, because they have been introduced to these outlets from a young age. In fact, a study found that children spend around 9 hours a week playing video games (Polman, de Castro, & van Aken, 2008). It is evident that video games are progressively becoming more violent in nature, and with children spending as much time as they do playing video games, there are questions that must be asked, is the violent nature of video games effecting today’s youth? And if so in what ways?

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".

Video game violence has been a discussion dating back to games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders to current games like Call of Duty and Mario. Many people are lead to believe that video games can cause children to act violent. However, video games do not cause violence in children. Video games can help in many ways either in society, people with certain disorders, or improve some mental issues.

Video games are also another form of entertainment that can promote violence. Many children spent most of their time in front of a TV playing video games. Video games have become a more recent trend. Many games consist of cursing, shooting, beating, and killing humans and monsters. The most games played are games that include killing and slaughtering other creatures and sports games that also have aggressive behavior. Video games have a stronger effect on children than watching television because the players take a direct and active task in the violence. The violence in these games can give them the idea that violence is an acceptable way to deal with problems.

“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

The technology usage in the United States has grown greatly over the past decade. Video games continue to change in several ways as well. All video games have ratings on them and when I was younger, my parents would not allow me to buy a game that was above my maturity level. Gun violence around has made an uphill climb around us as civilians. The fun that these games produce make it hard for crimes to commence. Violent video games have no effect on gun violence.

There has been a lot of factors linked to child aggression. One of biggest factors is children playing violent video games. Although video games are commonly used by children there can be negative effects when introduced to violent video games. Recent studies have shown a correlation between violent video games and the behavior of young children. Violent video games influence children's behavior because their attitudes become more aggressive, the availability of violent games has become very easy for children , and with the help of technology the graphics of the video games make the game look identical to real life.

However, video games can have a negative impact on children. Several video games encourage children to kill and fight enemies. Violence is life threatening and is a devastating theme of many video games today. Violent games such as Grand theft auto, Halo and Doom promote things like killing and violence of people, criminal behavior, disrespect for the law, and obscene language. Parents can even buy game controllers that look like a real gun for their children and may not think that it’s a big deal. This is sending the message to children that it is ok to play with guns. David Walsh in an article “National Institute on Media and the Family” stated “Children are more likely to imitate the actions of a character with whom they identify. In violent video games the player is often required to take the point of view of the shooter or perpetrator.” Video games are making violence look cool to