Violence In America Essay

“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!

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.

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.

With in the last few decades, gaming has gone from something that only the nerdy kids did, into a main stream activity. More then half the people in the United States have played some type of video game. With all these people playing video games most of them are America's youth, teenagers.

The violence in America is increasing. Violence has always been and continues to be a problem all individuals are facing. This issue has been among the people because there is always something to encourage it. Since the news on television is continuously covering stories about murders and violent acts, it becomes a common thing for society to view. Furthermore, people are still racist till this day. Moreover, a certain individual can influence a person in a negative way. On the other hand, there are significant amount of people who believe the rate of violence has been decreasing throughout the years. Although some argue that violence is in decline, media, racism, and negative influences cause it to increase.

Video game violence is an increasing problem in today’s youth with violence as one of the most popular themes. Games such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty are among the most popular games and have been scientifically proven to have a major effect on teens. Many people try to argue that there is a difference in the effects between genders, however it has been proven wrong. Video games have the same effects as other forms of entertainment but do not get attacked like video games because the other forms are much larger than video games and have a much wider audience. Violence in video games is a rising problem in the United States, causing teens to have less self-control and more emotional disturbances,

Although violent video games are thought to encourage real world violence, they actually help to prevent it. I am focusing on violent video games and how they affect juveniles because I feel that this issue needs to be looked at in the criminal justice community. It is an unnecessary distraction to blame the actions of a disturbed youth on a form of entertainment that has been used by millions of people without incident. A review article published in The Psychiatric Quarterly found that many studies which claim to indicate an increase in aggression due to video games are, in fact, biased! Once the bias is taken into account, the studies no longer find any correlation between youths who play violent video games and youths who

According to a 2008 excerpt from Grand Theft Childhood, a Harvard study, “...60% of middle school boys who played at least one Mature-rated game hit or beat up someone, compared to 39% of boys that did not play Mature-rated games.” (Kutner, Olsen). This research shows partial statistics of violent media on boys. For instance, distinguishing fantasy from reality may prove troublesome for some people. Actually, there is no direct correlation between violent video games and crime rate. Juvenile crime rate have been declining as video games gain popularity. For example, between 1995 and 2008 the arrest rate for juvenile murders has fallen 71.9%; in addition, juvenile crime rate declined 49.3% (Malliet). Overall, research shows, video games are inconclusive factors towards

Over the years violent video game sales have sky rocketed and there is no correlation with juvenile crime rates that suggest that those games cause more violence in society. In a recent article from ProCon the National Center for Education Statistics and Nicholas Lovell stated “The number of high school students who had been in at least one physical fight decreased from 43% in 1991 to 25% in 2013, and student reports of criminal victimization at school dropped by more than half from 1995 to 2011.” (1). This clearly shows that violent video games do not cause violence but actually caused it to decrease. Teenagers were no longer worrying about fighting in school, but were no worried about fighting on games instead which is

With todays market, if someone were to walk into any game store across the country, they would realize that any child with parental approval can attain these games, making it virtually easy for anyone of any age to play violent games. If we combine the 2009 study as well as this jaw-dropping statistic, we can easily see that most kids will grow up more violent than the previous generation, making today’s world full of danger and crime. Moreover, we can also see how indirectly, violent video games can cause teens to become more aggressive. According to a study conducted by Brad Bushman on violent video games, kids who played violent video games and were offered M&M candy to eat while playing ate almost three times as much candy compared to kids who played non-violent video games under the same circumstances. Not only does this show the physical health effects of these games, but by processing this information, one can see that it shows a foundational fact that kids show less restraint overall when playing violent video games, whether in candy or violence. To conclude this study further, Bushman measured direct aggression through having teens in both criteria play a game where they would blast someone else through noises with different volumes and lengths. The results showed that violent video gamers blasted their “partner” with louder and

Chicago, home to many, has the highest rate of criminal activity. According to the Chicago Tribune, the number of people shot in Chicago so far this year is at least 2,300. Those against gun control would approach these violent situations by declaring society as a whole cannot prevent all acts of violence. Comparatively, with stricter laws society can decrease the amount of innocent bystanders being wounded or fatally injured by firearms. For instance, imagine being a parent and hearing the devastating news that your child has been shot by another individual. Well, on December 14th, the parents of elementary students at Sandy Hook faced just that. Anxious but patiently, parents stood with an ounce of hope that they

Recently Video games have been to blame for many of the incidents among teen violence. Anti-game activists are quick to blame video games for teen violence. If video games are the reason for violence then why it is that video game sales have quadrupled while violent juvenile crime in the United States has declined by over 71.8%. I am of the opinion that video games are not to blame for teen violence, but that it has been made a common excuse over the years. In reality people, more so parents are just trying to find something to blame for kid’s actions instead of taking personal inventory of themselves, and the way they are raising their children.

Over the years, the popularity of computer and video games has grown. Specifically violent video games make up more than 50 % of the top selling games. These games include violent themes that involve guns, crime, blood, and gore. There is an ongoing belief that these types of games are to blame for the many acts of violence in society and have encouraged America’s youth to act out in aggression. Several organizations, such as the PTC (Parents Television Council) have moved to discourage the development of violent games while also pushing for stronger regulations when purchasing such games. There is also debate among parents and concerns on how games can negatively influence their children. So is there a direct link between video games and violence? The truth is video games do not encourage violence in society based on several factors which include scientific studies, statistics on crime, and prevention measures adopted by game publishers.

The debate of whether violent video games cause our youth to become increasingly violent to each other is getting more complicated as time goes on. Games are readily available to all ages and come to us in various shapes and forms. Our youth is exposed to all kinds of material with the evolution of games and how they are portrayed to the youth. Video games have desensitized our youth, they have given them justification to some of their actions, and have pushed some to commit atrocities against mankind. Video games do promote violence to our youth but at what cost?

Violence in video games lead to violent outbreaks and bad behaviour in real life, many people believe so. Are these violent video games moulding and fuelling today’s generation of young minds to a more violent side, forgetting the idea that these games are solely for entertainment purposes. Many studies have taken place surrounding this idea, giving valid points to both sides of the topic.