Violent Video Games Do Not Cause Mass Shootings

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.

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.

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.

Tobias Greitemeyer andDrik O mug from the universty of Innsburck found studies thats video games incress aggression and vilonce.

97% of teens ages 12-17 play video games today. They contribute to the growing industry of video games which is now at $21.53 billion (ProCon.org). In your life you have most likely played some type of video game, such as a game on your phone or on your computer. Did that game make you feel like you wanted to cause violence? Violent video games do not cause mass shootings, it allows kids to relieve their stress, and it is the competitive nature, not the violence in video games.

Violent video games increase the amount of mass shootings every year. The violence in the video games teach kids and even some adults to do things that they normally wouldn't know how to do, the first person shooter effect teaches kids how to use a gun and more than that, teaches them that it's alright to use a gun anywhere. When kids are playing first person shooter games against their friends, it seems like a game to them, those kids think that it is fun to run around chasing your friend with a gun and try to kill them, these games are also like target practice for them. Teaching these kids those skills prepares them for school shootings, abusing their families, and even causing them to talk back to their parents, other family members, teachers, and any other adults that could stand in their way. Adults who play first person shooter video games could be playing them for fun, what they were intended for, but when ever mass shootings occur like the one in Las Vegas at the Jason Aldean concert, or the one in

They shouldn’t just assume that the video games are causing these mass shootings and all the gun violence. There are so many other reasons why people are committing this crime. So, there has been a study that said violent or competitive video games cause aggression. In the Text Violent video games on pg 8 paragraph 3 it states, “The common thread running through all of these games is that that player becomes the shooter, from whose vantage point behind the gun the player sees the world. I understand that some teens and adults might fantasize about the real world while playing these video games.

Over the past few years, the United States has seen violence that has come from the inside of the country. Various high schools, have had shootings inside of them from some of the high school students that go to that specific school. Some experts blame the shootings by categorizing the students as someone who has been tormented and bullied basically most of life, while other experts believe the shootings were caused by the violence in video games. There has been a lot of nation-wide discussion about if violent video games really do cause violence and aggression in young gamers ever since shootings at high schools increased. However evidence has shown differently than what most experts think. Violent video games do not cause violence and aggression in young gamers.

It has been proven that violent video games have been causing the recent school massacres in schools and public places. Teens should not be aloud to play these video games because it is proven that the violent video games have been causing all or most of the school shootings in the past recent years. Teens and kids should not be able to be exposed to these types of violent video games because it is mainly boys that have been causing deaths of teens and kids by school schoolings, the violent video games are causing school shootings , and the violent video games are causing mental health issues amongst this age group.

“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!

Whether violent media content leads to real-life violence is always debatable. And in recent years, school shootings have made video games a new focus of public concern and scientific research. In public opinion, video games cause more aggression in comparison to traditional violent media contents because video games have more features of interactivity, "due to the active engagement and participation of players" (Hummer and Wang et al. 137). But more and more reports tell us that video games are not the main cause of school shooting issues; rather it is the negligence of parents, schools, and communities.

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

Lots of dangerous shootings, vicious murders and rapid killing spree all caused by video games that are selling right now and getting into the hands of children. The main buyers of these video games are teens and young adults. They play these games because it satisfies their psychotic urges and sooths there addiction. People in today's society should not be playing violent video games such as GTA, Call Of Duty and Battlefield because they cause aggression in the short term as well as real world violence.

“In April 1999, two high school students in Columbine, Colorado, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, opened fire on Columbine High School, killing twelve students and one teacher and injuring twenty-three others before killing themselves. Both boys were avid players of video games such as Doom and Wolfenstein 3D” ("Preface to 'What Is the Impact of Violence in Video Games?"). (Fact) It is unimaginable that two teenage boys were able plan and execute such a violent crime. Imagine what will happen when the younger generations grow up playing more violent games, it will become no big deal to do anything like this. The news reported that in 2007, there were thirty-seven school shootings in the U.S. alone (Brodeur). (Fact) The number of school shootings should be zero. Society has become immune to violence that it does not think that violent video games have anything to do with the behaviors of those who play them. In April of 2007, a student from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University went on shooting spree and killed thirty-two people and injured many before he committed suicide. ("Preface to 'What Is the Impact of Violence in Video Games?'”). (Fact) Seung-Hui Cho was an avid gamer. Thirty-two innocent victims died that April. All those who died happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time while the shooter snapped and went on a kill spree. Schools are supposed to be a safe place, not somewhere where there is a chance of a child getting shot at because of a video

“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