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video games and violent behavior
video games and violent behavior
video games and violent behavior
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It’s been a recent cover story in America’s newspapers and televised reports: Crazed Gunman Kills Self and Others on Shooting Rampage. Upon the conclusion of this event, follow up stories connect the gunman’s unstable mind with a near endless amount of hours playing Call of Duty. One of the most recent shootings at Sandy Hooks Elementary School, was is affiliated with Call of Duty being the cause of the killer’s spree. This casual connection of violent media, especially video games, has turned out to be nothing but a scapegoat for the governors and congressmen, an excuse to pass a bill restricting the access of these games to minors. Violent video games are in no need of regulation due to in game justification of violence, lack of violent media education, parental responsibility, and improper statistics and studies. The information I present can be accredited as they originate from legitimate research, and as an avid gamer of ten years concerned with both the misrepresentation and economics of media, with video games being the prime focus of concern.
Oddly enough, the first point I am to make in the case of media violence is the justification of said violence through what is referred to as passive media. Passive media includes books, movies, television shows, and any sort of media that the viewer cannot interact with. In various books and TV shows, characters find a reason or explanation of their violent actions to other characters and the viewers. In AMC’s the Walking Dead, Rick Grimes committed his acts of violence to protect his family and the group of survivors that constitute as a second family to him from zombies and other people who wish them harm. If current shows can explain the method behind their violence, vi...
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...oric with Readings. Pearson.
"Joel." The Last of Us Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.
"Kratos." God of War Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2014
L. I. Gerdes (2012). There Is No Evidence Suggesting Media Violence Leads to Juvenile Violence. (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints. Juvenile Crime. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Lancet, 2008, April, 371, 1137)
Peckham, Matt. "Researcher Says Linking Video Games To Gun Violence Is A 'Classic Illusory Correlation'." Time.Com (2013): 1.Corporate ResourceNet. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Shackford, Scott. "Imaginary guns don't kill people, either.(ten PACES)." The American Spectator 2013: 12. Academic OneFile. Web. 26 Feb. 2014..
Vankin, Jonathan. "Doreen Fox, 78, Obsessed With Grand Theft Auto Game Because 'I Just Love The
Violence Of It.'" Opposing Views. N.p., 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
I feel it is an extremely complicated method to blame the media for all violence. The person committing violent acts, is choosing to commit those acts. The acceptability of the violent act is altered by the media’s influence and reach regarding violence. Every outlet provides only a glimpse into how much violence is allegedly occurring because of media in the world today. I’m not an extremist one way or the other, however I do partially believe the research that has been done in regards to media and violence. I feel there is little objectivity or reason to not commit violent acts, when violence is a person’s normal. Media is everywhere and I feel that yes, media does have an effect on violence “contributes” however I don’t feel it can be blamed for the
Dylan Klebold, Eric Harris, Adam Lanza, Steven Phillip Kazmierczak, and Seung-Hui Cho all have a few things in common, they are all school shooters that have killed and injured a combined total of 149 human beings and are or were believed to be avid violent video game players, who also committed suicide immediately after carrying out their attacks. To the public, school shooters seem to share a direct connection to playing violent video games and that playing them leads to violent behavior. Violent videogames have become a highlight in the media and national debate for this very reason but, there is no scientific evidence to support the existence of a causative connection between participants of violent videogames manifesting violent behaviors. The media provides biased information that misleads citizens into believing that said link is well established and accepted. I argue that parents should make responsible and well informed decisions in regards to their child’s videogame activities in spite of the lack of scientific research.
Today’s youth is heavily influenced by the media. Video games, television, and movies make up a large part of the lives of children in America. These easily accessible forms of entertainment are lightly regulated by parents and the government; children and adolescents are exposed to extremely violent media everyday. “By the time the average American child reaches seventh grade, he or she will have witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on television. Some people say so much violence on television makes American society- including its children- more violent” (“Causes of School Violence” 1). Among the violent media, video games are the current trend. Although video games are rated by ESRB (the entertainment sof...
Desensitization from video games creates a biological response that leads to a lack of empathy and more aggressive behaviors. Furthermore, violence in video games is rewarded, making one more likely to repeat the behavior in real life. Finally, video games allow people to take on roles, and along with one’s inability to separate reality from fantasy, people will take on these roles in real life, leading to many of the recent mass shootings. The debate on video games and violence will carry major significance over these coming years. Although violent video games will not necessarily be banned, there might be moves to educate parents about the dangers of violent video games so that their children can be monitored in the games they choose. However, the debate will not be completely solved. Video games are a multimillion dollar industry and the companies may pay psychologists to agree with their sentiments, prolonging the debate. Although video games are some of the most popular items in the world to own, one must take caution in purchasing them, especially violent
People have always been looking for a reason why horrible things happen. The media is quick to blame video games as the target and cause of many shootings that have occurred, ever since Columbine and Quake. People have been blaming video games for violence for years now, ever since violent video games have been made. News reports blame video games more and more for each shooting, telling the public how this person played video games for x amount of hours a day, and that video games caused him or her to shoot people, and how video games encourage and reward violence. Anti-video game lobbyists have been campaigning to have violence removed from video games, citing resources that they themselves have created as reasons for such, poorly done studies where they confirm that kids are more aggressive through how much hot sauce they put on someone’s fries. While unbiased studies of video games and their links to violence are hard to come by, recent research has shown that video games do not in fact have a casual link to violence, and may even have the opposite effect. Violent video games have nearly no link to violence in teens or adults.
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.
Malcolm, T. Teen Violence: Does Violent Media Make Violent Kids? National Catholic Reporter. May 28, 1999 v35 i30 p14.
One paramount debate that truly highlights the two sides of this controversy occurred in July of 1997. As George Gerbner, the former dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Communications, argued that, “Formula-driven media violence is not an expression of crime statistics, popularity, or freedom. It is de facto censorship driven by global marketing, imposed on creative people, foisted on the children of the world” (“Is Media” 1). Critic Todd Gitlin responded to that argument by stating, “Television violence is mainly redundant, stupid, and ugly,” it does not cause violence in its viewers, and the biggest problem is that the profiteers of television have to produce this “formulaic stuff” (1). Personally, I agree with George Gerbner’s view on this subject. In my opinion, the overabundance of violence in American media has caused adverse effe...
As we hear about shooting sprees at local high schools, people immediately begin to lay blame for the event on the video gaming industry. Critics then use these events to raise their voices against the violence that is portrayed in many of the popular video games. Critics proceed to try to ban the sale of these video games without having any real proof of their accusations. Video games do not contribute to youth violence because there is an excellent rating system in place, the simulated violence provides an outlet for aggression, and the research that critics use is flawed.
In our society we have many issues that plague our youth. Problems such as substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, and verbal bullying are just a few of the issues. There is one issue that has been on the rise for many years, and is relatively new to the world; and that is violence due to exposure to violent video games. Research done by a panel of scientists led by Professor Rowell Huesmann found “Unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts” (qtd. in Anderson et al. 4). This research is very profound, but it does not state that a child will go to a school and shoot children because he played the game Call of Duty. While a child might not show major aggressive behavior because of violent video games, he will show minor increases in aggressive behavior because of the games he plays. These statistics are the same for adolescents as they are for children. Whether they realize it or not, everyone who plays a violent video game is effected in one way or another. Even though there is a rating system for games, that system is lacking in what they let younger children watch and do in these games. The question that must be asked is, “Why are these children being exposed to such violent content?”
Media Violence and its negative impact has been discussed and debated for many years As children grow into teens they encounter as vast amount of violence in the media, negatively impacting today’s youth. Teenagers who are exposed to media violence will fail to develop effective socialization strategies and resort more readily to violence, which makes society a more dangerous place.
Grimes, Tom, James A. Anderson, and Lori A. Bergen. Media Violence and Aggression: Science and
Peckham, Matt “Researcher Says Linking Video Games to Gun Violence Is a 'Classic Illusory Correlation'” Time, 10/10/13. Web. 3/13/14
Gardner, Dan.(2007) "Scary anecdotes don't tell the real story on gun violence." : 1. Web. 8 Mar. 2013.
3. “Video Games” by Chris Jozefowics. Published by Gareth Stevens Publishing 2010. Pleasantville, NY 10570-70000 USA. Produced by Editorials Directions Inc.