Media Violence Statistics

With the nationwide discussion of gun control sparking up as of recent, some people are trying to pinpoint how aggressive tendencies arise. It is an essential topic to understand in order to decrease violent crime rates. Media violence, especially violent video games, is commonly blamed for crimes caused by young adults such as bullying, harassment, and even school shootings. While it may seem like a reasonable risk factor at a glance, this is a flawed view. Video games aren’t the recipe for school shootings. Studies have shown that there is no causation between video game violence and real life violence, juvenile crimes rates have actually decreased while the sales of games have done the opposite, and violent video games have been observed

Correlation is when two or more variables are found to have occured at the same time and may suggest an association. However, in almost all correlation studies, there is a presence of confounding variables. Extraneous variables are factors that weren’t studied and may have impacted the association between the variables studied. In this context, if there was even a sharp correlation between violent criminals and the media that they consume, it does not mean there is an association between the two at all. Such a blanket statement can be influenced by a myriad of factors such as socioeconomic level and personal trauma—the list goes on. One of the most well-versed principles in statistics is that correlation does not imply causation. A study by York University, behavioral realism and the activation of aggressive concepts in violent video games, concluded that there is no convincing evidence to support the hypothesis that there is a link between video games and violent

Texas A&M International University associate professor, Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson, writes that video games are even being considered for use in therapy. His research went onto conclude that young adults of both sexes who play on a long-term basis are less hostile after dealing with stressful events compared to non-players. This shows that playing games in moderation may pose a benefit to when handling emotions and not the opposite.

On the opposing side, there was a study published insisting that video games caused a decrease in the function of the amygdala. The amygdala is a structure located in the nervous system responsible for processing memory, emotional responses, and decision-making. The study’s authors claimed that damage of the amygdala leads to violence. It was performed in an experiment to rats, and they ended up showing more