Video game violence has been a controversial subject for many years. Even the most simple, classic video games have had this topic pop up, dating back to the 1980’s, games like Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong. But more especially in modern video games, such as the Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto series. Many investigations attempt to analyze the idea that video games are making people more prone to violence, and even point to violence related events, some of said research information may be faulty. Within these investigations there will be evidence and proof for both parties and analyzing if they may or may not be valid, and considering the people behind the statistics and their claims. Most people that live in somewhat modern countries are aware of the claims of violence on video games, placing blame on them for violent acts done by the youth of today. Generally these acts pop up when referencing a school shooting, gang related crimes and other domestic acts of violence, even terrorist acts done by the youth. It is far too easy to blame something like media and video games on violent acts and the past behavior of the accused persons, but more so how they are tied to video games specifically. Throughout history, people have feared that which they do not know or understand, expecting the worst from the situation. The problem with this, is the fact that non-users simply do not understand the subject at hand. The same can be said for video games. As an example, many older citizens cannot even fathom the reasoning behind why someone would even play video games at all, mostly aimed towards the violent ones. On the other hand, many old people are also finding entertainment in video games and are even using it to... ... middle of paper ... ...ever will be a subject debated by the many variables that it has. Works Cited "Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?" procon.org Steven Markoff, April 9th, 2014. . Knorr, Caroline. "The 10 Most Violent Video Games (And 10 Alternatives)" Reviews & Age Ratings. James Steyer, October 28th, 2009. April 8th, 2014. http://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/the-10-most-violent-video-games-and-10-alternatives. Masnick, Mike. "Just How VIolent Is Pacman, Anyway?" techdirt. Mike Masnick, August 24th, 2006. Web. April 8th, 2014. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20060824/190154.shtml. Prensky, Marc “Video Games Help Children Learn” Video Games : Opposing Viewpoints Ed. Laurie Willis. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010 Violence and Video Games, Video Game Addiction, April 10th, 2014 http://www.video-game-addiction.org/violence.html
Paulson, Ken. “How obscene is video game violence?” USA Today. USA Today, 2 November 2010. Web. 24 October 2011.
The article “Do Video Games Kill” written by Karen Sternheimer addresses the widespread question; are video games the cause for “young killers”? (220) Sternheimer believes concern for the influence of video games may have on youth is spiraling out of control. She puts most of the blame for this out of control concern on the media. She also writes some about the politicians and the Juvenile Justice System. Sternheimer suggests that there are other factors to blame for violent behavior: poverty, the neighborhood, unemployment, family violence, divorced parents and mental illness (218). While it may be that juvenile crimes have declined, and personal backgrounds effect actions, it cannot be proven that video game violence has no to little effect on
"What Science Knows About Video Games and Violence." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
innovativepublichealth.org - http://www.innovativepublichealth.org. 10 Dec 2013. Do violent video games contribute to youth violence? procon.org. 17 Dec 2013 Peckham, Matt.
Video games have been around since 1958, and ever since then video games have developed more. With video games becoming a bigger industry, there have been more people purchasing and buying more and more video games. For examples, up to 2001, “roughly 79 percent of America's youth played video games, many of them for at least eight hours a week” (Layton). Furthermore, in 2008, “97% of 12-17 year olds in the US played video games” (“Video Games”). With a growing industry, there has been more competition between video game companies. The companies that make these video games try to make a huge profit by appealing to people’s likes. In 2008, “10 of the top 20 best-selling video games in the US contained violence” (“Video Games”)
In the book “Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy,” the authors relay the general information concerning the history of violence in video games as well as the beginning of the issue of violence in video games (Anderson, Gentile, and Buckley 2007). They state that it was “during the 1990s that violent games truly
ProCon.org. "Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?" ProCon.org. 29 Mar. 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Since the 1970 video games have become more popular than ever before. Generating 11.7 billions of dollars of sells every year or more, the video game industry is considered one of the largest industries in this century. However, video games have been a topic of controversy. With the sales of violent video games going up and the increased violence in schools and teenagers, video games are always to blame. Many people speculate that video games are the cause on why many teenagers have developed aggressive and violent behavior, are desensitize to violence, and the increase violence in schools and public places. In contradiction, video games have little or no fault in teenagers’ violent behavior and shouldn’t always be blamed.
The allegation that videogames cause violent behavior in children has been present as long as videogames themselves. Some researchers said that the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, was one intense gamer. “Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech Shooter was seen by his roomates as odd because he never joined them in video games.”(Beresin) This debate will continue to go on in this country as long as there are horrific crimes that occur. There is much written in the research regarding this issue, and many differing views. The research that is presented in the next few paragraphs supports the theory that it is not the graphic video games that produce aggressive behavior, but other factors in a child’s life that create violent actions.
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 demonstrate aggression and violent behavior.
Costikyan, Greg. “The Problem of Video Game Violence is Exaggerated.” Video Games. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2003. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 5 Nov. 2005.
A review in 2004 did not show a clear relation between video game violence and real life violence. The study found that for every 1% increase in violent video game sales there was a .03% decrease in real life violence. (Fournis,
Video games first appeared in the early 1970's. It all started with a simple white ball bouncing back and fourth on the screen. In 1986, Nintendo introduced its first line of home video game consoles. With the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) on the market, the home video gaming industry surged and immediately became popular among children. Since then, not only have video games increased in popularity, but there have been vast improvements in graphics, game play, and forms of gaming. Today, video games have become the preferred choice of entertainment among children and teenagers. Research done in 1998 has shown that kids who own video games spend an average of 90 minutes a day playing them. Clearly the video gaming industry is a profitable one. With the increasing competition between gaming companies, the advancement of technology and content of games began to change. One of the most significant and concerning changes in gaming is graphics. With the improvements in graphics the content of the game became more and more detailed and realistic. Visually violent actions can now be displayed on the screen. Images of blood, flying body parts, and gore have been integrated into every aspect of today's video games. Violence has always been a common factor in many games, but with the improvements in graphics and capabilities of gaming consoles, a growing number of people are becoming concerned about the effects on our children and society.
“90% of pediatricians and 67% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior among children” ("Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?”). Pediatrics and parents are aware that kids that play violent video games see a change in their behavior. Many cases they see the kids with anger problems and causing them to do violent acts. Violent video games have been around for many years where some older titles, such as ‘Mortal Kombat’ and 'Grand Theft Auto’ both are some of the most controversial ones. The video game industry has been growing and with the large amounts of violent video games being produced. “Total US sales of video game hardware and software increased 204% from 1994 to
In the 2014 editorial, “Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?”, Steven Markoff supports the claim violent video games cause violent behavior. He speaks to a curious audience of all ages. The article uses logos throughout creating a set opinion on the topic.