Video Games Should Not Be Banned Essay

It is no secret that in past years there has unfortunately been a large number of mass shootings in the United States. Many activists hoping to put an end to all of this unnecessary bloodshed have campaigned to put an end to violent video games. While it is completely necessary to put an end to the unnecessary violence, banning video games is not the way. Many experts have conducted studies which have found that violent video games do not lead to any changes in behavior. Some researchers have even found that if used correctly, first person shooters can help teach kids how to manage their anger. Another reason that video games should not be banned is because tens of millions of people play the games almost none of them revert to violence, clearly

Towards the end of the 70’s one popular game called “Death Race” encouraged players run people over using cars. At the time many experts believed that this would lead to spikes in behavioral problems, and even violence(kain). Since then many parents and legislators of called to have violent video games censored, heavily regulated, and even outlawed. Every time the public declares war on violent games scientist and psychologists conduct studies which rarely find any evidence supporting this public outcry. Most of this panic over violent video games holds no merit because the research does not support the hypothesis. A common point many supporters use to show that violent video games cause violence, is the fact that almost all mass shooters in the United States have played violent video games. People who use this argument as a reason to claim the games caused the behavior are overlooking several confounding variables; people with antisocial or aggressive behaviors are more likely to choose the violent games to begin. This means that the kids who made these games infamous, were not turned by the games, instead they were drawn to the games. Also, as of February, the game Grand Theft Auto had sold over 60 million copies(Macy). Saying violent video games create violent people ignores the other tens of millions of people who have played the game and never acted