Violent Video Games and their Relationship to Violent Acts
It seems that in every facet of the media today, when it comes to teenagers and acts of extreme violence, people are quick to point the finger at violent video games. Several school shootings in the past were definitely used to target these types of games as the cause to violent youth. This response is usually not related to facts, but rather to emotions. People that blame violent video games for teenagers and their corrupted behaviors just want a simple answer to a complicated issue. Unfortunately, there is not just one cause that leads teenagers to commit violent acts.
Research is the key to finding the proper information in explaining why some teenagers turn to violence to deal with their problems. Hundreds of studies have been done on violent video games and their effects of teenagers playing them. The results are very conflicting. The majority of the research that has been done on this subject is on single player games and takes place in a controlled environment. The environment that teenagers live in today is far from controlled. And over half of the video games played today are played by two or more players in a social forum. The largest link to violent video game players that has been found to date is increased aggression. And increased aggression is not violence. The definition of aggression in many of these studies is also vague. But whatever the definition is, it is not a definition of violent acts. To show that a person will punish someone more heavily after playing a violent video game does not prove a violent act will come from this person. To show that a violent video game will cause an increase in heart rate and decrease in empathy is als...
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We know that violent video games alone do not cause violent acts in teenagers. Therefore, we must become aware of the role they play for people at risk of violent behavior. So until it becomes clear how much these violent games contribute to certain risk factors of violent behavior, it is very important that parents realize what type of child they have and if these games might have a certain effect on their child. Maybe if your child is the emotionally immature type and spending way too much time involved in violent video games and less time communicating with their parents, then you should consider putting some restrictions on their game playing. Furthermore, every parent should become educated on the latest studies involving violent video games and know the truth about the issue. Violent video games do not cause teenagers to commit violent acts.
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.
In recent years our society has experienced many tragedies in which teens have committed heinous crimes for no apparent reason. What inspired these attacks by teens on innocent victims? We live in a violent world and young people are exposed to this violence whether it's by television, music or the Internet. Video games have come under increased scrutiny as to whether or not the simulated violence in video games numbs children and teens to the consequences of real-life violence.
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.
The shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado killing thirteen students and teachers shocked the world. “They were video gamers who seemed to be acting out some dark digital fantasy. It was as if all that exposure to computerized violence gave them the idea to go on a rampage – or at least fueled their urges” (Carey 1). The shooters of this incident learned their deadly skills from video games. Seventy percent of children ages eight to eighteen have access to violent video games at their home. “Boys who play Teen or Mature-rated games for a minimum of 40 minutes a day may witness over 180 incidents of aggression per day, or 5,400 incidents per month”(Smith, S.L., Lachlan, K.A., & Tamborini, R). Children that play violent video games at such a young age and experiencing such violent actions will start to increase in aggressive thoughts, feelings, and aggressive behavior.
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.
At this day in age we bask in the luxury of having easy access to advanced technology at our disposal. From the World Wide Web, to cell phones, music, movies and video games the human race has thought of any and everything to keep us entertained. Over the years studies have shown reasonable concerns regarding the long-term effects of video games. These games can desensitize gamers to real life violence, which is usually seen in the younger crowd. The studies especially hit on the games containing player-on-player violence. Though these games are extremely entertaining and can get kids to settle down for a while, if not properly supervised, they can produce adverse effects. Other studies have shown that video games can be used as way to yield positive outcomes such as, good problem solving skills, cooperation in a group and the ability to flow. Although there has been psychological research on children learning through the actions of others some believe that children are automatically able to distinguish between what is just a game and what is reality. The longer they are allowed on their game system the more they become convinced that their games are real. Some researchers believe violent video games can channel the aggression of the child but the parents are to blame for what happens to the child after playing an excessive amount over a period of time. Children can become preoccupied with these violent video games which have been proven to be the cause of poor social skills, uncontrollable aggression and a false reality.
Violence has been around for quite a long time. Fights and wars are the interest of today’s society of entertainment. People are more likely to see a movie, where protagonists kill bad guys, over a romantic movie, where a typical girl finds her “knight in shining armor.” This also applies to how teens feel when playing games. Teens have a sweet tooth for violent games, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops, Kill zone, Infamous, and other violent rated games. These games are like vocabulary words in a teens’ language. A recent discussion has been brought up from the Industry of Coombes Class (ICC). A worker has noticed a few news reports stating that games have influenced shooting sprees or murders in the community. Not only that but also parents are being persuaded to ban their children from playing games. The question is “Are games really influencing teens’ bad behaviors?” Well, violent games have been said to be the cause of teens’ violent acts, but this is not true. Many times this has been proven wrong by scientists and psychologists.
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?”
... methodologies and the intrusion of ideology and scientific dogma” (Ferguson 11). Violent Video Games do not cause increased violent tendencies in youth and adolescents due to the fact violent video games have been around for years and in those years violence caused by teens have actually been dropping rather than increasing. Also, violent video games have been shown through research that the negatives are highly outweighed by the positives. Also, with the introduction of interactive gaming there are a new range of possibilities for violent video games. Such as sending a message to children about healthy activities by getting them off of the couch. So hopefully in five years violent video games will have moved to full interactive gaming so that it looks more real-life, but more importantly that it will still be a form of media that helps to relive personal stress.
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 demonstate aggression and violent behavior. (Ferguson, 2014)
“As video games have become more violent and more sophisticated and the sales of video games has skyrocketed in the last few decades, youth violence has plummeted,” Ferguson says, citing evidence compiled by various federal agencies (Adams 3). Violence in video games is not a new issue. It has been debated and argued since the release of the first violent video game. As time has progressed, so has the evolution of violence and strong language within video games. Ratings have become more relaxed, and the lines between T (Teen) and M (Mature) rated games has gotten closer together. Violent games are becoming the normal and accepted of all games, and are being demanded by the gaming industry more heavily. Parents have always shied away from these games for their children, regardless of age. However, kids are getting these games whether they are the correct age (17+) or not. Young kids, less than ten years of age are playing horribly violent games and parents are fearing the repercussions. But video games are not to be blamed for child violence. Violence in video games does not cause children to become violent people later on in life.
Children and adolescents that play violent video games undergo through aggressive behavior. The violent activity in the video games influence
“YOU SUCK!” “I killed him!” “Head shot!” These are just a few examples of dialogue spoken by children while they are playing violent video games. These video games might seem like harmless fun, but what if the violence in these games is affecting the behavior of young players interacting with others?
Does violence in video games encourage wild behavior on impressionable children? A lot parents believe that their children are being influenced by video games to act a certain disrespectful way towards others or commit crimes. Yet, studies show that the arrests of juvenile teenagers have declined 71.9% while sales for popular, and violent, video games have increased 49.3% ("Crime in the United States, 2008," FBI website, Sep. 2009). Plus, a link between violent video games and rude behavior has not properly been connected. Video games do not pressurize teenagers, girls or boys, into violent personalities or to reenact the main characters performances. Video gamers aren’t encouraged by actions in the games they play because they have a sense of reality, the games they play can actually be an outlet for the rage they might hold in, and there are reasons for why games have ratings.
Violent video games are special games, which negatively influences to the attitude and behavior. These video games are popular between children and teenagers. Since 1980-s years violent games are in political discussion. Because when teenagers usually play violent video games, they are becoming aggressive and then they face with psychological problems. For this, some people claim that violent games are harmful for society and they affect to behavior and health.