Angry Babies: Juvenile Violence

758 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: do violent games contribute to youth violence

At what age should we be held responsible for our actions? Society has been blaming inanimate things for its problems for far too long. Society blames food for obesity, guns for murder, and video games for youth violence. None of those things are to blame for the problems society suffers. Instead of blaming video games and media for violent children, parents need to accept the responsibility of teaching their children right from wrong. Inevitably, some children will still be violent; however the video game is still not at fault.
Juvenile violence has been decreasing since 1993. According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics in 1993 26% of violent crimes involved a juvenile perpetrator whereas in 2011 only 10% of violent crimes were committed by juveniles. Although child perpetrators are less common, video game sales are steadily rising. “U.S. computer and video game software sales grew 22.9 percent in 2008 to $11.7 billion – more than quadrupling industry software sales since 1996.” (Washington.edu) With so many children playing video games, some with heavily violent content, child violence should be growing at an alarming rate, yet it is not.
Juvenile violence can be linked to many things other than natural urges. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry states that abuse, stress, drugs and even genetics contribute to violence among youth. It may seem that virtually performing out violent acts would increase the urge to be violent in reality; studies have not shown that to be true. More to blame than video games is parent’s ignorance of how their actions or lack of action affects their children. Alternatively parents need to be held responsible for their children’s behavior.
The Ame...

... middle of paper ...

... Cited
Aacap.org. “Understanding Violent Behavior in Children and Adolescents” the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014
Childstats.gov. “Youth Perpetrators of Serious Violent Crimes” Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
NRA.org. “What is The Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program?” National Rifle Association of America Web. 24. Feb. 2014
Olsen, Cheryl, Kutner, Lawrence, Warner, Dorothy, Almerigi, Jason, Baer, Lee, Nicholi, Armand, and Beresin, Eugene "Factors Correlated with Violent Video Game Use by Adolescent Boys and Girls," Journal of Adolescent Health, Jan. 2007 Web. 24 Feb. 2014
ProCon.org. "Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?" ProCon.org. 2 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
Washington.edu. “FYI: Video Game Statistics by the Entertainment Software Association” Web. 24. Feb. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Do Video Games Kill Karen Sternheimer

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Avid Final Exam #20

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    Now a day every video game has something violent going on. Such as in 2010 the top 20 games out in the market were violent related. When a kid sees in a video game that he can beat someone else up and get away with it they think they can do that in real life. This will increase bullying and kids are being taught not to bully. Every kid plays video games even if it’s a racing game or a shooting game. In 2008, 97% of kids from the age of 12-17 played video games. Most M rated games have sexual violence and when a kid sees that in a game and then beats the girl up. The crime rate for rape will increase as it has. A study in 2009 found that it only takes a child four minutes of playing a game to make him have aggressive and violent thoughts going through his head. The critics of violent video game has that bully has increase 32% because of violent video games. Also in the study when a child sees blood when beating up or killing someone in a game he will have more aggressive thoughts than normal.

    Read More

  • The shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado

    664 Words  | 2 Pages

    Children playing such harsh games forty minutes a day will result their mind to alter. “A dose of violent gaming makes people act more rudely than they would otherwise” (These games have a huge result on the user’s brain. “Violent games activate their anger center while dampening the brain’s conscience causing them to become more violent” (“Children and Violent Video Games” 1). Teenage brains are in the middle of growing, so it is very penetrable for video games to have a major impact on the child’s mind. “Playing violent games correlates to children being less caring and helpful toward their peers” (“Children and Violent Video Games” 1). After these games get into the players mind, they began to plot disasters: shootings, bombings, and theft.

    Read More

  • Video Game Violence: Therapeutic Outlet or Perpetuating Violence?

    1420 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Violent Video Games And Young People.” Harvard Mental Health Letter 27.4 (2010): 1-3. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • Violent Video Games Do NOT Cause Violence

    1839 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Video Games: It’s Influence on Aggressive Behaviors

    1795 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ever since the creation of video games, people have been entertained without the need to go out to the movies or some other outdoor activity. However, people never realized that video games could influence children emotionally. Apart from the discussion that video games, or other activities that have to do with television, can ruin people’s vision, violent video games can influence children to develop aggressive behaviors. There have been situations worldwide, like the Columbine High School shooters, where video games were to blame. Some laws were even passed to lower situations similar to the Columbine High School Massacre. For example, California passed a law in 2005 that would have required violent video games to include an "18" label and criminalized the sale of these games to minors. Video games can influence children in the US to develop violent behavior.

    Read More

  • Video Game Industry and Violence

    1359 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1998, the US software industry sold $6.3 billion worth of video games (see Unknown).  Not bad for an industry that didn't exist 25 years ago!  Yet despite its continued growth, all is not well in the video game industry.  School shootings in Littleton, Colorado; Pearl, Mississippi; Paducah, Kentucky; Conyers, Georgia and many other towns have shocked the nation (see Malcolm).  Understandably, grieving parents and sympathetic citizens are searching for a cause for this "outbreak" of youth violence.  It is natural to assume, "when children, the symbol of innocence, commit the severest of crimes, then something must be going wrong with society." (see Maker)

    Read More

  • Violence and Video Games

    1976 Words  | 4 Pages

    Violent video games and violent adolescent behavior, is there a connection? Millions of violent video games are sold around the United States, millions more are sold overseas, but the numbers of violent crimes, that could be associated with violent video games is low. Assault, robbery, burglary, rape and murder occur daily. The drug industry accounts for the majority of these crimes. The cases not related to drugs, fall into a number of categories, including Psychological Disorders. Disorders that can cause violent behavior are psychotic or anti-social behavior, depression, schizophrenia, delusion, disassociation, and any others recognized by a Psychologist.

    Read More

  • Are Violent Video Games a Cause of the Bad Behavior in Children?

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Violent Video Games Do NOT Contribute to Youth Violence

    2419 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Violent Video Games and Increased Aggression

    1900 Words  | 4 Pages

    Video games have been a rapidly expanding industry since their inception in the 1970s. Along with their growth have come concerns about violent video games and their effects on aggression and violence in young people. The endless numbers of school shootings have pushed this issue to the forefront. These events brought about the question: do violent video games induce aggression in youth? That’s the question I set out to answer by looking at research. The research shows that there is a link between playing video games and increases in aggression in adolescents. What implications does this fact have ethically? It means that video game producers and distributors need to be held responsible for their releases and the way they end up in the hands of kids.

    Read More

  • Video Games and the Human Brain

    1348 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech Outline For Video Games

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Contrary to the claims that violent video games are linked to aggressive assaults and homicides, no evidence was found to suggest that this medium was a major (or minor) contributing cause of violence in the United States.” (Markey, 290)

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay

    2029 Words  | 5 Pages

    “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

    Read More

  • Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence

    1447 Words  | 3 Pages

    Willoughby, T., Adachi, P. C., & Good, M. (2012). A longitudinal study of the association between violent video game play and aggression among adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 48(4), 1044-1057. doi:10.1037/a0026046

    Read More

More about Angry Babies: Juvenile Violence

Open Document