The Negative Effects of Violent Video Games

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Recommended: Effects violent video games have on youth

In recent years our society has experienced many tragic school shootings in which teens have committed heinous crimes for no apparent reason. The question has become who is to blame or what inspired these attacks on these innocent victims? This question has become an epidemic in our country. We live in a violent world and young people have easy access to it whether it's on television, in music or on the Internet. But with the explosion of media entertainment in recent years, video games have come under scrutiny as to whether or not violence in video games numbs children and teens to the consequences of real-life violence. The answer to this question is yes. Young children and teens are very easily influenced, especially in a society in which violence, whether fictional or real, thrives. Video-game violence has become a common link in tragedies, such as Columbine. The content of video games desensitizes a young person to the ramifications of real violence.

Although there are many critics who support the idea that video game violence does desensitize youths, there are also those who oppose this view. An example of this comes from video game designer, Greg Costikyan. He wrote, "Violence is a prominent theme in video games and some have depicted violence in crude and ugly ways. The first person shooter games that do center around violence actually benefit society because they give young males a way to vent their antisocial impulses without harming anyone" (Costikyan 245). What Costikyan falls to shed light on is the unfortunate Columbine High School incident. There is evidence that the two boys who committed the Columbine murders, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were in fact influenced by a game called Doom. Eugene F. Prov...

... middle of paper ...

...sn't a problem in our society, leaving the blame against game makers for creating such content in their video games and helping desensitize the nation’s youth.

Works Cited

Anderson, Craig A. Karen E. Dill. "Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life." Journal of Personality & Social Psychology. 78 (2000): 772-791.

Costikyan, Greg. "Games Don't Kill People-Do They?" The Contemporary Reader. Ed. Goshgarian, Gary. Longman, 2002. 243 -247.

Fox, Robert. "Video Games, Violence Linked." Communications of the ACM. 43 (2000): 9- 10

Lee, Joanne E. and Judith A. Vessey. "Violent Video Games Affecting our Children." Pediatric Nursing: November 2000.

Provenzo, Eugene. "Violence in Video Games is A Problem." Vizcarra, Ernie. Personal Interview. 9 November 2003.

Vizcarra, Steven. Personal Interview. 9 November 2003.

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