Brutal Legacies: Media Violence and America's Youth

1618 Words4 Pages

It’s been a recent cover story in America’s newspapers and televised reports: Crazed Gunman Kills Self and Others on Shooting Rampage. Upon the conclusion of this event, follow up stories connect the gunman’s unstable mind with a near endless amount of hours playing Call of Duty. One of the most recent shootings at Sandy Hooks Elementary School, was is affiliated with Call of Duty being the cause of the killer’s spree. This casual connection of violent media, especially video games, has turned out to be nothing but a scapegoat for the governors and congressmen, an excuse to pass a bill restricting the access of these games to minors. Violent video games are in no need of regulation due to in game justification of violence, lack of violent media education, parental responsibility, and improper statistics and studies. The information I present can be accredited as they originate from legitimate research, and as an avid gamer of ten years concerned with both the misrepresentation and economics of media, with video games being the prime focus of concern.

Oddly enough, the first point I am to make in the case of media violence is the justification of said violence through what is referred to as passive media. Passive media includes books, movies, television shows, and any sort of media that the viewer cannot interact with. In various books and TV shows, characters find a reason or explanation of their violent actions to other characters and the viewers. In AMC’s the Walking Dead, Rick Grimes committed his acts of violence to protect his family and the group of survivors that constitute as a second family to him from zombies and other people who wish them harm. If current shows can explain the method behind their violence, vi...

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"Kratos." God of War Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2014

L. I. Gerdes (2012). There Is No Evidence Suggesting Media Violence Leads to Juvenile Violence. (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints. Juvenile Crime. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Lancet, 2008, April, 371, 1137)

Peckham, Matt. "Researcher Says Linking Video Games To Gun Violence Is A 'Classic Illusory Correlation'." Time.Com (2013): 1.Corporate ResourceNet. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

Shackford, Scott. "Imaginary guns don't kill people, either.(ten PACES)." The American Spectator 2013: 12. Academic OneFile. Web. 26 Feb. 2014..

Vankin, Jonathan. "Doreen Fox, 78, Obsessed With Grand Theft Auto Game Because 'I Just Love The

Violence Of It.'" Opposing Views. N.p., 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

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