Persuasive Essay On Violent Video Games

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Newton, Connecticut; December 14, 2012; 20-year-old Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary school and opened fire. He took the lives of 20 children ages 6 and 7 as well as 6 adults, including his mother before turning the gun to himself. Lanza was a fan of first-person shooter video games, with more than 83,000 ‘kills’ and 22,000 ‘headshots’ on his video game account (Bates). Many believe that Lanza’s violent video game use and military obsession caused him to commit this crime but, did it really? Lanza was mentally ill with schizophrenia and refused to take his medication, the video games did not cause him to do what he did, his mental health issues primarily caused the destruction that took place. Therefore, why do people consider violent video games to cause violent behaviors among children and teens?
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association take a strong stance against adolescences and teens playing violent video games. According to the American Psychological Association, 90% of children in the United States play video games. Between the ages of 12 and 17, the number rises to 97%. …show more content…

The total sales of video games and consoles increases 204% from 1994 to 2014, reaching $13.1 billion in 2014. At this time, murders by juveniles acting alone fell 76% and violent crimes decreased 37%. The arrest rate of juveniles in 2013 was 38% below that of 1980 and 63% below that of 1994 (the peak year of juvenile violence). The number of high school students involved in at least one physical fight decreased 43% since 1991 and 25% since 2013, criminal victimization in schools dropped by more than half from 1995 to 2011. An August 2014 peer-reviewed study found that: "Annual trends in video game sales for the past 33 years were unrelated to violent crime... Monthly sales of video games were related to concurrent decreases in aggravated assaults."

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