The Negative Effects Of Video Game Violence In Grand Theft Auto Five

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As a character you are controlling walks through the bank, cops begin to swarm around you, and you are forced to kill them or be killed by them. After you kill the cops you rob a bank and gain around 2 million dollars. That is one of the very first missions in the popular game Grand Theft Auto 5. Grand Theft Auto 5 broke several records the first day it came out. Some of these records include best selling video game in 24 hours, fastest video game to gross $1 billion and it had the most viewed trailer for an action-adventure video game (Lynch). Grand Theft Auto 5 is a very violent video game, as well as very profane in the language and gestures used. I can personally vouch for the violence of this game as I bought this game the day it was released. However, Do games like Grand Theft Auto have negative effects on teenagers? Many people relate violent video games to aggressive behavior in …show more content…

Grand Theft Auto has killing, stealing, shooting, and sexual acts. Many people, mostly the older generation of parents, believe games can desensitize these things, making them easier to do in real life. Douglas Gentile says that repeated exposure to anything will cause desensitization (Gentile). However, video game violence is completely different from real world violence. Most violent acts on Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty make me think their is no way this would happen in real life. I get used to it in the game because of repeated exposure but would never even think about doing these things in real life. Killing in games is completely different feeling then hurting someone in real life. What Gentile is saying, is that in whatever you are getting exposed to, you will become desensitized to it. You can become desensitized to certain foods that you eat too much, or words that are repeatedly used in movies. So you will become desensitized to video game violence, but not real life

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