Videogames Don’t Kill People, People Kill People
Every generation has pointed a finger at the recreational pastimes of young persons, accusing that these activities lead our nations youth astray and induce violent or antisocial behavior. Novels, music, TV, movies, and now the finger is pointing straight at one of the newest and quickest growing youth pastimes; videogames. This particular pastime differs from others in their reality and scope for direct participation, therefore allowing the crusty old curmudgeons to conclude that playing them leads all young people to commit acts of violence.
Numerous studies have been conducted to determine whether or not there is a direct link between violent tendencies and videogames. Some tests claim there is a definite link, others refute it, but both often show very shaky statistics. Most tests simply prove inconclusive. According to an article by Anne D. Walling, a recent study by Drs Bensley and Van Eenwyk shows that:
Rates of adolescent violence, homicide, weapon carrying, and other markers of antisocial behavior fell consistently during the period when violent videogames became ubiquitous, more graphic, and more realistic. (1)
This would suggest that youths are using videogames as a form of escape. Instead of being out on the streets committing acts of delinquency, they are instead at home, safely playing videogames.
Walling also provides the combined results from twenty-nine other individual studies of this topic. The studies all varied greatly in design and quality, preventing any firm determination from being reached. Children of middle school age and younger showed no association between videogames and aggression in girls, and both increases and decreases in aggression among boys. Studies of high school students predominately dealt with boys, often using self-report. Both calming and arousing effects were again reported, and no consistent relationship was drawn between violent games and actual behavior. In college students and young adults, results were yet again mixed, but calming effects were more common, particularly if the prior mood was hostile or aggressive (2).
So-called experts like to point their fingers at Eric Harris as an example that violent videogames do indeed create violent children. Harris was one of the t...
... middle of paper ...
...n that there seems to be no direct link to violent behavior and playing violent videogames. Studies even show that adolescent crime has decreased as videogames have become more realistic and graphic, showing that they seem to have a more calming effect on kids. As long as people can continue to differentiate between what’s real and what’s not, we should be just fine. However, as long as there are crusty old curmudgeons out there who are afraid of things they don’t understand, then videogames will always be under heavy fire.
Works Cited
Ahmed, Shahed. “Further Investigation of Violence and
Gaming.” Gamespot. 6 August 2000. 8 April 2003
.
“The Games Kids Play: Are Mature Video Games Too Violent for Teens?” Current Events 7 February 2003: 3.
Grossman, Lev. “Busjacking for Grownups.” Time November
2002: 80-81.
Satterfield, Shane. “IGDA Holds Game Violence Summit.”
Gamespot. 8 January 2001. 8 April 2003.
.
Varanini, Giancarlo. “Violent Media May not be to Blame.”
Gamespot. 8 February 2001. 8 April 2003.
.
“Violence is A-Ok.” Electronic Gaming Monthly August 2002:
13.
Walling, Anne D. “Do Video Games Lead to Violent Behavior in Children?” American Family Physician 65 (2002):
1436-1437.
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
Proceeding my perusal of articles and research, written by authors with scientific credentials or otherwise, I have concluded that video games are no more to blame for the ebullition found in today’s society than any other possible cause. However, the incessant brouhaha as well as the negative notoriety surrounding media and video games refuses to cease or let up. These claims—for or against video games—are ultimately subjective and inconclusive and very little can be confidently derived from them. Granted, the violence found in our youth is growing rapidly, and there must be external reasons for that, but using video games as a scapegoat will not rectify anything.
The shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado killing thirteen students and teachers shocked the world. “They were video gamers who seemed to be acting out some dark digital fantasy. It was as if all that exposure to computerized violence gave them the idea to go on a rampage – or at least fueled their urges” (Carey 1). The shooters of this incident learned their deadly skills from video games. Seventy percent of children ages eight to eighteen have access to violent video games at their home. “Boys who play Teen or Mature-rated games for a minimum of 40 minutes a day may witness over 180 incidents of aggression per day, or 5,400 incidents per month”(Smith, S.L., Lachlan, K.A., & Tamborini, R). Children that play violent video games at such a young age and experiencing such violent actions will start to increase in aggressive thoughts, feelings, and aggressive behavior.
“Violent Video Games And Young People.” Harvard Mental Health Letter 27.4 (2010): 1-3. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
Nauret, Rick. “In new study, video games not tied to violence in youth”. psychcentral.com. 15 Nov 2013.
Studies on the link between videogames and violent behaviors began in the late 1970’s. The first time a violent video game was introduced and raised some eyebrows about the amount of violence being displayed was with a certain racing video game. “The controversy dates all the way back to Death Race, a 1976 8-bit video game in which cars run over bad guys, turning them into tombstones” (Kelly, 1). The studies between videogames and violent behavior continued into the 1980’s. “In 1984, a study found that arcade games have a “calming effect” and that boys use them to blow off steam. Both studies relied on surveys and interviews asking boys and young men about their media consumption” (Kain, 2). As a result, the link between videogames and violent behavior has been studied for a long time.
Royal Van horn showed in his 1999 article, ?Violence and Video Games,? a large stance on the issue is not one of influencing kids actions....
Scott, D. The Effect of Video Games on Feelings of Aggression. The Journal of Psychology. March 1995 v129 n2 p121-132.
Since the 1970 video games have become more popular than ever before. Generating 11.7 billions of dollars of sells every year or more, the video game industry is considered one of the largest industries in this century. However, video games have been a topic of controversy. With the sales of violent video games going up and the increased violence in schools and teenagers, video games are always to blame. Many people speculate that video games are the cause on why many teenagers have developed aggressive and violent behavior, are desensitize to violence, and the increase violence in schools and public places. In contradiction, video games have little or no fault in teenagers’ violent behavior and shouldn’t always be blamed.
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.
One would be hard-pressed to find a household without any video gaming devices. In fact, over eighty percent of American households some sort of gaming device. On top of all that, violent video games have surged in popularity, occupying over 50% of the 30 top video games sold in 2015 (Kain). In light of recent mass shootings, video games are routinely accused as the culprit that influences one to violence. Researchers all over the world have tried to establish a causal relationship between video games and violence. Some researchers have come to the conclusion that video games, specifically violent ones, spark aggression. However, other researchers have come up with the opposite conclusion, that the studies that portray video games as detrimental
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.
“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)
While many different case studies have been done all over the world, scientists have yet to prove that there is a direct correlation between violent video games and child aggression. Since the start of this quarter, this has been an issue that I have been doing extensive research on. Despite looking into several scholarly sources, I was surprised to see that many of my findings were pretty consistent with one another. For the mort part, what I found through my research was a bunch of statistics from case studies and the interpretation of those statistics from renowned scientists. In many cases, statistics and studies showed slight indications that violent video games have an effect on c...
Video games and violence may seem surreal to have a connection but few adolescents cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality, and as a result, real life crimes have been committed. From robbing a car to killing children, many perpetrators have been influenced by video