Issue Exploration Essay

Violence in Video Games

            For a long time it has been thought that violence in video games can cause more violence and aggressiveness in teens. More recent studies however are uncovering that this is not the case. Most previous research done on this topic shows that teens absorb the violence they see in the games giving them a more aggressive behavior. More recent studies indicate that video games become an outlet for these aggressive feelings and do not contribute to their behavior. These games are not the blame of all the violence they are said to be the cause of. The media pushes them to take the blame for teen violence that research has show is on the downfall.

            Recent studies on violence in video games suggest that these games do not cause a more aggressive behavior in youth. These studies focus on the games as being an outlet for aggression rather than a stimulant. “Sales of video games have more than quadrupled from 1995-2008, while the arrest rate for juvenile murders fell 71.9% and the arrest rate for all juvenile violent crimes declined 49.3% in this same period.” (ProCon) This new data demonstrates that while the proliferation of games has increased the rate of violent teen crimes has greatly decreased.

            Another study recently done by researchers at Villanova University and Rutgers University states that the connection between violence in video games and the real world is not related. Most research says that violence in games can lead to violent youth crimes, but this is not the case. "Finding that a young man who committed a violent crime also played a popular video game, such as Call of Duty, Halo, or Grand Theft Auto, is as pointless as pointing out that the criminal also wore socks" (GameSpot) This contradicts most previous research in pointing out that most youth today have played these violent games. This is trying to conclude that with everyone playing these games there is no relation between the games and violent crimes. In addition to this statement the researchers found that the release of an M-rated game affected the crime rate in the following months. “…homicides tended to decrease in the months following the release of popular M-rated violent video games." (GameSpot) This data shows that with the increased sale of video games the violent teen crime rate goes down. This is the opposite of what claims from other research that violent games lead to violent crimes. With the results from this research and other studies like it, video games are being proven to have no connection with teen violence.

“So, how can we determine whether watching depictions of violence will turn us all into killing machines, rapists, robbers, or just plain ol’ desensitized thugs? Well, how about looking at the real world! Whatever lab experiments might suggest, the evidence of a link between depictions of violence in media and the real-world equivalent just does not show up in the data.” (Thierer) This writer claims that all the evidence that shows how violence and games are connected do not show up anywhere in the real world. The studies say that youth who play violent games have a more aggressive attitude and violent actions, while the real world data says that violent youth crimes have decreased over the years.

With more and more research pointing towards no connection between violent games and violent crimes, more people press towards the connection between them. The media itself presses the issue continually to try and show some connection to also further their own agenda on banning these games.  “Some lawmakers have also called for restrictions on violent video games, but CBS News correspondent Chip Reid reported in January that in 2011 the Supreme Court struck down a California statute banning the sale of violent video games for people under 18, saying the games were protected under the First Amendment.” (CBS) The more the issue is pressed to ban these violent games the more researchers find no connection and press for these games to not be banned.

With these research results in mind many researchers say the exact opposite, that This has been a controversial topic for a long time. Most previous research shows that youth playing violent games lead to more aggressive behaviors and violence. These researches all conduct similar tests to analyze the effect of the violent games on the brain. “But a closer look at kids who played more hours of violent video games per week revealed increases in aggressive behavior and violent tendencies, compared to those who played fewer hours a week.” (Time) This research believes that by playing more violent games it teaches youth to think in a more violent way. This is what is believed to cause the aggression. The violence in the games desensitizes youth to real world violence. “What this study does is show that its media violence exposure that is teaching children and adolescents to see the world in a more aggressive kind of way,” says Anderson. “It shows very strongly that repeated exposure to violent video games can increase aggression by increasing aggressive thinking.” (Time)

            Research done on this also suggests that the exposure to the violence in these games may change the brain. After a longer amount of exposure to the violence less activity is thought to be in the brain segment connected with emotions. This is where the youth would become more prone to aggressiveness. “In a 2011 study, for example, after a week of daily video gaming, brain scans of a small group of volunteers showed less activity in the regions connected to emotions, attention, and inhibition of impulses compared to participants who played non-violent video games.” (Time)

            With the idea that violence in games is giving youth a more aggressive and violent attitude, many violent teen crimes and other violent crimes are thought to have been influenced by video games. Many researchers believe that the violence in these games influence the decision-making skills to act out the violent things that the player sees in the game. The media and others who support this claim of violence in games leads to youth violence, have pushed the agenda of blaming video games to be the rood cause of violent crimes since the Columbine shooting in 1999. They blamed the video game Doom for the violence perpetrated by Eric Harris and Dylan Keybold. The shooters for numerous of these crimes have one thing in common and it is not video games, it is mental illness. The media is always looking for something to blame such as games, or guns, but sometimes it is just the person himself or herself. Many shootings such as Columbine, Virginia Tech, the Colorado Movie Theatre, and Sandyhook Elementary are thought to be other examples of a video game influenced violent crime, though there is no evidence to suggest the architects of these crimes got their ideas from violent video games. There is evidence that shows that all of the shooters did have one thing in common, a history of a mental illness.

Video games have taken the blame for youth violence for a long time as pushed by the media. More and more current studies are proving that this is not the case.  Current teen violent crimes are steadily decreasing and the sale of games is steadily increasing as the years go by. With research still proving the innocence of the games, this can never be true all the time. Violence in video games can be the cause of occasional violent crime, but not to blame for all the cases the media tells about.  Through the years there has also been an increase in the media that is readily available to the public. By the increase of media the coverage of this topic has also increased. With the steady increase of sales it will be hard to find someone who has not played these games in the future rather than someone who has not played them. With violence everywhere, not just in games; but also in the news, books, and movies it is a mystery why games get the blame alone and are attacked for this purpose.

  

Works Cited

ProCon.org. "Violent Video Games ProCon.org" ProCon.org. 6 Oct. 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. <http://videogames.procon.org/>.

"Do Violent Video Games Boost Aggression? Study Adds Fire to Debate."Fox News. FOX News Network, 25 Mar. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.

"Violent Video Games Don't Lead to Increases In Violent Crimes, Study Finds." GameSpot. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.

Carey, Benedict. "Shooting in the Dark." The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.

“Violent Video Games and Mass Violence: A Complex Link.” CBSNews. CBS Interactive, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.