Are Video Games Making People More Violent?
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| Screencap from a First-Person Shooter Game (image courtesy of gamrfeed.vgchartz.com) |
| Some examples of violent video games (image courtesy of corrections.govt.nz) |
With each advancement in video game technology, more and more real-life actions have been added. One of the most popular involves violent acts. As more of these type games have gotten into the hands of the public, especially the current generation, the increase of violence in society has also become a growing concern. However, with any controversial topic, there are two sides to the story.
Are video games really the cause of youth becoming more violent?
| Children playing a shooting game at an arcade (image courtesy of tobacco-facts.net) |
Video games are not the cause of violence:
According to the federal crime statistics, violent crimes committed by the current generation of youth is at a 30 year all time low. There has also been research done that has stated that most people who have committed violent crimes had consumed less of violent media, than the average person that has consumed a lot, before committing the crime.
Video games are the cause of violence:
In an article on CNN's website, it states that video games do cause an increase in violence or violent acts, mainly among young children to teenagers. The study that was done found that children in the U.S. and Japan had become more aggressive after playing violent video games as opposed to the children that did not play those games.
There have also been surveys done around the world, and the general public believes that violent video games are the cause of increased violence. In England people have even said that video game violence has more of an impact than violence in television, movies or music.
My Opinion
I believe that there is a lot more violence in video games than there was when I was younger. However, I do not think that violence in video games necessarily attributes to violence in society. Just because a person plays a violent video game, does not mean that they are going to actually put that violence into affect. I know people who are pacifists, yet they play violent video games. I myself play some violent video games, but they do not make me want to go and kill someone. I think if anything I love being able to get my anger out without it being a real problem to anyone else.
