Video Games VS Violence

Since the time when the first home video game called “Odyssey” was released in 1971, (“A Timeline Of Video Game Controversies” par 2), video games rose to popularity at an incredible rate. They became so popular that today, they are one of the most important tools to have fun for a lot of people. However, as the graphics of video games advanced over time, they also presented the players an opportunity to simulate violence and gore which they could not otherwise experience in the real world. That ultimately raised the question of “What if the video games affect our children in a very negative way?” in the minds of a lot of parents. This question caused many researches to be conducted and many discussions to take place, sometimes at homes and sometimes at courts. As a result, I decided to look into those researches and discussions. After completing my research, I came to the conclusion that violent video games affect people who play them negatively and that they should be banned from sale, or at least there must be an age restriction when buying violent video games.

Playing video games is described as fun by a lot of people. However, it is clear that habitual violent video game playing is linked to increased, long-term aggressive behavior according to the results of a peer reviewed study in the Journal of American Medical Association (“ProCon” par 4) Anderson, a professor at the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University, also related violent video games to increased aggressive behavior, thoughts, and affect; increased physiological arousal; and decreased prosocial (helping) behavior.” (Anderson par 4 ) These results of the two studies were also supported by statistics I found during my research. For example, did you know that 60% of middle school boys and 40% of middle school girls who played at least one mature rated game beat up or hit someone, compared to the 39% of boys and 14% of girls who did not play an M-rated game? (“ProCon” par 6) Furthermore, violent video games also act as a murder simulators according to Jack Thompson, a long time crusader against video-game violence. For example, Thompson argues that Devin Moore, an 18 year old who gunned down three people at Fayette, Ala, was in fact trained to do what he did by playing Grand Theft Auto, a violent video game, day and night for months (Leung par 8). Another similar example of real life violence caused by violent video games was seen when two teenagers in Tennessee shot at passing cars and killed one driver and then, they told police that they got the idea from playing Grand Theft Auto III.” (ProCon par 6). From those examples, it is clear that violent video games such as GTA can result in real-life violence. However, it does not end there. Real life violence and aggressive behavior are not the only negative side effects of violent video games. According to an article which was published in Journal Of Experimental Social Psychology, violent video game exposure can cause desensitization to real life violence (Hitti par 16) . In addition to that, video games can also become a source of a very important problem, which is addiction. “[A]ddiction is defined as an individual’s inability to control use of a substance or behavior in spite of negative consequences and functional impairment in life. Many children and adults who engage in screen/video game use to the exclusion of other normal activities fall dangerously close to meeting this definition” (Wickham par 8).

From these pieces of evidence I presented to you, it is clear that video games act as a poison, a virus in society. They numb people against real life violence and they allow them to simulate violent scenarios. They result in aggressive behavior and violent actions in real life. They cause people to become addicted. So I ask you! How long will we let this poison affect our society? Shouldn’t we ban these video games, or at least put age restrictions when buying just like we do to cigarettes? I defend that that action would be the reasonable course of action to save our youth from the hands of a monster before it becomes too late.

Mahir Kaya

Works Cited:

• Anderson, Craig A. “Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, Oct. 2003, www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/10/anderson

• “A Timeline of Video Game Controversies.” National Coalition Against Censorship, 6 Jan. 2020, ncac.org/resource/a-timeline-of-video-game-controversies.

• “Craig A. Anderson.” Craiganderson.org, craiganderson.org/.

• Hitti, Miranda. “Video Games Numb Players to Violence.” WebMD, WebMD, 28 July 2006, www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20060728/video-games-numb-players-to-violence

• Leung, Rebecca. “Can A Video Game Lead To Murder?” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 17 June 2005, www.cbsnews.com/news/can-a-video-game-lead-to-murder-17-06-2005/.

• “Pros & Cons - ProCon.org.” Video Games, Britannica Group of Companies, 19 June 2020, videogames.procon.org/.

• Wickham, Jennifer. “Are Video Games and Screens an Addiction?” Mayo Clinic Health System, 10 June 2020, www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/are-video-games-and-screens-another-addiction#:~:text=How%20can%20gaming%20become%20an,and%20chemicals%2C%20such%20as%20alcohol.