Week 12: I Believe That Video Games Are Unrelated To Violent Tendencies

When a violent event occurs, particularly in the United States, often times video games are blamed (at least in part) for why it happened. I believe that this is a false accusation, for many reasons.

Although studies have shown that there is a correlation between aggression and violent video games in children, I believe that the studies are flawed. Some studies have children play violent games, then study their aggression levels toward their peers. They report that children are more aggressive after playing these violent games. However - like most animals do - children attempt to imitate what they see as a means of learning. Children also have a large imagination, and a malleable mind. Akin to wanting to become a superhero, children may also imagine themselves to be a member of a black ops team infiltrating the enemy base.

While this may seem like a direct recipe for becoming a violent adult, there are things that can happen in between childhood and adult years that change that. First and foremost is the quality of parenting. If a parent nurtures a child in a loving way, the child may not grow up to have the same mental troubles that may lead someone to be violent as an adult. In contrast, if a child is not parented well, or grows up in a household that is full of violence, then they may become a violent adult.

As someone who worked in a store that sold video games, some parents paid attention to the rating of a game that the child wished for and took responsibility by either denying the child an M-rated (mature-rated game intended for audiences 17 and up, or making sure they're attentive when the child plays the game and will follow-up accordingly. There are also parents who don't pay attention to the rating of the game despite my warning of it, or will come back to return the game once they learn that the video game contains nudity and violence and blame me for selling the game to them (again, after my warning).

I believe the easiest way that a parent can help a child be less aggressive and dash any violent tendencies, is to be sure that the child is aware of the difference between fact and fiction. They need to be reminded that despite what they play, or may view on TV, it is not real and it is not all right to act in such a way.

Another interesting thing that I noticed concerns demographics. Whenever a violent incident occurs and video games are brought into it, the culprits are almost always male. However, there are a large number of females that play video games, and they play the same games that males do. So if video games are to blame for violence, why aren't at least some of these attackers female?

On the subject of video games themselves, not all of them have violent natures. There are video games intended for children specifically that are rated accordingly. Some of them can even be fun for teenagers and adults alike.

Does a video game like that look violent?

In conclusion, there are too many extra factors involved with violence in people to have a sole reason. I think it's unfair to make video games a victim because it may be an easy target. It is also unfair to take away all video games, because not all of them have the same violent content.