Violent Video Games And Gun Violence

While a handful of articles note the roles that guns, poverty, families, and the organization of schools may play in youth violence in general, when reporters mention research to explain the shooters’ behavior, the vast majority of studies cited concern media effects, suggesting that video games are a central

Many theories are speculated of what drove people to create such massacres and harm to innocent victims. One of the most popular is that violent video games have an influence on these attacks. However, Matt Peckham, in “Researcher Says Linking Video Games to Gun Violence is a ‘Classic Illusory Correlation’” explains there isn’t much evidence to prove that theory and researches haven’t found a reasonable link between the two. Actually, on the contrary video games seem to benefit a person mind rather than harm them according to Mary Flanagan, in her article “Don’t Demonize Video Games for Violence.” Video games don’t influence a person’s mind because there is a psychological explanation to these occurrences therefore violent video games has no contribution to violence incidents across the nation.

Whether violent media content leads to real-life violence is always debatable. And in recent years, school shootings have made video games a new focus of public concern and scientific research. In public opinion, video games cause more aggression in comparison to traditional violent media contents because video games have more features of interactivity, "due to the active engagement and participation of players" (Hummer and Wang et al. 137). But more and more reports tell us that video games are not the main cause of school shooting issues; rather it is the negligence of parents, schools, and communities.

The most extensive argument many have argued toward violent video games affecting one’s behavior can simply be described as that many shooters were fans of violent video games before committing the shootings. A common example people making this argument raise are the Columbine shooters, who were big fans of the video game Doom. While many believe that Doom’s excessive gore and violence led the two teens to perpetrate the mass shooting, that is not the case. What those who argue against video games fail to realize that those who commit these crimes had a history of other conditions. After many mass shootings, researchers often discovered in autopsies that the suspect had a long history of aggression or mental health problems that gaming was not responsible for. Patrick Markey and Christopher J. Ferguson, writers for US News, wrote

This article is a very useful source. Is useful because it answers the question, “Do violent video games cause an increase in aggression.” The question is answered thoroughly by the author because they cited recent studies, examples, and peer reviewed or scholarly sources that all concluded that violent video games cause an increase in aggression. The author is objective because they countered their argument by stating that

As the level of violence in video games increases, so does the level of concern for those who play them. Some people are quick to blame school shootings on games just because the kid played a “violent” game. “The topic of videogames and violence can be compared to the chicken or the egg question, which came first, violent games or violent behavior”(Violence and Videogames). However most kids in mass shootings tend to have easy access to guns and are mentally unstable.

Many mass shooters past reveal an obsession with video games or a fictional character. For example; Aaron Alexis, who committed the Washington Navy Yard massacre, had an obsession with video games. He played for a typical 5 hours a day without sleep or breaks. His favorite games were first person shooters, and he was known as the “ headshot king “ to his online friends. CNN conducted a survey in 2013 about the violent tendencies of college students and video games. “Violent games also decrease helping behavior and feelings of empathy for others. The effects occurred for males and females of all ages, regardless of what country they lived in. The effects of these games go beyond making players more aggressive. In our research, we found that people who played first-person shooting games were more accurate than others when firing a realistic gun at a mannequin -- and more likely to aim for and hit the head.” ( Bushman 3 ). With the rise in the popularity of the gaming for younger children, could the next American mass shooter be the 9 year old neighbor you have next

Kain, Erik. “The Truth About Video Games and Gun Violence.” Mother Jones, 11 June 2013, www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/video-games-violence-guns-explainer/.

“Many video games sold to the general public, including Metal Gear Solid 2 and Full Spectrum Warrior, were originally developed by the military to be used for sniper training. One effect of these games is to suppress the natural inhibition to kill. The FBI and the U.S. Secret Service contend that intense engagement with these violent video games is a factor in numerous school shootings. In fact, killing simulation games have been found in the homes of most school shooters who use these games to prepare for attacks on their classmates.” So, if we are going to blame video games and now call them killing simulators, why aren’t shootings happening every day in every school. Most teenagers who play these first person shooters, have either never seen or shot an actual weapon. You have to also think about the weapons in these games. Most of these weapons don’t even exist, and even if they did, a teenager could not possibly get their hands on them unless they are already members of gangs, or their parents own one, which isn’t always the case. Mr. Thompson also talks about how police found these violent games in the hands of those who decided to shoot up a school. Well, that’s like saying 100 percent of murderers was found to drink water. You can pick any random child in high school, odds are they have a “violent” video game in their home, so this particular research seems to be very bias and not even well thought out. A middle

Gun violence has become a major factor in crimes in the United States and causes a high number of injuries, many of which end in fatalities. The cause of this type of violence often varies, but what stands out is that people with aggressive behaviors are more prone to commit violence with guns. According to the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal Vol 24, "the proliferation of guns in television, movies, video games, and on our nation’s streets indoctrinate children and adolescents into a culture of firearm acceptability" (Rennison, 2001). The importance when discussing guns in regards to violence is that the probability of death is increased. The effects of gun violence are many and far-reaching, and include economic costs, psychological tolls, and of course physical injury and death.

Most nations today deal on a daily basis with the pervasive the issue of gun-related homicide. Journalists report on these crimes regularly, and still it is still a regular debate about what variables produce high rates of gun-related homicide. The United States of America boasts one of the highest rates of firearm violence among 1st world nations. Germany, also a 1st world republic, shares a violent past with the United States but sustains a much lower rate of gun homicide. Several variables from within both nations exert influence over this statistic, which makes the homicide rate difficult to predict.

They shouldn’t just assume that the video games are causing these mass shootings and all the gun violence. There are so many other reasons why people are committing this crime. So, there has been a study that said violent or competitive video games cause aggression. In the Text Violent video games on pg 8 paragraph 3 it states, “The common thread running through all of these games is that that player becomes the shooter, from whose vantage point behind the gun the player sees the world. I understand that some teens and adults might fantasize about the real world while playing these video games.

More than 30,000 people die in this country due to a gun related situation and 7,564 people have been harmed in shooting, and 2,016 of these people have died in these situations, 384 were teens, 77 were children and 45 of these have been mass shootings. Most of these were committed by teenager ranging from 17-20, but there is something that has always stood out to researchers all these people have dealt with mental issues and when investigated they play a lot of Violent Video games.

In recent years there has been a significant increase of shooting incidents, specifically in America. When there is a shooting event the media is quick to question if the suspect had a history of playing violent video games. There is already the initial connection between video game violence and aggression; but is this connection scientifically correct? This topic interests me because of the increase in school shootings and violence. I have personally heard many times that video game violence has led to many adolescents to extreme forms of violence. Through what has been said in the media I decided to research the topic myself. This is a current event issue that is a present reality for many college students. Does video game violence directly relate to human violence?

One of the many reasons violent video games and television should either be restricted or regulated carefully are because of the safety for society. Since the Columbine shooting, many issues sparked nationwide concerns and produced many studies on whether violence in video games and television should be permitted at all. Other mass shooting that occurred between 1999 to today showed a major correlation between shootings and violent video games and television. Violent video games that have