Violence and America's Troubled Youth Essays

Hundreds of studies have been done to determine whether violent video games will really make juveniles more violent. Randomized experiments were used in several studies to examine the short-term effect of violent video games (Anderson and Berkowitz et al. 90). In these studies, children were randomly assigned to play violent or nonviolent video games and then were observed when given an opportunity to be aggressive. The result was that children who played violent video games usually behaved aggressively.

In my most recent essay I wrote of the violence attributed to video games in light of various shootings and other tragedies that occurred in the past year or so. In this essay I argued that despite their violent content, video games are not completely to blame for acts of violence committed by children. Throughout this essay I tried to convince the reader by, first, establishing my own credibility with video games, then sharing my own experiences with violent games, and providing both empirical data and valuable insight from trusted sources.

“The great majority of school shootings are perpetrated by victims of bullying.” states Izzy Kalman (qtd in Kalman) I believe that school violence can be stemmed from bullying. The violence is often caused by the victims of bullying or the bullies themselves. I was bullied as a child and I remember how humiliated I would feel some days. Over time, that humiliation turned into anger, and in turn I wanted to hurt those that had hurt me. I never did hurt anyone, but that isn’t always the case. Bullying is a problem that is not taken seriously enough and can lead to school shootings and suicide.

Violent video games, movies and television shows have become the subject of large debates that may have lasted since the beginning of media. Everyone knows that people have the ability and desire to imitate what they experience in the media, and given the perceived increase in violence among children in the U.S., the media is seen as a major possible explanation. In the following, we will examine the evidence pertaining to whether the media is becoming more violent over time, how much violence is in the media, and what kind of psychological connection or causal influence there may be between children’s violent behavior and their favorite types of media. It will be argued that the type of media as well as other cultural and environmental factors, are the key variables in determining whether violent behavior was caused by media, focusing specifically on the influence of video games considering they permit children the most realistic and interactive experiences of violence compared to all media.

The main argument of this article is that video games have a direct link to short term and long term aggression. The author presents this argument by providing studies from peer reviewed articles that all conclude that video games do cause an increase of aggression. The main point of this article is to answer the question, “Do violent video games lead to aggression.” The article is about the effects of violent video games leading to aggression. The author uses recent examples, like the Sandy Hook and Washington Navy Yard shooting. In both of these examples, the author cites that both shooters had a history with playing violent video games. The author uses a study which selected individuals to play violent video games for a certain period of time. The study would then compare the results to a group who played non-violent video games. The study concluded that violent video games cause a direct link in aggression due to humans reenacting the actions the characters within the video games perform.

“According to data recently released by The NPD Group, in 2012, U.S. video game software sales reached $6.7 billion (174.8 million units) and computer game sales were $380 million (13.2 million units)” (Improving Economy). To many, the violent video game industry has turned all adolescents into mass murderers. However, they’re absolutely wrong. Very seldom do adolescents who play violent video games commit acts of violence, and the ones who do usually have a mental disorder. Instead of blaming the tragedies that occur on violent video games, the news media should explain to people that a large percentage of young males play violent video games, indicating that the two are uncorrelated. They should alternatively research other possible solutions to the crisis. In lieu of negatively affecting people’s lives, video games could potentially improve their lives!

     There are many wonders that go around about why young adolescents commit such violent crimes. These questions vary from why kids take guns to school, or how do we know if they are putting others in danger, what signs are there, what should be looked at, and what can be done to stop these acts of violence. I remember watching the MTV special “Warning Signs”; it explained

Video games are prevalent among impressionable children and teenagers. There has been a great deal of controversy surrounding the violent themes used in video games. Teenage shootings in schools have led society to question the relationship between video violence and criminal activity. After considerable research, expert opinions, and research findings, the American Psychological Association found that there is no link between gaming and criminal behavior (Casey). With this, the pursuit of video violent games continues to grow in our society. With games that show execution style murders, blood oozing from gunshot wounds, and victims moaning from wounds, it certainly is gratifying for the indulgent player. The ongoing concern about aggression and violence has once again been proven to be non-existent (Alert). My thoughts are that this cartoon like violence is appeals to the need for violence in an artificially designed environment. In this manner, violence is contained within the boundaries of fantasy. This is unlike “The Crucible” which occurs in with real people, events, and situations. Thus, directing violence in the realm of societal dysfunction that has endured with

People have been playing video games since the late 1970s, but it wasn't until 1999 that we began to question the consequences and influences associated with younger players. Karen Sternheimer's article "Do Video Games Kill" is about the controversial idea that video games are responsible for mass school shootings.

Prolonged scenes of massive violence, graphic sexual content, and animated blood are examples of statements that the Entertainment Software Rating Board uses to depict the content in over fifty- five percent of the video games rated yearly. The debate of whether the aggressive nature of these video games influences youth violence in our country has been heatedly battled for decades. Since the mid 1980’s, it has been suggested that high profile cases of violence are due to an aggressor’s excessive video game use. However, much like a cold case the type of connection between video game use and youth violence remains without a definite answer. Most believe that video game use negatively influences child aggression acts in our country. Others firmly declare that video games provide a realm of opportunity for child development. Ultimately, it is impossible to say that video game use affects every child the same way. New studies suggest that video games do not affect every child that plays a game. Although violent video games are innocuous for the majority of adolescents between the ages of twelve and eighteen, the effects of these games are aggravated in those with pre- existing antisocial or depressive traits.

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.

As video games and graphics have progressed, so have the style, the images, and gameplay of these games. First person shooting games has become a growing cause for concern, because of the explicit and violent nature of which these games possess. Combine that with the detailed graphics and the gorging ethics of gameplay, while looking at the rise of violent behavior within teenagers in society, and you can see what this has become a growing concern among parents and teachers alike. Violent behavior has become a subject of growing concern among the youth, and experts point to the deliberate and overuse of the game console. Despite the fact that it has been nearly impossible to attribute

For decades, the media has been accused of being a bad influence on the nation's children. Everyone has heard stories of little kids jumping off of their decks and hurting themselves after viewing the old black and white episodes of Superman. Years later, and there could possibly be a link between kids playing video games and those same kids later murdering their fellow classmates. Possible links such as this one continue to fuel the research supporting the idea that video game violence increases aggression in children.

In their research of violent videogames and the effect on children, they have found that “the simplistic belief that exposure to media violence will lead directly to individual violence is clearly wrong.” (Kutner, Olsen, 2008) I am going to ask you to look deeper than this. I assert that although violent video games are thought to encourage real world violence, they actually help to prevent it.

Over the years, the popularity of computer and video games has grown. Specifically violent video games make up more than 50 % of the top selling games. These games include violent themes that involve guns, crime, blood, and gore. There is an ongoing belief that these types of games are to blame for the many acts of violence in society and have encouraged America’s youth to act out in aggression. Several organizations, such as the PTC (Parents Television Council) have moved to discourage the development of violent games while also pushing for stronger regulations when purchasing such games. There is also debate among parents and concerns on how games can negatively influence their children. So is there a direct link between video games and violence? The truth is video games do not encourage violence in society based on several factors which include scientific studies, statistics on crime, and prevention measures adopted by game publishers.