media+violence

Millions of Americans play lots of video games each year. A lot of these video games are very violent. A lot of people are saying these video games are making people a lot more violent. Is this true? Are video games the reason why people are violent, obese, and lack social skills? Or are video games merely a scapegoat? In this research paper you will see both sides and my own personal opinion on this issue. Critics say that video games make people more violent. There are studies that have been done, suggesting that video games can be harmful to children. Most parents haven’t seen what happens in the video game, which is probably the only reason they would let their kids play video games like that. If little kids grow up playing video games where they can kill, rape, and maim people, and see vivid images of it happening, then aren’t they going to be a little more violent? Timothy Winter is very concerned that kids are allowed to play video games like that and thinks there should be laws so that underage kids can’t buy violent video games without a parents consent. David Grossman says that what you do in video games is just like the training you would get in the military. If you spend most of your time shooting people on the T.V. screen, then it might be a lot easier to shoot someone in real life.”Ultraviolent video games are helping transform children into unflinching, deadly accurate killers.” (Gregory) Like Ted Gregory says if children spend hours and hours killing and maiming people, then it might desensitize them to the point where they could commit violent acts, like school shootings without a second thought. Also if kids spend more time playing violent video games then they do in the real world, the lines between reality and make-believe could be blurred. Some people disagree and say that video games do not cause people to be violent. Wendy Stogner talking about her kids playing violent video games says, “They have played shooter games where the sole purpose is strictly to kill everyone else. Yet my children are not violent.” Right there is proof that video games do not make everyone violent. Wendy Stogner also says that while violent video games might be a factor, they alone do not make people violent. There is no specific evidence that ties violence to video games. “Many Grossman critics also augured that the games clearly are fantasy, that other factors, including dysfunctional parenting and children with delayed emotional and intellectual functioning, are more serious factors in youth violence.”(Gregory) Dave Grossman said that even little kids know the difference between make-believe and reality. If you don’t know what’s real and what’s in a video game then you need professional help, and it’s not video games fault for you being violent. Doug Lowenstein said how there is a big difference between shooting people in a game, and actually shooting someone in real life. Michael Gallagher is yet another person who doesn’t believe that video games make people violent. Research shows that violence in kids has gone while video game usage has gone up. That right there says that video games are most likely not causing violence in children. “The state has not produced substantial evidence that … violent video games cause psychogical or neurological harm to minors.”(Gallagar) I think that if you are a little kid, video games might make you more violent, but when you’re older, I don’t think it affects you that much. When you are a little kid you don’t really know what’s right and what’s wrong, and what’s real and what’s not. If little kids grow up playing a lot of violent video games, then you can see how they might think that the way you act in video games is the way you are supposed to act in real life. While I think that certain video games might make little kids more violent, I don’t that video games alone can make you really violent. I think that if you were already violent or mentally unstable, and you add violent video games to the mix, then you might have someone capable of committing real violence.