As many as 97% of children ranging from 12 years old to 17 years old play video games (ProCon.org), which have been storming the streets since the late 1960s. The first console, Brown Box, was open for the public to buy in 1967 (Staff). Since then, companies like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have blossomed. First there were simple, 2D games like Pacman, Pong, and Oregon Trail. From there, we have grown to 3D games, with realistic characters and physics. Some of these games include, but are not limited to, Detroit: Become Human, Call of Duty, and Life is Strange. As new videogames with guns and fighting appear, people are starting to question; are videogames the cause of violence?
Advocates say that videogames are the cause to most violence. Their top three arguments are that shooters played violent videogames, children have a hard time distinguishing reality from fantasy, and that the U.S. armed forces use them to train soldiers. In 2011, 77 people were shot by Anders Breivik. Breivik told the police that they used a popular video game that revolved around shooting enemies to prepare for what they were going to do. According to Jane Katch, a Child Development and Early Childhood Education expert, “I found that young children often have difficulty separating fantasy from reality when they are playing and can temporarily believe they are the character they are pretending to be.” This means that if children play violent videogames, they have a tendency to be violent, because they are too young to set apart fantasy violence and violence in their daily lives. The US Marine Corps teamed up with the creators of a popular game in 1996 to create a game used to train soldiers, called Marine Doom. The US Army followed close behind in 2002 to create America’s Army. It too, would be used to train soldiers to ready themselves for battles like those in Iraq and Afghanistan (“Violent Video…”). This leaves parents to question whether children should be playing games that are made for the intent to kill.
For every side, there are always those who oppose. Opponents who think video games are not the cause to violence say video games aren’t risk factors for violence, it allows for lower stress, and studies showing video games are the cause to violence are not accurate. The US Surgeon General has a list that shows what contributes to violence. These are “abusive parents, poverty, neglect, neighborhood crime, being male, substance use, and mental health problems (“Violent Video…”).” According to a study by Journal of Adolescent Health, children play video games for many reasons. All of which, said that it helps manage their emotions, and it helps them unleash their anger. According to “Violent Video…” studies do not take a lot of things into account. They say studies don’t take home life into account, like neglect, and mental health. Children play video games for about ten minutes, and then are shown accounts of artificial violence made in labs (“Violent Video…”). This evidence leaves many to wonder if violent games are actually the cause to violence or not.
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Death race, a 1976 game where you run over gremlins, was the start of the debate of violent video games. Games like Mortal Kombat, have raised even more of a debate because of its realistic violence and death. These violent games started the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in 1994. This is part of the game industry that gives ratings to each game, depending on the type of audience the game is appropriate to. These can range anywhere from “Early Childhood,” to “Adults Only” (ProCon.org). So now you’ve heard both sides of the story and it is time to decide. Are violent video games the cause of violence?
Works Cited
- Staff, ProQuest. Video Games Timeline. Leading Issues Timelines, 2019. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com/webapp/article?artno=0000414808&type=ART. April 22 2019.
- ProCon.org. “History of Violent Video Games.” ProCon.org. 3 June 2016, videogames.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=006520. April 22 2019.
- ProCon.org. “Violent Video Games ProCon.org.” ProCon.org. 9 July 2018, videogames.procon.org/. April 22 2019.
