Issue 247 Video game violence January 10, 2014

Do video games cause more violence? Are they responsible for the increasingly violent culture of America’s youth? Here is my opinion.

Video games: Violent video games are not a direct cause to the overall violence we all face. Video games I believe are like the gladiatorial games of the past. They serve as a form of entertainment minus the actual violence. So you can literally kill off your favorite bad guy or best friend over and over again without it happening in reality. But this does not cause the out right violence of young men going out and killing people without cause. What is wrong with some of these video games is that they may be too graphic and close to reality. As such, they desensitize the players to the graphic violence and thus violence in the real world as a whole.

So video games support violent crime?: It has that potential to do so. With desensitization comes a lack of forethought about ones actions. Thus, people may not think twice about a crime until after the act has been committed. The video games themselves can be argued to be a form of advertising, but rather than compel people to buy something they compel them to do something. In this case violent video games purport violence (though the creators want this done in their game and not in real life). It works exactly the same way as traditional advertising and that can also be one of the causes of the problem making violence to the youth more acceptable.

What I personally think: I do believe video games do contribute, but I find this is the case because kids are lacking in moral and ethical responsibility. If they had some sort of moral or honor code, then maybe (like in past generations) they would be less prone to awful acts like the knockout game or theft. So by imparting moral and ethical teachings, even if the games desensitize those individuals playing them, will act as an inhibitor to violent acts. Of course this will not stop all the incidents that occur do to some people wanting the game to be their reality. Why they wish it for their reality can be something as twisted as them being a very cruel person or that they feel they are heroic in the game rather than real life. So what needs to be insured is that the games reality does not take over the individuals.

Conclusion: People will always be subjected to violence and bloodshed. Games offer us an outlet for those who desire as such without actually committing the real act. Yes it will desensitize and yes it does make you want to perpetuate the acts themselves (though they intend for it to be done in the games themselves so you buy more). But by having a kind of code and a way to remind oneself that the video game reality is false you can hopefully limit violence linked to the games from occurring. As to whether you should buy such games or not depends on you or your parents. I will not say to buy them or not as I play Star Wars video games where I hack up Storm Troopers. So at best I can caution you when you buy and when you play.