Video Games and Violence: Debunking the Myth

Video games do not cause violence BY jur525 Video Games: Beneficial or Cause Violence Do modern video games contribute to the increasing level of Violence that is all around us? Can we really attribute the shootings and bombings we see on the news to the increased violence and realism in video games ? These are the questions reporters should be asking. Instead the first question out of their mouths If the suspect Is an adolescent will most certainly be ' Was he addicted to playing violent video games ? ' If the answer is yes, they look no farther.

They should Investigate the suspect's background to see If he was violent before he started playing games. Then look at the studies done on violent video games and they will find that 98. 7% of all teens regardless of gender have played violent games(Klrsh, Steven J. ). What Is truly remarkable is that less than one percent of all teens go out and commit a violent act. Therefore this will prove that it is the violence in the suspect not the violence in the game that has led to so many deaths. The findings of many studies prove it is society not video games who has let the gamer down.

It is society who has given them a 'bad wrap'. The media and most continued to drop as the sales of violent video games has climbed dramatically. Researchers have considered role playing games a double edge sword. They say they are excellent teaching tools but the violent ones teach violent conditioning. This is NOT so! According to Christopher Ferguson of Setson University and the independent researcher Cheryl Olson in her study published in Springer's Journal of Youth and Adolescences it is exactly the opposite.

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Their research found that playing games actually had a very calming effect on the outh's with attention deficit symptoms and helped to reduce their aggressive and bullying behavior. They also stated that video games could be helpful when used to distract and relax children and adolescence during painful medical procedures. If you decide to do research on your own be careful. Some studies have carefully rigged the results to only give the answers they want to prove correct.

They recorded only the data the showed they were right, that the games can and often does lead to aggressive and violent behavior. If their findings did not show the prime reason being aggressive onditioning and that being exposed to this violence in the games was the prominent reason for the increase it was left out. You also need to check the background of the adolescents they Did they carefully choose only those adolescents that already had a tendency told behavior even before they played the games.

Both these facts could greatly change the outcome of the study. When you are listening to the media take into account they are giving attention grabbing headlines and if portraying video games in a bad light gets them the audience hey crave they will say or do anything to achieve their goal. The media loves to make outrageous claims that video games either "inspired" or "trained" the suspect to commit these violent acts.

They use the rigged studies as their backup even calling them in to act as experts on the subject. For instance Guy Porter and Vladan Starcevic who claim that "while playing video games outwardly appears to be an innocuous activity, the limited data available suggest playing video games may be related to aggressive and/or antisocial behavior. So next time you hear about a video game "causing" an adolescent to "commit" violence remember look up your facts yourself.

You may see that while some psychologists want to include video game addiction in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for mental disorders most doctors do not agree. Most can see that video games do have considerable potential to enhance the lives of all adolescents. I believe that violent video games directly cause aggression. I also believe gaming is a very social activity which when given the chance can greatly improve adolescent's lives. Gaming is becoming a common way for the adolescent to communicate with the outside world.

The gamer could very well have friends all over the world as I do. Society and the Media need to deal with the violent aggression in the adolescents that have shown a predisposition for such violence. That until this is done the real cause of all the shootings won't be addressed and handled accordingly.

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