Violence in Video Games
A report on the effects of violent video games on the average teen brain, and if they can really cause violence in teens.
Video games can also infiltrate teens’ mind and desensitize them to death and violence. The U.S. Defense Department set up an institute that designs games to desensitize teen recruits to death, combat, and killing; the institute then offers the game to teenage civilians (Thompson). It is obvious that if these games can desensitize a teen soldier headed for war, then they will have the same effect on a civilian. The games show teens that killing will have no consequences and that it is just a part of life. A teen named Devin Moore was taken to an Alabama police station to be questioned. While there, he lunged for a police officer’s gun and shot him and three other officers to death. Moore is known to play the game Grand Theft Auto obsessively (Phillips). The games corrupted his mind and lead him to believe real killing was just like how it was in his favorite game. Moore was quoted to have said, “Life is like a video game. You have to die sometime” (Phillips). Moore believed that like a videogame death and murder are just another part of everyday life.
Many studies have shown a connection between poor habits such as playing violent video games and rising violence, childhood depression, and attention deficit disorder (Phillips). It is apparent that these games are not healthy for teen minds and are promoting aggressiveness in teens, training teens to kill, and desensitizing teens to violence. Maybe if these games were never produced, there would never be any school shootings or corruption of teen minds.
Works Cited
Hatch, Orrin G. “The Entertainment Industry Should Not Be Allowed to Market Violent Media
to Children.” Current Controversies: Violence in the Media. Ed. James D. Torr. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2001. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale Cengage Learning. Hylton Highschool Library, Woodbridge, VA. 6 Mar. 2008 .
Phillips, Helen. “Mind Altering Media” New Scientist, London: 21 Apr. 2007 SIRS Researcher.
Proquest. Hylton Highschool Library, Woodbridge, VA. 6 Mar. 2008 .
Thompson, Jack. “Violent Video Games Promote Violence.” Opposing Viewpoints: Popular
Culture. Ed. John Woodward. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Hylton Highschool Libraray, Woodbridge, VA. 21 Feb. 2008 .
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Post Commentguy123
On January 5, 2009 at 8:12 pm
i dont think video games can cause violence
viewer
On March 19, 2009 at 9:32 am
This article is extremely biased. There is no evidence made to disprove the claims. Jack Thompson is repeatedly quoted throughout this article. Every person who follows video game violence knows that everything Thompson says is very biased against games. In fact, mere hours after the Virgina Tech tragedy, Thompson claimed that the shooter was an obsesive video gamer. He used this as a way to try and rally people to his cause. To bad it ended up that the shooter was NOT even a gamer. The shooters room-mate ended this claim by Thompson because the room mate had never seen his former roomate playing games.
As much proof as this article claims to show it is very biased. It does not even mention the lab studies where the opposite occured. There have been many studies showing that gaming does not result in any increase in aggresiveness or violent tendancies.
So please, before taking this article as fact, read up from other sources.
awesomeo
On December 22, 2009 at 1:32 pm
What do you have against video games have you ever thought that hmmm idk they were already a little pyschopathic before they played the video game. once i see proof then ill believe you but until then remember this when someone goes to court because of a crime they commited and they use the uhhh…. it was because of a video game.. its total bologna there just trying to getting out of the big charges so once they get out they will kill more people… your not pyschopathic because of video games… you are pyschopathic because of your childhood. videogames just help you loosen up its been actually proven playing games like grand theft auto dont give someone that like hmmm…. i think this is fun im gonna do it in real life and sry about the lengthyness doing a project about violence in video games so ya remember that before you go and say violent videogames are bad!!!