Video Games and Violence

[AquaRegisteel]

Am I seriously the only fifteen year old on the internet who doesn't play M-rated games? It seems like nobody cares about the ESRB anymore. I'm sure some younger people can handle it, but we really don't need eight-year-olds on wi-fi games describing in detail what they've done to our mothers. It's stupid, and their parents should know better than to buy that kind of game for kids who are obviously too young for them.

That is besides the point, though. Video games do not cause violence. Unstable whackjobs cause violence. If I'm the kind of person who decides that "Oh, I just used an X-box controller to shoot a digital bullet out of an imaginary gun at a person who doesn't exist. I think I'll go kill people!", then there's not that much that can keep me from going over the edge.

I'm 14 and don't, so we aren't far away.

Well, Anders Breievik (whatever his name is) had an obsession with WoW. Apparently, he played it excessively, but whether this caused him to do such horrible crimes, is a mystery. I heard something about this, but idk if it's true.

I think that parents shouldn't allow them to do it, and in the end, CoD isn't completely to blame. There are other games, but CoD does have a big community. And it isn't the best at all...

[Ash&Pikachu-Fan]

A few of my friends aren't violent and they play those types of games but my little brother had just got an Xbox 360 from my uncle and it came with CoD and he's starting to act little crazy. I'm not saying that violent games make you violent, I'm just saying what I observe not my opinion.

[skatingandgaming]

This is a silly debate. No, it doesn't teach children to kill people. Why? Because it's a VIDEO GAME. And kids playing it KNOW it's a video game, so therefore are not in the mindset that what they're doing is applicable to real life. I mean, I can see where people are getting confused, but no, I don't think it's bad at all. I've been playing violent video games for a long time, and I'm only 16. I've never once thought of killing someone.

[Trainer Michael]

Violent video games DO have an effect on kids. Just look at Columbine. The two students who committed the killings were huge players of the video game DOOM. Violent games desensitize children to violence, and alters their already-not-fully-developed brains. This is another reason why I was such an avid player of Pokemon throughout my childhood, and even to this day. It teaches you good values and morals, not about how to kill someone with a chainsaw.

[Adrexus]

I'm 14 and don't, so we aren't far away.

Well, Anders Breievik (whatever his name is) had an obsession with WoW. Apparently, he played it excessively, but whether this caused him to do such horrible crimes, is a mystery. I heard something about this, but idk if it's true.

I think that parents shouldn't allow them to do it, and in the end, CoD isn't completely to blame. There are other games, but CoD does have a big community. And it isn't the best at all...

What caused him to commit such atrocities was his hatred of multiculturalism, particularly with european acceptance of muslim immigrants. Whether the video games had any effect or not, I don't know. But he wrote many pages denouncing Islam and encouraging nationalism and deportation of muslims. I don't think the video games had as much to do with the massacre as did his hatred of Islam and him supposedly being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

[Dr. Leggs]

What caused him to commit such atrocities was his hatred of multiculturalism, particularly with european acceptance of muslim immigrants. Whether the video games had any effect or not, I don't know. But he wrote many pages denouncing Islam and encouraging nationalism and deportation of muslims. I don't think the video games had as much to do with the massacre as did his hatred of Islam and him supposedly being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

A diagnosis that has since been contradicted. It's clear by reading Breivik's manifesto that he has a quite complex thought process surrounding multiculturalism and Muslim immigration, and I'd point to that far more than anything else as the reason he did what he did.

[blaze boy]

Violent video games DO have an effect on kids. Just look at Columbine. The two students who committed the killings were huge players of the video game DOOM. Violent games desensitize children to violence, and alters their already-not-fully-developed brains. This is another reason why I was such an avid player of Pokemon throughout my childhood, and even to this day. It teaches you good values and morals, not about how to kill someone with a chainsaw.

It has been shown that Violent video games don't have an effect on kids.

Furthermore there was other factor in the Columbine High School massacre such as Eric Harris complaining of depression, anger and to possessing suicidal thoughts, They were also victims of bullying for four years.

Them playing Doom was not a factor since million of people who have played the game haven't gone shooting people.

[Trainer Michael]

It has been shown that Violent video games don't have an effect on kids.

Furthermore there was other factor in the Columbine High School massacre such as Eric Harris complaining of depression, anger and to possessing suicidal thoughts, They were also victims of bullying for four years.

Them playing Doom was not a factor since million of people who have played the game haven't gone shooting people.

They do have an effect. They desensitize children to violence. For example, if a kid plays too many violent video games, and they see someone get shot or beat to death, they won't be as sensitized to it as children who don't play games like that. Those things can really mess with developing minds.

[skatingandgaming]

Violent video games DO have an effect on kids. Just look at Columbine. The two students who committed the killings were huge players of the video game DOOM. Violent games desensitize children to violence, and alters their already-not-fully-developed brains. This is another reason why I was such an avid player of Pokemon throughout my childhood, and even to this day. It teaches you good values and morals, not about how to kill someone with a chainsaw.

Okay? That was 2 kids. Out of millions that have played. Them playing Doom was probably just a coincidence. I'm not violent at ALL, I dislike violence in real life. But I'm smart, and I know that a video game is fake. Those kids probably had some sort of mental problem to begin with.

[NitroxWolf]

i believe video games are strongly influencing the way i think and act, just the other day i went down to florida and fought off a horde of zombies, then i rode of to skyrim with my buddies from my team of black ops and got rid of the dragon problem. I finished the day off by burning down a meth lab as my alter-ego The Iron-Eagle, i got bitten by a radioactive eagle and now i can peck villians to death, and shoot eggs out of my butt at lightning fast speeds. I wouldn't have done any of this if gamestop didn't have that sell and open my eyes to the evil lurking in the world. btw did you know there was a war against aliens in the 1940's? I saw it all in a documentary called resistance:fall of man.

[emogirl]

I don't think video games cause children to be violent. I feel like most of the kids I know are intelligent enough to realize that these are simply games, and most of these actions should not be done in real life. It's the same with movies. I'm pretty sure no kids have decided to set up elaborate traps for people just because they watched a couple Saw films.

[Donesparce]

It really depends. There's nothing wrong with violent games, but the ESRB should be at least considered. Younger minds are influenced more easily by sources like video games. For example, when I was young (7ish) my brother and I played Tekken a lot. Eventually my parents confiscated it because we started beating each other up, inspired by the game.

So there's nothing wrong with violent games, but you have to keep them in the right hands.

[blackterminator3]

It depends on the type of child that plays the game. If the child can't control his immaturity, then they shouldn't play the game. I know that there is a lot of kids in my town that plays games like Tekken, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, after they get done, they start to act it out which is the reason they shouldn't play. That is my example of intake on it due to some experience I seen in my half of the town. There is nothing with violent games, it's the believable minds that kids will start to believe in non fiction then real fiction.

[Raddaya]

It depends on the type of child that plays the game. If the child can't control his immaturity, then they shouldn't play the game. I know that there is a lot of kids in my town that plays games like Tekken, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, after they get done, they start to act it out which is the reason they shouldn't play. That is my example of intake on it due to some experience I seen in my half of the town. There is nothing with violent games, it's the believable minds that kids will start to believe in non fiction then real fiction.

There is absolutely nothing that contains any sort of anything that children will not try to act out. Eastern martial arts? Check. Captain America comics? Check. You might as well keep them in a glass dome until whatever random age you decide.

[blaze boy]

They do have an effect. They desensitize children to violence. For example, if a kid plays too many violent video games, and they see someone get shot or beat to death, they won't be as sensitized to it as children who don't play games like that. Those things can really mess with developing minds.

No it doesn't.

It has been proven that the link between violence and Video game is weak and that other factors are involved for a person to carry out a violence action based on a video game.

Also Ferguson and Beaver proposed Catalyst Model specifically exclude media violence as a contributor to violence, arguing research evidence for such effects have been weak, and media violence is too distal a factor to have much influence

Furthermore several major studies by groups such as The Harvard Medical School Center for Mental Health, The Journal of Adolescent Health, and The British Medical Journal have shown no conclusive link between video game usage and violent activity.

There is no strong link to prove at it has an effect.

[pikadon92]

Firstly, people need to learn the ratings of a particular video games and that rated games are rated for a reason. Would you let your child play an R-rated game such as GTA, for example?

There is an extent that people can learn things in video games. This is either a good thing if used properly, or bad if left unattended. Through a same, violent VGs, a child not aware of the outside world yet may learnt that killing random people is alright, while an older person may learn to choose a difficult choice that the developers intend to teach.

[GhostAnime]

I really doubt they would think it was all right by just playing GTA. You guys underestimate children.

No it doesn't.

It has been proven that the link between violence and Video game is weak and that other factors are involved for a person to carry out a violence action based on a video game.

He was talking about desensitivity. He would be correct in that sense. You're talking about something entirely different. Read his post.

[skatingandgaming]

I really can't understand this. AT ALL. I play violent games. I'm talking like Lollipop Chainsaw, Resident Evil, and other super violent games. I'm not violent at all. I'm opposed to violence. And I see no problem with this.

[IllusionMaster777]

I play violent games where you shoot people and cut peoples heads off with swords. But it's just a game. Irl I have I'm a pacifist, and I would never be able to hit anybody even with my anger issues. Video games do not make people violent, and there is research to prove it.

[Weedy Spyze]

Well for me personally, I would not allow my young child to play a violent or M-rated video game. The rating system exists for a reason, and M-rated games aren't meant to be played by kids. Otherwise they wouldn't be rated M.

Having said that, I really couldn't care less whoever else plays them regardless of age, unless they're interacting with my child in some way (like a friend or something). It's really none of my business if other parents/people don't care about letting their kids play those kind of games. I just wouldn't personally, partly because of the violence, and partly because I think FPS games are boring as hell anyway.