violent+video+games

Will Randall Mr. Geib English 9 25th march 2011 Do Video Games Cause Violence? If a video game if violent will it cause someone like a child to be violent? Video games are a multimillion dollar industry; people play more video games than see movies. But do video games, especially the violent ones, cause violence in children and older? In my research paper I will explaining both sides of the argument, that video games do cause violence in children and older and that they do not cause violence in people. “Do video games cause violence in children?”(Stogner)theres an aspect of video games that can cause children to be more violent. “the parent television counsel has found more than 3,000 studies linking a childs consumption of violent media to a childs behavior, we have found less than two dozen that conclude differently.”(Winter) if a child consumes the violent media that they are given then they will end up being more violent. But its partly the parent fault for buying the game. The parents are letting their children buy the games despite the rating system located on the box. But the violent video games are more problematic than other violent media. When you are playing a violent video game you are interacting with it, you contol what you do in the game. Unlike the movies where you do not make the descisions. Also, children can sometimes mistake the reality from the video games. They may one day think that they are in the game and shoot and kill multiple people. Another thing is the amount of hours that are played. If they play for a reallly long time, they could mistake the reality for the video game. Also the games are desensitizing people. By killing the people in the video games you are destroying the natural instinct in humans to withdrawl from killing. Video games can add to making kids more violent than they origninally were. “video games dont cause children to be violent.”(Gallagher)this is true. There are many pieces of evidence that contradict that video games do cause violence in children. Some compare video games to military combat simulators. But truthfully they are not alike. Dan snyder, a former military training simulator designer said “ if your real targets are sprites on a screen and your handling a plastic pistol that shoots beams of light” snyder siad “these games will make you ready” ( Snyder) “the myth that violent video games cause violent behavior in undetermined by scientific research and is common sense.”(Gallagher) video games dont go out and force a child to kill or start beating up someone. The F.B.I. even said that the violence in youth has decreased since sales of video games have increased. “the state has not produced substantial evidence that violent video games cause spychological or neurological harm to minors.”(Gallagher) Violent video games are also a right. It is part of our freedom of speech, the first amendment. If a parent does not want to let their child have a video game, they have the right to. The decision is up to the parent, there are parent blocks on the consols now and days that parents can set up. Personally my opinion is that video games do not cause violence in children. I have been playing video games all of my life and have not become more violent. If anything video games let me take out my aggression. If I have a bad day, I can go home and take it out on a video game and not someone else. It gives you an escape and a place to go when you are stressed or bored and want to immerse yourself in a fantasy world and do things that you would never do in real life. But when I am done I convert back to reality and know that this is reality and not the video game at all because I have a mind and can seperate reality with virtual reality. It also helps with creating friends. After school I can go home and relax with my friends over the internet. To say that they cause violence in children is just stupid to me. Most all of the gamers I have met are not more violent because they play an first person shooter. Also if you do not have many friends it gives you a way to make friends. Most people play video games and it gives you a chance to make firends with them because they may like the video games that you like and they may play the same games that you play so you can get their username and add them to your friends list. It makes it so that no kid will have no friends. I can also tell when I am not playing a video game. When I am done with a game, I am done until I get back to it. I will think about playing it and how fun it is during the game but I dont pretend to shoot people or do anything of that sort while I am imagining it. if video games cause people to be more violent and kill people, why have I not done it yet or have thoughts about it? Do video games cause violence in children or not? The evidence I have given you for both sides may help you make up your mind but which side you choose is up to you. There are many examples that they do not and there are many examples that they do but this is a contrivercial subject that may never be resolved. Could video games effect the violent behavior in children? Gallagher,Michael D. “Video Games Don’t Cause Children To Be Violent-US News and World Report.” US News & World Report | News & Rankings | Best Colleges, Best Hospitals, and More. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. []. Stogner, Wendy. “Do Video Games Cause Violence in Children?” Associated Content from Yahoo!  Winter,Timothy. “The Government Should Stop Kids From Buying Violent Video Games- US News and World Report.” US News & World Report | News & Rankings | Best Colleges, Best Hosptitals, and More. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. [].