“Go go go go!” I screamed, pressed the ‘run’ button with all the force my finger possessed, even though I knew I wouldn’t move any faster. I heard gunshots in the distance, but couldn’t find the source of the firing. I knew then that someone was camping. It wasn’t until a minute of tedious wondering I conveniently trapped myself in a corner I thought someone was hiding in. I then heard the telltale click of a grenade being thrown. Oh no. My avatar burst into pieces and went flying. I threw my controller down and cursed at the monitor when my mom walked in to see the mutilated sprite and my rage fest. The way her face twisted at the sight was enough to tell what she was about to ask. “Are you sure you should be playing that? It’s kind of violent.” Quickly, I responded “Yeah, it’s fine.” Sighing, she said “Okay, I just don’t think it’s going to affect you positively.” and quickly walked out of the room, leaving me perplexed. It is situations like mine and many others where parents are convinced video game violence is linked to real violence and has great influence on youth. However, this link is nonexistent. Given that studies prove no behavioral changes from playing video games, video games aren’t the only source of violent media, that gamers can differentiate the virtual world from reality, and that violent games can make players feel guilty for murder, violent video games do not make children aggressive.
The first reason video games do not cause violence is because there are no studies with sufficient evidence that prove that video games have a long term behavioral impact on kids, particularly aggressively. We can see this from a study by columnist Jason Schreier showing that there are no studies proving lasting effects from playing video games. ¨according to the National Health Organization, long-term effects of violent video games are still uncertain and are fiercely debated. No long-term studies have been conducted to date, so there are only hypotheses.¨ This means that all claims assuming video games are linked to violence are faulty assumptions because no studies have proven their claims. All in all, no conducted studies prove that video games have lasting effects on children and young adults.
However, according to the APA(American Psychological Association), there is an apparent effect of players screaming, yelling, and even snapping their controllers in a blind rage. This seems legitimate until you notice that this does not last. According to guardian columnist Keith Stuart, these studies only look at effects caused directly after difficult gameplay, and not after long periods of time, such as weeks, months, etc. there aren’t enough studies on the long-term effects of violent video games. The APA even admits in their report “... the meta‐analyses we reviewed included very few long-term studies, and none of those that were included considered enough time points to examine the developmental trajectory of violent video game use and associated outcomes.” This is why the claims made by the APA ignore that the after effects of playing games do not last, and the effects caused are merely effects of frustration, which many competitive activities are a cause of. This brings me to my next reason.
The next reason why video games do not cause violence is because there are other types of violent media that aren’t nearly as much accused of causing violence. For example, what about violent movies or aggressive sports? According to The U.S. Department of Education and the Secret Service, “A dual study that found 27 percent of those involved in school shootings were attracted to violent movies; 24 percent were attracted to violent books and only 12 percent to violent video games.”(Ashe, 3)That’s a shocking number, considering most shootings this decade have been blamed on video games. Therefore, violent actions can’t be blamed on video games because video games are not a sole source of violent stimulation.
But despite this, people still believe that because video games put players in the shoes of a killer, that the game is teaching those players to kill. However, this is a faulty assumption. Violent video games cannot teach kids to kill because video games are not simulators of violence. It just comes down to the fact that video games do not teach players the feel of holding a gun, nor does it teach how to manually load, arm, nor discharge a real firearm. The feeling of pulling a trigger is miles away from that of pressing a button.
The third reason video games do not cause violence is because players can differentiate reality from fantasy. Games do not have the great and terrible effect of desensitizing children to violence because video games, violent or not, are not simulators of the universe which said game takes place. One common myth is that because video games train soldiers to kill, they would have the same impact on kids who play them. According to MIT professor Henry Jenkins, “The military uses games as part of a specific curriculum, with clearly defined goals, in a context where students actively want to learn and have a need for the information being transmitted. There are consequences for not mastering those skills.” Jenkins continues to say that avid game player become better problem solvers because of the challenges and problems provided in video games. This means that there are different procedures in video games used for training soldiers rather than the content sold to the public. This leads to the point that video games do not cause violence or aggressive behavior in youth.
Yet despite this, there are those who believe that gamers lose their sense of reality and fantasy after playing an excessive amount of games. According to Journalist Fred Attewill, “A study of 42 gamers aged 15 to 21 who played for at least ten hours a week revealed that most have experienced ‘games transfer phenomena’ doing or thinking things in real life as if they were still in a fantasy environment.” Attewill continues to list examples of teens wanting to use objects from games, such as wanting to use a gravity gun from Half Life. But this actually ignores greater importance. This so called ‘Games Transfer Phenomena’ is backed up by very poor evidence, with a miniscule number of 42 participants, and ignores that wanting to use certain objects in fiction does not mean gamers think it’s possible. Saying “I want a gravity gun!” is like saying “I want to go to Hogwarts!” Everyone knows it’s impossible for both cases, but stating this doesn’t mean either have lost all sense of reality. Gamers and avid readers can draw the line between fantasy and reality, while it still appears as some can’t tell what provokes aggression.
The final reason video games do not influence violent behavior in youth is because playing video games, particularly violent ones, will make you less violent. Yes, you heard me: less violent. As contradictory as this sounds, there meaning behind the claim. When some enemy dies in a video game, not much goes on emotionally. But if you have to kill an important character, someone who has grown on you throughout gameplay, there is more emotion going on that is similar to losing a close friend. According to time columnist Laura Stampler, a study by researchers at the University of Buffalo found that video games can induce guilt after posing as a terrorist in a game. “185 participants randomly played two different video game scenarios — either as a terrorist or as a UN peacekeeper. After playing the games, those who played as terrorists were asked to recall what “real-life acts” induced guilt”(3). This clearly means that violent video games can cause players to feel bad for killing innocent people, and that video games would not make players assume that real people just fall and disappear.
In conclusion, video games do not influence aggression or violence in youth because video games aren’t the only source of violent media, gamers experience no behavioral changes from playing, gamers can tell reality from fantasy, and that video games can give players better morals after killing in the virtual world. It is important to understand how video game affect us, because not every shooter is trained by Call of Duty, or GTA, or any other video game. To conclude, video games can inspire great things from anyone who plays games, not just aggressively. Thank you for reading, and game on!
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