Everybody enjoys a thrilling, competitive game. I can assure you I do! There is absolutely no harm in having a blast with your colleagues and jumping into the spirit of competing. Some games played by gamers include violence that many boring people choose to disagree with. Those people believe the violence in these games lead to school shootings, crime, fighting, and other acts of violence in life. A game could not possibly encourage a person to hurt someone else. If anything, a game is a way to dispose of those violent urges. Violent games don’t lead to actual violence.
There is no official, scientific evidence of a connection between violent video games and real violence in players. “... a host of respected researchers has concluded that there is no link between media violence and violent crime” (www.theesa.com, 2014, pg.1). The Washington Post conducted an analysis of the ten largest video game markets around the world and there was no correlation between gun related deaths and video game consumption. What this means is video games have no proven effect on violence in an area or rates of crime. If this is true, we can’t keep blaming crime and violence in the world today on video games.
According to Erik Kain in Forbes magazine (2013), there did happen to be one incident in Washington D.C. that coincidentally fell on the same week as the big release of Grand Theft Auto V in 2013. The game contains violence, extreme profanity, and other things we wouldn’t want children viewing for the sake of their innocence. However, the game is surreal and very interesting with the accurate events that occur, which are very real in our world. On the week of its release, a man with a mental-illness shot and killed twelve people in D.C. . People in our society comprehended the series of events as the video game influenced his actions. This is probably what you are all considering as well. However, if that man was not mentally ill, do you think he still would’ve killed those people? It’s an idea that makes you pick up the gun, but a thought that pulls the trigger. It is the person himself that will commit the crime. Games are no factor in their thoughts that lead to the crime, instead violent games, again, are like a fantasy. Some of us know better than to wish that fantasy true, but someone with mental issues wouldn’t. We have to think critically about this. A person in similar condition of the man wouldn’t know it’s wrong and there is no proof he even played the video game, yet people still blame it all on a popular video game containing violence. This man did not kill these people because of a game, even if it was the game that gave him the idea, his condition caused his actions.
Crime rates are not affected by gaming rates. Video games statistically do not affect crime rates. “Violent crime, particularly among the young, has decreased since the early 1990s. During the same period of time, video games have steadily increased in popularity and use…” (www.theesa.com, 2014, pg.1). This goes to show that video games containing violence did not cause any crime because there has factually been less crime and we have even more violent games now than back in the day. What would give you the idea that video games actually did cause people to commit crimes?
Parents do have the power to control what their children play. Shown on page one the article Essential Facts About Game and Violence (www.theesa.com, pg.1), 91% of parents are with their children when a game is being purchased by a child. 95% of parents watch and control the content of the games their children are playing. If you don’t want your child being exposed to this content, then don’t allow them to play games containing violence. If that makes you feel better or feel like there will be less crime in the world, go ahead and prevent them from playing these games. However, I assure you you will not see any difference. Video games are a fantasy and I believe that interacting with these games will allow violence out of your system instead of bringing dangerous ideas into your head.
With the given evidence, it is made clear to us that games involving violent ideas or activity do not lead to real violence, whether it be video games or role playing games. Even with the exception of a man with a mental-illness, it still does not prove that games can cause such a cruel action. There are many cases of this situation, but we can’t assume everyone who commits a crime did it because they played a game. It may be nerve-wrecking thinking of young peers wanting to copy what they play in games in real life. However, that isn’t the case. It is a fantasy world we escape to, like a book we can interact with, which is what makes it so addicting and satisfying. We don’t commit these acts of violence in real life because we do so in spectacular stories called video games. Also, don’t you ever consider the benefits of gaming? Players will learn skill building, strategies, how to get out of tough situations, planning, etc. Take these games away and peace may even be disturbed, crime rates may increase. With this, we can all be assured that games containing violence do not lead to real violence.
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About the author:
Gayle Winfrey is a talented writer that loves video games and cheese. She is known for sharing her feelings through writing strong essays and enjoys doing so. She hopes to write a few books in the future. P.S. She is not related to Oprah!
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