Violent Video Games | Teen Ink

Violent Video Games

December 11, 2014
By tquiqui BRONZE, Merritt Island, Florida
tquiqui BRONZE, Merritt Island, Florida
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Why are violent video games designed to make you assassinate or kill other players? Some players say that it helps with releasing anger, and some say that it helps young adults enlist in the military. In reality, violent video games are a huge contribution to violent crimes and murders. Violent video games contribute to youth violence because young adults confuse fantasy with reality. Even though violent video game popularity increased and juvenile murders have decreased, this does not mean violent crimes are not committed by violent criminals. As this issue muddles on, crimes and murders are still being committed.


    Violent video games make youthful players less afraid of violence. Video games reward players for simulating violence. This encourages players to use the violence to rank up and get new weapons. Brain function and behavior changes when exposed to violent media. In 2005, a study by Science Direct showed that P300 in the brain was reduced when playing violent videogames, and is linked to the desensitization towards violence. When youth become less afraid of violence, they develop a behavioral script telling them to use violent strategies instead of nonviolent strategies. The brain is always changing. When it is exposed to violent media, a negative effect occurs.


New technology in game consoles allow player(s) to know dangerous actions. Violent video games are rated more exciting than nonviolent video games. The actions teach players to accept the violent motions that are used in combat, and it is difficult to forget how to use them. On handheld motion systems, such as the Wii, players are practicing and demonstrating violent motions and actions. When these actions are practiced, a player can potentially go out in public and try it on a real person. In another study made by Science Direct in 2007, of the 213 middle school students interviewed, ninety-nine percent of boys and eighty-eight percent of girls preferred violent video games because of their actions. Violent actions cause kids to be obsessed with the video game he/she is playing.


The U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Military created video games to prepare recruits for the battlefield. In 1996, Doom II was created so soldiers could be ready for combat. These video games created real-life circumstances and prepared soldiers. Repeated exposure to real life and to entertainment violence may alter affective and behavioral processes.  These processes teach youth that it is okay to resort to violence when it is not. American youth have even reported violent offending that they did themselves. If they are admitting it, then the amount of offending just be high.


    In 2008, 298.2 million video games were sold in the U.S., totaling $11.7 billion in revenue. Six of the top ten bestselling games contained violence, and four of those were rated M for Mature. Violent video games are on the rise. These video games contribute to youth violence because young adults confuse reality with fantasy. Players become less afraid of violence, technological advancements allow them to demonstrate the actions, and the government created games so soldiers could join the armed forces. The need for violence should not exist. The invention of violent video games does not help. If violent video games did not exist, the world would be a safer place.

Works Cited
“Chronic violent video game exposure and the desensitization to violence: Behavioral and event-
    related brain potential data.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 42(2006)532
    539. Bruce D. Bartholow, Brad J. Bushman, and Marc A. Sestir. University of Michigan:
    2005. Web. 5 December 2014.   
Richard J. Harris, and Callie Bruey. Iowa: 2007. Web. 5 December 2014.   
“The effect of the amount of blood in a violent videogame on aggression, hostility, and arousal.”
    Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 44 (2008) 539-546. Christopher P. Barlett,
“Video Games.” Various authors. California: 2013. Web. December 2014.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 1 comment.


Mikey123 said...
on Feb. 7 2015 at 7:59 pm
I mean to be perfectly accurate, the military modified Doom II to create a training simulator. And if we really want to be accurate, the link between violent games and violent actions has never been proven. Millions of people play "violent" games, but there are not millions of violent criminals to correlate.