Video Games and Violence

Over the past years the big video game companies have started to come out with games that are violent and do things that you are not supposed to do in the real world but of course what happens in theses games is fake and is not telling you to go out and do this. In 1993 congress had to hold hearings on violent video games when Mortal Combat and Night Trap came out because the person said that violent video games have " a desensitizing impact on young, impressionable minds". So in response to this the video game industry voluntarily made a rating system called the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) on September 1, 1994. Some people think that playing violent video games has led kids that play them to do violent things. The people that support this blame things like school shootings, increases in bullying, and more violence toward women. They also say that when these kids play these violent games so much they come to see violence as not that bad of a thing because in the game they award you for being violent and show the kids that violence is a good way to resolve things. The people that oppose this and think that it is crazy, like me, think this because there has never been any clear relationship between violence and these games and that the research is not that well done. They also say that playing these violent games is a way to stop violence because it an outlet for kids who need to let off some steam in a safe and not harmful way. My thoughts on this topic are that playing video games has absolutely no affect on why kids do violent things. The games are just for fun and aren't telling you to go out and do whatever you are doing. I think it is stupid that people say that. When parents say that I think that it is just because they don't like the fact that their child is not outside playing or doing something else but if that is fun to them they should be allowed to play. I also think video games have no affect on violence because I have played video games and have never had any thought of doing something I did in a game to someone, that is insane. The video game companies put what rating the game is on the back of the box so you know what you are getting into and you know whats in the game. If the games the companies made were not violent and did not have anything fun in them no one would play the games and they would go out of business. I just think that there is no way playing a GAME could result in actual violence because it's just a game.




 Sources:
http://videogames.procon.org/#Background
http://videogames.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=003953