Do video games contribute to teen violence? Essay

Two teens in black leather coats waited with their vehicles draw near the west entrance of Columbine High School. The teens, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold , headed toward the tamedays. Armed with quaternion guns, round(prenominal) knives and dozens of home-made explosives, they launched their assault, injuring several students and cleanup spot both before entering the building. The school shooting that took place on April 20, 1999, was evidently a very waste and emotional day, plainly what many fail to comprehend is what led these two students to such(prenominal) drastic measures.After various studies, and concrete evidence, a keen-witted explanation whitethorn be that these two killers were fanatical settleers of flushed depiction games. Unfortunately, the destructive impact ferocious media has on todays young person doesnt end there. Violent painting games have been known to front incursion in looseness of the bowelsers, increased reports of bully, fury and r uins the virtuous morals instilled in todays times. Studies support that there is a strong tangency between groundless film games and aggressive conduct.Many children that take take leave in playing violent games often report feelings of aggression and violence. harmonize to the Michigan youthfulness Violence Prevention Center, It is intuitive that young kids who play violent tv games, comp ard to young kids who do not play violent video games, will be more aggressive in trusted real-life situations. In other words, children who play violent video games tend to see the world from a hostile perspective, triggering them to be verbally as salubrious as physically aggressive.This is obvious considering the fact that violent video games outline violent behaviors and suggestive material. Procon states, A 2009 study found that it takes up to four minutes for the level of aggressive thoughts and feelings in children to return to normal after(prenominal) playing violent video ga mes. These four minutes of aggression is liberal to compose violent thoughts in children. Exposing our adolescents or even our general state to these chooses of behaviors lot go by to serious and possibly fatal consequences, for instance bullying and school shootings.Violent media can be very influential and sickly exposure may result in disastrous consequences, such as bullying. Though it may seem extreme, studies reveal that after just 10 minutes of violent video games the mind becomes desensitized to the fact that youre sidesplitting someone, and according to psychologist Michele Borba, it can to a fault result in less empathy towards others . Adolescents that play violent video games tend to associate pleasure with the ability to bm pain in others(Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence).Players can sometimes confuse fantasy with reality and at the very least, their brain finds happiness in the suffering of others, which could possibly summitership to bully ing. The 2008 study Grand Theft Childhood reported that 60% of in-between school boys who played at least one Mature-rated game touch or beat up someone, comp atomic number 18d to 39% of boys that did not play Mature-rated games (Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence). Young hoi polloi that bully others often times are also involved in playing violent video games, and the violence portrayed on screen, lead players to violence in real life.Not exactly do violent games contribute to bullying, scientists also suspect that violent games may play a role in school shootings and other massacres. One of the most extreme, and sorry notions of violent media is evident in school shootings such as the virginton Elementary Shooting, killing 26 first graders and the Columbine Massacre, killing 13 students. The Hartford Courant has reported that, Adam Lanza, youngton Elementary school shooter, spent hours playing graphically violent video games in his root cellar before the s hooting that killed 26 children and faculty at the school and Lanzas mother at her home. Obviously, Lanza was regularized by the violence in the video games which hence get alongd him to commit these horrific murders of young, innocent children. According to the Carey Benedict, a journalist for The New York Times, families of the victims of the Columbine shooting sued Sony, SEGA and Capcom for the violent video games the gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, played. Klebold and Harris were avid players of violent games, The New York Times states, They Klebold and Harris relied on() games to express their insaneness and() cutting them off in 1998 move them into crisis. When the teens lost their priviledges, they went on a violent rampage to express their rage and committed a mass murder, The gruesome images portrayed in games can possibly lead to extreme mental issues and destroy the morals we pass on to instill in our youth. Our adolescents today will create an impact on tomo rrow but our hopes of a bright future may be marred due to the violent nature of video games. Video games cause a decrease in sensitivity and compassion in adolescents, make them less feel for and unsympathetic.The American Psychological Association states, playing violent games is also link to children being less willing to be caring and helpful towards their peers. Video games decrease compassion in kids, and could possibly lead to an insensitive, hostile generation. In addition to reducing sympathetic emotions, video games also allow children to witness foul language, teaching them vulgar words which could influence them to use them in real life (The Positive and Negative personal effects of Video Games).Another effect, violent media has on todays generation are gender inequality. In a majority of video games, women are often portrayed as weaker characters that are helpless or familiarly provocative. Procon has stated that, A 1998 study found that 21% of games sampled involv ed violence against women. Victoria Beck, a professor at University of Wisconsin , states that, Video games showing sexual objectification of women and violence against women resulted in statistically significant increased rape rape-supportive attitudes for anthropoid study participants. This proves that exposure to sexual violence in video games is associated to increases in violence directed at women and fake attitudes about rape such as, women incite men to rape or that women secretly desire rape. This sort of an outlook on women could greatly harm our adolescents and laws of todays and tomorrows society, possibly causing rape and therefore, leading to all sorts of violence. insensitiveness and rape, these are lone(prenominal) a few of the critical effects of violent media, but what exactly is the cause of these disasters?It is apparent that playing violent video games has many destructive effects, but the serious psychological effects are often overlooked. Douglas A. Gentile , a psychologist in Handbook of Children, Culture and Violence, states, In a series of studies with children adolescents found that video game violence exposure was related to a wide array of aggression. Video games seemingly cause aggression in people, and extended exposure could put our future in jeopardy. mountain who played video games obsessively could also become socially withdrawn, ilk the shooters in the Columbine Massacre.Constant exposure to digital violence could sack their minds and give them the idea that its okay to commit acts of violence. The opposition may claim that, not everyone is affected by the violence presented in some video games, but violent media affects everyone, at least, to some extent. For example, playing video games could be compared to smoking cigarettes. A single cigarette wont cause lung cancer, but smoking over weeks or months or years greatly increases the risk.In the same way, repeated exposure to violent video games may have a cumulative effect on aggression. Though, only one third of smokers get cancer that does not necessarily imply that smoking is acceptable for the other two thirds of smokers. Similarly, video games may only have an extreme effect on those with mental health issues, but this does not mean that the repeated acts of violence portrayed in these games is capable for others to observe, in fact, the repeated exposure could have a damaging effect over time.