How do video games affect society Essays - Video Game Censorship

How do video games affect society Society Scapegoat If there is one thing that happens frequently after a high-profile mass shooting, aside from people running out in a brainless stage to buy every gun and box of ammunition for fear of the Second Amendment being murdered, it is to look at what video games the shooter played. Any time society wants to blame something, other than itself, for creating these monsters it looks to the media. Did they play violent video games? Mortal Kombat? Doom? Call of Duty? Watch out! they say, anyone who does the same is just as likely to go on a similar rampage. Video games have been a scapegoat for politicians and news outlets to blame violence on since the early 1990s, and it is time people and politicians alike realized that the video game industry is not at fault. According to a Fox News story, Aaron Alexis, the gunman behind the tragic Navy Yard shooting, used to "immerse himself in violent video games for hours on end." He was "skilled at these games" and even "played first-person shooting games online." Further down in the story however, more details behind the gunman come out. "While some neighbors and acquaintances described him as 'nice,' his father once told detectives in Seattle that his son had anger management problems related to post-traumatic stress brought on by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He also complained about the Navy and being a victim of discrimination." How a quote like that is so buried in this story does not make much sense to me. Adding insult to injury, Fox News; after mentioning other mass killers who played video games, has quotes from Bruce Bartholow, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Missouri. Of course, the topic of the quote is violent video games, not Alexis' reported history with anger issues... or post-traumatic stress... or being a victim of discrimination. In addition, a study conducted by Mike Frank, a neurologist at the University of Phoenix; examined the relationship between exposure to violent video games and aggression or violence in the laboratory and real life. Study 1 participants were either randomized or allowed to choose to play a violent or nonviolent game. Although males were more aggressive than females, neither randomized exposure to violent video game conditions not previous real life exposure to violent video games caused any differences in aggression. That was one of the many studies that examine a scientific record and found that it does not establish any casual link between programming and violent behavior. Study 2 examined correlations between trait aggression, violent criminal acts, and exposure to both violent games and family violence. Results indicated that trait aggression, family violence, and male gender were predictive of violent crime, but exposure to violent games was not. Christopher Ferguson, creator of the Criminal Justice & Behavior study stated, Findings from the two studies were mutually supportive. These results suggest that playing violent video games does not constitute a significant risk for future violent criminal acts The most intriguing statistic and graph I have found to support that video games are not to fault for the criminal behavior is a graph by the U.S Dept. of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation. The graph is represented to by two numerical variables one being from year 1998 to year 2012. According to the graph, violent crime decreased dramatically from 1998 to 2012. While video game sales soared, more than tripling in sales from $4.8billion to $14.8billion. That is a massive increase in video game sales. More people are buying these violent video games that the industry is releasing as the crime rate is decreasing in America. The graph shows support as to video games not contributing to the real-world violence because more video games are being played, yet the crime rate is slowly decreasing. Just as with other types of entertainment, there is a wide variety of content available in computer and video games to suit the wide variety of individuals who play games. The industry has established numerous tools and policies to help parents make educated choices and ensure that retailers only sell games to those whose age is appropriate for the game in question.