Video Games and Violence

Though this YouTube video was obviously made by kids and it kind of freaks me out, I think it is a huge stretch to assume that if a kid plays violent video games he or she will be more aggressive, violent, and might end up as a sociopath.

A recent article by Michael Ubaldi is cleverly entitled Care and Feeding of Your Scapegoat. I agree with Ubaldi's argument that we want to find someone or something to blame for the decline of society so we don't have to look at ourselves and ask what we're doing wrong. Instead, we want to say that the reason for the Columbine school shootings is obviously: those kids listened to Marilyn Manson, were obsessed with Hitler and played violent video games. But Ubaldi cites a study by Christopher Ferguson, professor at the Behavioral, Applied Sciences and Criminal Justice Department of Texas A&M University. Ferguson's research had similar findings to Dmitri Williams of the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign. Ferguson argues that "the Columbine murderers, shooters aren't warped video game addicts, nor do they give significant attention to the hobby, but instead are by all appearances plain, old sociopaths." This may seem obvious, yet it is not often enough discussed about the behavioral issues children already have regardless of the amount of video games they play.

My generation has become extremely desensitized to violence. Guns on T.V. don't even phase me, neither do bombs, murders, rapes, or any of the other unpleasant things that are on every television program and the nightly news. Maybe this speaks to my parent's laisezz-faire attitude to raising children, but I don't remember not being able to watch any movies when I was younger even if they had violence in them. They even let me want X-files, which gave me nightmares. (The music still freaks me out to this day and I hate it.) Regardless of my personal experiences, my generation has been constantly surrounded by media our entire lives. You can keep it on the Disney Channel 24/7, but even in Sleeping Beauty Prince Charming slays the dragon by stabbing it directly in the heart.



For young children, there are many more positive media experiences for them to have (or better yet they could go outside and play). It doesn't make sense to expose them to violence regardless of its effects. I guess it is my lack of game playing experience that leaves me unable to rationalize why playing violent video games could possibly be fun.