Violence in Video Games: Why the Fuss?

Okay, so I had to do a research paper for English, and I decided to do the issue of violence in video games! Here's my paper(with some comments that I couldn't put in the final draft. Stupid MLA). Feel free to discuss it! :D

Violence in Video Games: Why the Fuss?​

Video games effects youth violence less than many people would like to admit. Statistics to prove this statement include the fact that since the 1990’s when video games were starting to become popular, the violent crime rate in the United States actually decreased. Just as it was about to go back up, Grand Theft Auto (GTA) came out. What happened to the violent crime rate? Believe it or not, it went right back down and continued to decrease until the Sony Playstation 2 came out, and went down even more. When GTA 3, the most mature of the GTA series, came out, the crime rate went down even more before stabilizing in 2003 at a nice, safe 20,000 violent crimes per year. More statistics are shown at the end of this paper (“Cautionâ€).
The media attacks video games even though current statistics, clearly indicate that they are not a significant problem, if at all, because they are the new competition. Every hour that one plays a video game, is one less hour of TV watching (“Cautionâ€). If the viewing audience is not watching commercial TV, it loses ratings and sponsors, ultimately causing shows to be canceled due to lack of interest. Networks know how overprotective parents can be, and use that characteristic to their advantage by saying that video games corrupt their children. That’s right, all this fuss about violence in video games started because of a media lie *Deathglare at media*. “But,†one may begin to wonder, “Why doesn’t the media attack things like books and movies?†Well, books are educational, so if the media attacks that, it will ultimately fail, and movies can be based on TV shows produced by, once again, the media.
Now, one may wonder if video games are really a cause of youth violence. Well, yes, but it has a much smaller impact than some people would like a person to think. In fact, there are twenty seven risk factors for youth violence rated higher than exposure to violent media, including, but not limited to, academic failure, poor parent-child relations, weak social ties, and being male (“Cautionâ€). Does this mean kids should be sent to jail because they failed a test, don’t like their parents, don’t have many friends, or are male? Of course not! Continuing to prove this point, most of the best-selling titles every year are not rated “Mâ€. Now consider the 55% of hit movies that are rated “Râ€. From this, it can be concluded that movies are the worse influence. Even more shocking to some people, the current generation is made up of the most non-violent kids in a long time, and they generally all own some video game system (“Cautionâ€).
In fact, according to the FBI, the murder rate of 2004 had hit a new 40 year low. What was the best selling game of 2004? Shockingly it was, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (“Cautionâ€). Research indicates that people serving time for violent crimes are usually exposed to less media before their crime than the average person in the general population. While it is true that many early games were just mindless shooting galleries where the player shoots everything that moves, most current games are more like ethical testing grounds. They allow players to navigate expansive and open-ended worlds, choosing for themselves, and seeing their consequences (“Reality Bytesâ€). For example, the Grand Theft Auto games start the player off having just gotten out of jail and trying to find a place in the world. He/she can either find a job and earn their money honestly, or go back to crime. Thus, a naturally violent person would naturally go back to crime. Or maybe, because one can always earn an honest living in real life, a person would go back to crime because it’s just a game and he/she wants to see what it’s like without actually hurting innocent people.
Now, it is time to look at some more statistics regarding video games; the average American video game player is 33 years old, and has been playing for 12 years while the average American video game buyer is 40 years old. 91% of parents report that they monitor the content of the games that their children play. In fact, parents are involved in the purchase or rental of games 83 percent of the time. Also, research shows that 90 percent of games are actually purchased by adults over 18. Game players under the age of 18 report that 87% of the games they purchase are bought with a parent’s permission (“Factsâ€).
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) is a crucial part of the gaming industry. ESRB assigns computer and video game content ratings, enforces industry adopted advertising guidelines, and helps ensure responsible online privacy practices for the interactive entertainment software industry. Its two part ratings system uses ratings from “ECâ€(Early Childhood) to “AOâ€(Adults Only) as a general identifier on the front cover of a game, and content descriptors on the back. There are 31 different content descriptors and each one can be paired with the term “Mildâ€, indicating that it is to a low degree. For example, the content descriptor, “Cartoon Violence†might indicate that when killed, a person stays there, but there is no blood and gore, while, “Mild Cartoon Violence†might mean that a person would simply fade away after being killed. Additionally, it is important to know that ESRB ratings provide guidance about a game’s content. Not its quality (“ESRBâ€).

With all this information, one can conclude that video games do not affect the amount of violence in today’s youth *HA! I PWN T3H M3D14!*. In fact, it seems to be doing the exact opposite. With a better outlet for aggressive behavior, children are able to take out their anger in just about any way they choose, without hurting innocent people . *Remember kids, real violence is never the answer. Virtual violence is.*

Works Cited​

Ferris, Duke. Caution: Children at Play: The Truth About Violent Youth and Video
Games. 2007 Gamerevolution.com. 4/4/08 <http://www.gamerevolution.com/features/violence_and_videogames>.
Jenkins, Henry. Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked . 2006 Public Broadcasting System (PBS). 4/5/08 <http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/essays.html>.
Anonymous, Anonymous. Facts about Game Content and Consumers . 2007 Entertainment Software Association . 4/6/08 <http://www.theesa.com/facts/games_youth_violence.php>.
Marketing@esrb.org. E-Mail interview. 2008.

 

Thank you.
Thank you very much.

This is a very well written paper, i actually enjoyed reading it. I think that you're completely right. The whole violent games promote violence always seemed like a bunch of crap to me, anyway. You know what i do when i've had a bad day at school, or am kinda pissed at someone? Come home, pop in CoD4, and shoot up some virtual terrorists for an hour or so. After that, usually, i'm feeling better and can get on with my day. Is that not better than bottling up those feelings and one day going insane and possibly shooting up my school? Violent video games are more of a release if anything, a chance to get rid of the angry, hurtful feelings before you mess up someone who is real.

EDIT:

Crap. I just re-read your post and realized that the last part of mine pretty much says exactly what you did. Sorry about that.

 

i'm in a "maybe" in this issue. i can't deny the fact that games like Grand Theft Auto COULD DEFINTELY cause some damage. but i also can't deny that the majority of children know the difference between fantasy vs. reality and know what is appropriate. tho i BLAME VIDEOGAMES AND TV for one thing: kids learning foul language. i'm pretty sure those sources teach kids very foul language and well video games pretty much create those annoying 13 year olds on the internet that think they're the king of the world. i'm pretty sure it wouldn't have enough of an effect on people to make them perform school shootings or bombings but there's no mistake that it DOES have some effect on people. i heard a game made from the ppl who made Grand Theft Auto made ppl crazy and was actually recalled because of it, i think it was Manhunt? i do think that the ratings should be followed, i think parents need to really follow the ratings on the games and not to let children under the age of 14 to play Mature games. i mean it's ultimately at the parent's discretion because the kids wouldn't be allowed to purchase the games anyways so if they feel their kids are mature enough then i suppose it couldn't do much harm. tho i think games like GTA are stupid anyways

 

Being honest here, it depends on what you let your kid play.
If at the age of..say, ten, you let the kid play Grand Theft Auto. Of course that's going to affect how the kid thinks. If beating up people in a video game is good, then doing so in real life is okay, right?

So it's kinda up to the parents to decide what to let their child play. If you let a younger person play something rated M, then yes, they're going to be picking up some unwelcome things.
There's a reason for the ERSB (or whatever they're called) rating system.

But there's also school. Kids get together and talk about games, and I remember taking part in this. It was around the time when Medal of Honor: Allied Assault came out, and it was one of the more popular WWII games at school. We'd talk about headshots, blowing people off the map with a rocket launcher, how to hack the game, you name it.
So in today's world, it's nearly impossible to prevent someone from being influence by video games, whether directly or indirectly (like from friends).
And by the way, I learned how to curse from my friends in third grade, and that's before I played more mature games. I didn't learn cursing from games. xD

 

Video games sooth the savage beast......

 

i see...

wow, u do got a point there, congratz on ur excellent report, it was very touching *tears up* :D

 

you have a really well writen paper,i enjoyed reading it very much

 

That's a very well written paper. It's very good.

 

I thought your paper looked pretty well researched. Nice job.

Sounded a lot like mine, except yours is a little shorter.

 

Lol, nice paper.

On the issue though, I agree. To tell you the truth, kids aren't that effected with being someone off a video game. Especially the older audience(15 and up). The younger children would enjoy playing it, but you don't here them say : " Man this guy made me mad at school, imma go straight master chief on this ****!"

:/

 

Thanks for all of your opinions.
@Axefan: You're welcome! XD
@Evilman: Yeah, I guess you're right. Of course, since I love debates(lol), video games aren't exactly the reason that bad language exists, true?
@DPWolf: Very true. I should have put that in my paper. "Even if a parent does keep his/her child(ren) away from video games, there are so many other things out there. The only way to rid the world of violence is to keep children inside of their homes and never let them have any contact with the outside world. That means no school, TV, radio, Internet, playing outside, vacations, relatives visiting, friends, pets, dachsunds(a dachsund is more than just a pet), going out to eat, McDonalds(Are ya sure that's food?), college, jobs, etc. You couldn't even hire a babysitter! And don't think about leaving your child home alone, then he/she will know about the outside world. Face it. Video games aren't the only things out there."
@Everyone: Thanks for reading the thread, voting in the poll, and posting in the thread.

 

I don't think violent video games causing the youth violence, but it certainly isn't helping the problem. Are there people that messed up that think "Hey, I can shoot people in this video game, so that means I can in real life"? Seriously.

 

wow. You have a good point at that part. I agree that video games aren't the only things that promote violence. I mean, all the games I have have ratings lower than M and I swear at school and at my cousins. I should show this to my parents when they get home. Thanks for posting something about video game violence by the way.

 

For me it's a no but for my little bro..... yes it is.

 

I personally think the parents don't REALLY think that video games make kids violent. They just want an excuse for bad parenting is all it is. Plus, instead of sheltering your children from certain games, just teach them right from wrong.

 

I agree that would probably help out the problem alot rather than trying to eliminate everything that could possibly make them more violent. that would probably make their life a living hell and they would probably not have very much fun. also it would be very hard to make friends especially if you were a guy cause alot of guys make friends through video games.

 

Thank you. You have to be really encourageable to be affected by video game violence, in whichc case, you shouldn't be playing video games at all.

 

Why the eff would video games really effect kids minds? I made a living off of playing them since... jeez, 1st grade, and I'm still fine and uneffected. In fact, most of the people who thinks that they do are simply ******ed because it's unlikely that you would see someone fully redo a scene off of a violent game. It's just plain stupid.

 

I Played GTA when i was like 6-7 years old but it didnt effect me =) But I Guess Most Kids Get Effected....

BTW Nice Paper I Liked it.

EDIT: Just came to mind.....Wha About When GTA IV Comes out and all the bank robberies...
Ah Crap.... >.<

 

Precisely. I've been playing the arcade Mortal Combat and the PS1 port since I was 5, and I'm fine.