Thursday, September 12, 2013

The Link Between Violent Video Games and Real Life Violence


The link between violent video games and real life violence demonstrated by kids who play these games has been and continues to be a hotly debated topic in todays media. America has a fascination with gruesome acts of violence and therefore shows an interest in looking into what may cause them and how to prevent them in the future. Long before video games were even a medium for children to interact with the famous Bandura study mentioned in the book took place. The results of this study showed that kids exposed to violence and violent behavior were likely to imitate what they had seen. An interesting question that interactive media such as video games has raised is will this connection be stronger if the child is actively interacting with the violence as in video games rather than passively seeing it such as on television?

While there is no definitive yes or no answer to this question some evidence would suggest that the interaction with video games strengthens this link between seeing violence and acting violent. One of the basic principles of this argument is based on the nature of how the child is seeing the violence. While watching television that has violent themes, whether it be a news report on a murder or a violent act in a crime drama, the viewer does not have to be fully engaged in watching the act. Often while watching television people are distracted by other things such as the growing number of smartphones and other things going on around them. However, when playing video games kids tend to be “locked in” to the content since the way the game plays out is completely determined by the player. In short it can be argued that video games require more attention than television. Some people see this increased attention to the violent acts as a sign that the child will be even more likely to participate in violent acts of their own as compared to if they were passively watching television. I found an interesting article about the link between videogames and violence specifically in relation to the infamous Sandy Hook shooter. The article discusses the evidence that Lanza was obsessed with violent video games and other violence related things. They also discussed various ways that lawmakers were reacting to the news and what should be done.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/crackdown-urged-violent-games-lanza-report-article-1.1292402

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