What allows you to huddle around a TV, get immersed in the screen, and get an adrenaline pump? I’ll tell you what it is, it’s playing video games that many claim to be “too violent” * Within the span of a couple of decades, video games have evolved from simple pixels moving across a screen to virtually lifelike images and simulation * Video games have quickly become one of the most influential and profitable sources of entertainment worldwide. * If you look at many children and young adults today, you can see that almost all their leisure time falls within time spent playing video games or watching television.
* However, some controversy also follows this technology as many people claim it harms society more than it benefits it. * Video games accomplish a lot of things such as providing leisure, promoting certain products, or even as an aid for education. The question at hand is whether violent video games lead to violence in the lives of people today, to which our answer is no. We believe video games do not lead to violence, as much as watching Superman does not make people think they can fly. * It has been argued that in many cases people who play violent video games commit violent acts which get them in trouble with the law.
However, this can be disproved because the amount of juvenile crime is the lowest it has ever been in the past thirty years. * This is true despite the fact that the violence in video games in recent years are much more life-like than it was in the past. * There have been some school shootings in the past involving adolescents and younger adults which some people say violent video games were deemed to be the cause. Although this seems reasonable since these kids did play violent video games, it is not true because the majority of the younger population today are avid video game players.
* According to the US department of justice the amount of violence in the United States had significantly decreased from 1995-2005 and this was the same time period in which violent video games were beginning to become more popular. According to The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, in 2010 49% of the top 70 video games all involved violence and malice behavior. * Violence in video games do not lead to violence because it is the violent people themselves who will be drawn to playing the violent video games.
* When asked about what he thought of studies that show violent video games lead to violence Professor Henry Jenkins responds, “most studies found a correlation, not a causal relationship, which means the research could simply show that aggressive people like aggressive entertainment. * That’s why the vague term “links” is used here. If there is a consensus emerging around this research, it is that violent video games may be one risk factor – when coupled with other more immediate, real-world influences — which can contribute to anti-social behavior”(Jenkins 1).
* Many people jump to conclusions and immediately assume that violent video games directly lead to violence which is simply not the case. * Video games immerse players into the virtual world by portraying realistic visual images and interactivity that they cannot experience elsewhere. * Today, video games provide graphics and simulation that closely imitate real life with consoles such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 that continue to be very popular among people worldwide. * However, even though these games can be very similar to real life, there are key differences that help disprove that these games lead to violence.
* It is common knowledge that in real life one cannot resurrect in place after dying or survive after failing ridiculous tasks such as falling off buildings, so one can easily distinguish that some things that occur in video games do not apply to real life. * If this was not the case, then the same rule would apply to certain television shows and fictional stories, and schools would have to ban the use of fictional stories in schools since they lead to violence. * There are many other factors that influence how violent a person is beyond violent video games. *