Taking a Stand Essay

There are so many things out there in today’s world that you would think would contribute to violence in our youth. There are violent television shows that depict characters as anti-heroes, books that depict killing as a way to save the planet or country or something of that nature. While all of those may have a contribution to our violent youth, they don’t measure up to what violent video games do in terms of causing violence in our youth. Violent video games can make teens more aggressive because of intense graphics, lack of censorship, and purpose of the game. One major reason that violent video games make teenagers more violent is that they are active play. Active play is any activity from which one derives amusement, entertainment, enjoyment, or satisfaction by taking a participatory rather than a passive role (Active Play Definition). People retain much more information when something is as interactive as a violent video such as Call of Duty or Battlefield, so when teens continue to play these types of games, they get engrained in their brains that this is what they need to do. For example, when learning how to fly a plane, would you rather read a book, watch a television program, or use a video game flight simulator? (Bushman) Another major reason that I think violent video games makes our teens more violent and aggressive is that teens are more likely to relate to a violent video game character. Say that you’re playing a first-person shooter type of game; what type of view do you have? If you guessed first person shooter, you are correct. First person shooter video games allow the player to be as in the action as best as they can be. Playing this first person shooter games can also desensitize the player to real-life violence. In these types of games, it is common for victims to disappear from the screen or for the shooters to have multiple lives. In a 2005 study, violent video game exposure has been linked to reduced P300 amplitudes in the brain, which