Virtual Violence
Pedro Letieres
Darcy Hall
English 111
5 March 2013
Virtual Violence The discussion about the influence of violent games has been lighted up after the incident in Newtown, Connecticut. The shooter was a teenager that loved playing violent games and was not a very outspoken person; he hardly talked to his classmates. Many segments of society such as professors, sociologists, and psychologists are developing studies to try to find the answer for this question. The channel called Video Games and News (VGN) released a video on YouTube called “Do Video Games Cause Violence” and the speaker is known as The Red Dragon. He is trying to sum up the situation. The video compares multiple studies that are written by government officials, universities, and articles. Another video to be discussed is the project for a university class called “Violence in Video Games” edited by BlookerG. It contains commentaries of teenagers telling what they think about the comments of people that say excessively violent games turn individuals into violent people. The videos are against the thought that exceedingly violent games could be a reason that leads a person to be violent or commit a horrible crime. Scientists have been studying and debating the role of media violence on behavior for many years and video games in particular since the 1980s. This is even more relevant today, because the games are more realistic and contain more blood than ever. Some studies proved that those video games can cause short term aggression but no long term affects. But we can’t forget to mention movies and TV shows. Many of them are as violent as many games. They should also be as harmful to someone’s mind as action video games. Another point to be discussed is the concept that came from psychology that says young kids are influenced by the world around them. Based on that statement we can say that children exposed to this kind of games can develop an aggressive behavior. It does not means that they
Darcy Hall
English 111
5 March 2013
Virtual Violence The discussion about the influence of violent games has been lighted up after the incident in Newtown, Connecticut. The shooter was a teenager that loved playing violent games and was not a very outspoken person; he hardly talked to his classmates. Many segments of society such as professors, sociologists, and psychologists are developing studies to try to find the answer for this question. The channel called Video Games and News (VGN) released a video on YouTube called “Do Video Games Cause Violence” and the speaker is known as The Red Dragon. He is trying to sum up the situation. The video compares multiple studies that are written by government officials, universities, and articles. Another video to be discussed is the project for a university class called “Violence in Video Games” edited by BlookerG. It contains commentaries of teenagers telling what they think about the comments of people that say excessively violent games turn individuals into violent people. The videos are against the thought that exceedingly violent games could be a reason that leads a person to be violent or commit a horrible crime. Scientists have been studying and debating the role of media violence on behavior for many years and video games in particular since the 1980s. This is even more relevant today, because the games are more realistic and contain more blood than ever. Some studies proved that those video games can cause short term aggression but no long term affects. But we can’t forget to mention movies and TV shows. Many of them are as violent as many games. They should also be as harmful to someone’s mind as action video games. Another point to be discussed is the concept that came from psychology that says young kids are influenced by the world around them. Based on that statement we can say that children exposed to this kind of games can develop an aggressive behavior. It does not means that they
Cited: The Red Dragon. “Do Video Games Cause Violence”. YouTube. Video Games and News. Web. 18 Dec. 2012 BlookerG. “Violence in Video Games”. YouTube. Web. 15 Mar. 2013