Do Video Games Cause Violence

Herb Kohl a democratic senator said We cannot and will not ban the creation of violent video

games. But, we can prevent the distribution of these disturbing games to children, where their effects can

be negative. Video games have impacted society and children in many ways. One of the most impactful

ways video games have impacted society today is mass murderers, there have been 14 mass murders in

the last 10 years. Of that all of them played video games regularly. Video games have effects on society

by affecting the player of the video gamess body and mind, also the effects on the body and mind are

much more severe if the video game is more realistic.

Video games have effects on the body.

One of the effects on the body is it reacting to violence as if it were real.1 The body reacts with an

uptick in blood pressure levels and stress hormones.2 Another way videogames can affect the body is with

epileptic seizures which can lead to irregular breathing and irregular heart beat.3 Over the long term

epileptic seizures can lead to increased risk of heart disease and stroke.4 Also people can develop Carpal

Tunnel Syndrome which can lead to numbness in the hand, pain between wrist and elbow, loss of useage

in the hand.5 All of these effects on the body can be caused by video games. Even though epilepsy is a

disorder that doesn't come from video games it can affect people with it greatly. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

is very impactful on a person's life. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can affect peoples mind too the disability to

1
McGRATH, TOM. "When Killing Is A Game." Men's Health 29.5 (2014): 120. MasterFILE Premier. Web.
11 Jan. 2017.
2
lbid
3
Griffiths, Mark. Video Games and Health: Video Gaming Is Safe for Most Players and Can Be Useful in
Health Care. BMJ : British Medical Journal 331.7509 (2005): 122123. Print.
4
lbid
5
National Institutes of Health. National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services,
www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Carpal-Tunnel-Syndrome-Fact-Shee
t. Accessed 14 Mar. 2017.
drive or do other normal tasks can lead to low self esteem and depression.6 In addition to physical effects,

studies show video games to be psychologically harmful

Video games affect the mind and psychological state.

Many studies have shown that video games can lead to an increase in aggressive thoughts.7

These aggressive thoughts can subconsciously influence people to be more aggressive. People reported to

have video game impulse control, also known as addiction, were three times as likely to be clinically

depressed and desensitized to violence.8 Prepubescents were even more likely to have depressive

symptoms if they were exposed to more than two hours of video games per day.9 Females were shown to

be three times as sensitive to the effects of video games verses a man.10 All of these effects relate to the

changing of the mind due to video games. Video games result in much higher levels of depression.11

Depression is a sickness of the mind thus video games make people sick in the mind. The effects on the

mind can get worse by the video games being more realistic too.

The more realistic the game the stronger effects on the body and mind.

Studies have shown that video games can have stronger effects on the player by being more

realistic. A study by the name of The Quality of Video Games: Subjective Quality Assessments as

Predictors of Self-Reported Presence in First-Person Shooter and Role-Playing Games conducted by

Christina Schumann, Nicholas David Bowman, and Daniel Schultheiss players felt more psychologically

merged if the experience was realistic, so if the graphics sound and physics were well done the player

6
National Institutes of Health.
www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Carpal-Tunnel-Syndrome-Fact-Shee
t. Accessed 14 Mar. 2017.
7
McGrath, Tom. When Killing Is A Game.
8
ortolero, Susan R., et al. "Daily Violent Video Game Playing And Depression In Preadolescent
T
Youth." Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking 17.9 (2014): 609-615. Business Source
Complete. Web. 11 Jan. 2017. Pg 5
9
lbid. Pg 5
10
lbid. Pg 5
11
lbid. Pg 6
would feel more merged with the game.12 Also in the same study players felt some negative emotions

towards Black Ops because players expected some consequences for the immoral acts they were

committing.13 In a study that monitored body temperature heart rate and aggressive thoughts at a 15

minute point. The realistic game showed significantly higher levels of aggression rather than the

non-realistic game.14 Some extreme cases of people taking realism too far are some of the more recent

mass shootings. Both of the perpetrators of the recent shootings played video games regularly if not

excessively.15 All of this evidence shows and supports that the more realistic video games the stronger the

effects on players. Multiple studies results showed that the video games would make the players feel more

in sync with the game and more aggressive if the game was more realistic.

Video games can affect players in many ways, some physical some mental all of the effects they

cause though are negative. The body can be effected by video games, the mind can also be changed much

more than the body. Some effects that can occur through playing video games can be much more drastic if

the video games look more real because the players body and mind truly think that it is real. That's what

the experts say but their are other kinds of experts like the other multiple billion people that play video

games and don't murder people. For example me I have played video games for 10 years and I have never

gotten into a fight, suspended, or in trouble for being violent toward my peers. Some other people that

have hours of experience on the subjects are Wyatt Ronco and he says I have played 2000 hours of

League of Legends in the past four years and of that time I have never gotten into a fight or suspended

12
Schumann, Christina, Nicholas David Bowman, and Daniel Schultheiss. "The Quality Of Video Games:
Subjective Quality Assessments As Predictors Of Self-Reported Presence In First-Person Shooter And
Role-Playing Games." Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 60.4 (2016): 547-566. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 11 Jan. 2017. Pg 15
13
lbid. Pg 11
14
JIA-KUN, ZHENG, and ZHANG QIAN. "Priming Effect Of Computer Game Violence On ChildrenS
Aggression Levels." Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal 44.10 (2016): 1747-1759.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Jan. 2017. Pg 9
15
Rothmund, Tobias, et al. "Public Concerns About Violent Video Games Are Moral Concerns-How
Moral Threat Can Make Pacifists Susceptible To Scientific And Political Claims Against Violent Video
Games." European Journal Of Social Psychology 45.6 (2015): 769-783. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 11 Jan. 2017. Pg 1
and my iq has grown from this wonderful strategy game. Ronco, Wyatt. Personal interview. 3 March

2017. I believe that video games arent the problem I believe people and in particular the people that play

them and have no responsibilities are the problem.

Barlett, Christopher P. and Christopher Rodeheffer. "Effects of Realism on Extended Violent and .
Nonviolent Video Game Play on Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Physiological Arousal." .
Aggressive Behavior, vol. 35, no. 3, May/Jun2009, pp. 213-224. EBSCOhost, . .
doi:10.1002/ab.20279.
Cunningham, Scott, Benjamin Engelstatter, and Michael R. Ward. "Violent Video Games And Violent .
Crime." Southern Economic Journal 82.4 (2016): 1247-1265. B usiness Source Complete. Web. .
11 Jan. 2017.
Gershenfeld, Alan. "Mind Games." Scientific American 310.2 (2014): 54-59. Health Source - Consumer
Edition. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.
Griffiths, Mark. "Video Games and Health: Video Gaming Is Safe for Most Players and Can Be Useful in .
Health Care." BMJ : British Medical Journal. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd., 16 July 2005. Web. 25 .
Feb. 2017.
JIA-KUN, ZHENG, and ZHANG QIAN. "Priming Effect Of Computer Game Violence On ChildrenS
Aggression Levels." Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal 44.10 (2016): /
1747-1759. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.
McGRATH, TOM. "When Killing Is A Game." Men's Health 29.5 (2014): 120. MasterFILE Premier. .
Web. 11 Jan. 2017.
National Institutes of Health. National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services,
Rothmund, Tobias, et al. "Public Concerns About Violent Video Games Are Moral Concerns-How .
Moral Threat Can Make Pacifists Susceptible To Scientific And Political Claims Against .
Violent Video Games." European Journal Of Social Psychology 45.6 (2015): 769-783. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.
Schumann, Christina, Nicholas David Bowman, and Daniel Schultheiss. "The Quality Of Video Games:
Subjective Quality Assessments As Predictors Of Self-Reported Presence In First-Person .
Shooter And Role-Playing Games." Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 60.4 (2016): .
547-566. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.
Tortolero, Susan R., et al. "Daily Violent Video Game Playing And Depression In Preadolescent Youth."
Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking 17.9 (2014): 609-615. Business Source .
Complete. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.