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Miguel Robles

Ms. Saravia

English 11 Period 1

8 December 2016

Video Game Violence Controversy

When mentioned to about violent video games, there are many who automatically assume

they have a negative impact on an individuals life. This opinion can be debunked with facts

supporting the use of video game violence. Being with us for many years, violent video games

have been one of the factors to influence adolescents and is not going anywhere anytime soon.

From helping with desensitizing children to real-life violence to helping with aggression, these

are the advantages given to us by violent video games.

Video game violence dates back to quite a while to the past. The first involvement of

violence in a video game was in 1976. This particular video game was an 8-bit arcade game

known as Death Race. Today, video almost every video game today contains violence. Popular

names such as Call of Duty or Halo storm the market to this day. Statistics show that more

than 90% of children in the Unites States play violent video games. Not to mention that 85% or

more of video games on the market contain violence (Scutti).

Because of some results of video game violence being negative on some adolescents,

some if not most people, specifically parents, automatically assume that violent video games are

bad for their own child. The Mothers Against Videogame Addiction and Violence organization

or MAVAV, is dedicated to educate parents about the harms of video game violence and
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addiction. The MAVAVs article of Jack Thompsons campaign to cancel an upcoming Wendys

kids meal was created in May 8. 2007. Anti-video game campaigns have helped in the past, but

today, violence in video games is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Today, anti-video game commercials are not common. The opinion of some, violence is

sometimes promoted in either positive ways such as commercials or advertisements on social

media. Unfortunately for anti-video game activists, there is no national law that forbids violence

in most video games. Although video game violence has existed since 1976, there are some who

wish to end the violence and some who wish to promote it.

Moving away from the negatives, violent video games can have positive effects on young

gamers. Found by research, it has been proven by investigators that violent video games can

desensitize individuals to real life violence. Studies have been recorded by recording the effects

of playing video games and preforming certain tasks. Although video games, in the past, have

revealed that exposure to violence in video games can increase aggressive thoughts,

physiological arousal, and so on, these games can alter physiological responses typically aroused

by real violence (Nauert). "It's already well known that playing violent video games increases

aggressive behavior and decreases helping behavior," said University of Michigan researcher

Brad Bushman. "But this study is the first to link exposure to violent video games with a

diminished reaction to violent images."(Swanbrow). It is relevant that video games can enhance

the behavior of gamers in a positive way.

Adding on, although it has been proven that playing violent video games can make

adolescents more hostile, it all depends on certain personality traits of the gamer. In a special

issue of the journal Review of General Psychology, researchers looked at several studies that

examined the potential uses of video games (Hamilton). Previous research has shown us that
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personality traits like psychoticism and aggressiveness intensify the negative effects of violent

video games and we wanted to find out why(Hamilton). Violent video games, if not all, provide

opportunities for children to virtually explore consequences of their violent actions in game. This

can most definitely help develop moral compasses. It is obvious that evidence supports the

positive development of ones mind from violence in video games.

Even there is negative opinion of violent video games such as video games corrupt

young children. there is also a positive outlook on the subject. Although this may be common in

some cases, allowing corruption of the mind is up to the mind itself as proven by past

researchers. This may also come in the form of stress relief. Young adultsmale and female

who play violent video games long-term handle stress better than non-playing adults and become

less depressed and less hostile following a stressful task (Ferguson). Of course, this evidence

can lead to the belief violent video games helping prevent real world aggression. Again, all

minds work differently in each person, so the studies developed from different tests may show

different results most of the time. Children who played video games for less than an hour each

day showed lower rates of aggression than children who did not play at alleven when the

games in question were violent ones. Children who played for longer than three hours each day,

however, had higher levels of aggression and lower levels of academic engagement. The studys

authors argue that their results show that daily video game play is not linked to an increase in

aggression. Instead, prolonged play may increase aggression, though the study did not illuminate

why this might be (Villines). Basically, if gamers vent out their anger towards the video game,

they wouldnt have to do so in real.

To conclude, violent video games are not as bad as some may think. Asides for

entertainment purposes, violence in video games have a purpose in the world we live in today. It
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has been researched and proven that the violence contained in video games can have a positive

impact on many. Such examples consist of helping children become used to violence in real life

and assisting them in lowering their aggression. Instead of focusing on the negatives, looking at

the positives can help improve society today starting with the adolescents.
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Works Cited

Baker, Wayne. "Causes of youth violence hard to prove scientifically." McClatchy -

Tribune Business News. 11 Mar. 2016 eLibrary. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

Hamilton, Audrey. "Violent Video Games May Increase Aggression in Some But Not

Others, Says New Research." Pardon Our Interruption. N.p., 7 June 2010. Web. 08 Dec. 2016.

Keim, Brandon. "What Science Knows About Video Games and Violence." PBS. 28 Feb.

2013 Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

Kelly, Heather. "Do video games cause violence?." CNN Wire Service. 17 Aug. 2015

eLibrary. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

Nauret, Rick. "Video Games Desensitize to Real Violence | Psych Central News." Psych

Central News. N.p., 06 Oct. 2015. Web. 08 Dec. 2016.

Scutti, Susan. "Do Video Games Lead to Violence?" CNN. Cable News Network, 26 July

2016. Web. 08 Dec. 2016.

Swanbrow, Diane. "Violent Video Games Desensitize Players to Real-world Violence |

University of Michigan News." Violent Video Games Desensitize Players to Real-world Violence

| University of Michigan News. N.p., 4 Dec. 2005. Web. 08 Dec. 2016.

Thomson, Lian. "VIOLENT Video Games Make KIDS SMARTER: More Violent the

BETTER. The Register. 27 Nov. 2013. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

Villines, Zawn. "Violent Video Games Dont Make Kids Violent, Study

Finds." GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog. N.p., 13 Apr. 2015. Web. 08 Dec. 2016.