Violence in Video Games.... Doesn't Affect Gamers

One particular issue that is currently grinding at our society today is the question, "Is violence in video games truly affecting the people who play them?" Video games do not permanently affect the people who play them or change or influence their values. Being a full-fledged gamer myself, and having lived off of entertaining myself through most of the violent video games currently being marketed by the entertainment world, I haven't been influenced by the violent content in these games. Beside the point that an idea of a violent act may arise from a video game, the content of a system designed to entertain cannot alter a persons values, beliefs, or behaviors to something completely and utterly different.

In the past thirty to forty years, the manifestation of violence in video games has become all the more engulfing in our society, especially throughout the youth of todays society. Also, for about the same amount of years, the concept linked between violence in video games and violence brought about by crime has become one of the ever more fashionable topics discussed amongst most of America today. Most people now think that the increase of violent content in video games has a major contributing factor to public crime when in fact the exact opposite is true. Statistics acquired from a graph used to illustrate the violent crime rates in peoples 12 and up show a dramatic decrease in violence from 1993 to 2003, during the exact same time period when the Playstation console, the Grand Theft Auto game, the Playstation 2 console, and the infamous Grand Theft Auto 3 game were all released. The graph used to illustrate these statistics was given directly by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics and is actually the most recent government data on crime as used by the FBI (Duke Ferris, http://www.gamerevol ution.com/oldsite/ar ticles/violence/viol ence.htm).

Some specific data is missing though. The data derived from the first graph is the overall violent crime rate, which is a generalization of crime gathered from all ages, when what most of America is stressing is the exposure of youth to violent content in video games. Another graph, sorted by age, shows that youth homicide actually dropped across the board and the only increase being among adults. Recently, the offending rates for fourteen through seventeen year-olds reached the lowest levels ever recorded (the D. O. J. report). In other words, the Playstation era has, in fact, produced the most non-violent kids ever (Duke Ferris, http://www.gamerevol ution.com/oldsite/ar ticles/ violence/violence.ht m).

The question of how graphic violence in video games influences this nation's youth has been debated for over a decade. Violent video games have few, if any, adverse effects on the vast majority of its audience and those who are negatively influenced often are unstable to begin with. As an eighteen year old gamer, I have a clearer perspective than politicians and parental groups. Not only that, but the U.S. Court of Appeals agrees with me (Patrick Masell, http://www.chuckhawk s.com/ video_violence.htm.) .

There have been about 300 studies on the effects of violent media, about 30 of which have been about video games. Most of these studies have found little to no connection, although some studies have found a small, casual correlation between aggressive people and violent media. Even if this is found to be true, it does not necessarily mean that violent media has created violent or aggressive people. It is more likely shown that aggressive people are attracted to violent media. Blaming violent media would be like going to the opera, noticing that most people there are rich, and concluding that opera makes people rich. There is also an analysis of the risk factors of youth violence showing violent media categorized as Small Effect Size. In fact, there are twenty seven risk factors that are rated higher than exposure to violent media, such as socioeconomic status, academic failure, poor parent-child relations, weak social ties, and being male (Surgeon General of the United States of America).

Comparing the views of most of America with the views being expressed, one may ask, "So is the media and the government flat-out lying to us?" The answer to this question is "yes", and they have been doing so for years; and it's working! It's how we turn tragedies like Columbine and the World Trade Center attacks into election votes and must-see TV. Currently put, the media in particular loves to bash video games, making sure to point out any time there is an Xbox within 50 yards of a crime. This is all because video games are the largest most flourishing competition every hour spent on interacting with a game is one hour less spent in front of their programming. Sparked by Columbine, conventional media consistently depicts gamers as odd shut-ins dangerously close to the precipice of violent behavior, and almost precisely misinterpret the games themselves without taking the time to check the facts (Duke Ferris, http://www.gamerevol ution.com/oldsite/ar ticles/ violence/violence.ht m).

Gaming is also a new trend, one that has recently become wildly successful. Young people play the games while the old folks don't understand them, therefore they must be bad. People fear what they don't understand and this happens to be true for most people. This trait also follows the pattern of the 1950s; rock and roll was linked to youth violence in the same way. The wild, tribal rhythms were going to turn America's youth into a horde of violent maniacs. Rock and roll was banned and censored all over the country. A bill was even put before Congress in 1955 to ban rock and roll altogether! Something exactly like what is happening now: Grand Theft Auto is a best-selling adult game that shouldn't be played by 12 year-olds. That's why it is rated 'M' and you have to be 17 or older to buy it. However, most games are not like Grand Theft Auto. In 2004, 54% of games were rated 'E' for Everyone, 33% were rated 'T' for Teen, and only 12% were rated 'M' for Mature. The vast majority of the best-selling titles every year are not rated 'M'. Compare that to the 55% of movies rated 'R' and only 8% rated 'G'. (the ESRB and the NPD Group).

After all, theres no problem with R-rated movies, mature rap lyrics or violent video games, because "there is no problem with youth violence". The truth is that these are the most non-violent kids we have ever had, and they all own Playstations. The government is so desperate to find some youth crime to crack down on that they're strip-searching kids for 10 bucks while locking up 11 year-old girls for throwing rocks and eating french fries. The most peaceful generation of American's in recorded history is being shoved through metal detectors, having their civil rights violated on a daily basis, are the victims of unreasonable search and seizure, and are treated with constant suspicion all because of a lie produced through the media (Duke Ferris, http://www.gamerevol ution.com/oldsite/ar ticles/ violence/violence.ht m).

The FBI has also just released its crime report for 2004. The violent crime rate has further dropped 2.2% since 2003. The number of murders is down by 2.4%. And our violent youth? "As for trends in arrests of juveniles for violent crime, a comparison of 2004 data with those of 2003 indicated that the number of juveniles arrested for violent crimes declined 0.8 percent, 5.5 percent compared with 2000 data, and 30.9 percent compared with 1995 figures." So the according to the FBI, the murder rate hit a new 40 year low in 2004. And to top that off, the best selling video game for the year of 2004? Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Given all the data that has been signified, the vast majority of media has been making incorrect assumptions on the effects of video games on youth. I have been playing violent games since the release of Mortal Kombat on the Sega Genesis console in 1993. Since then the majority of games I've played had a violent theme. There are the Mafioso games like Grand Theft Auto and the Getaway, which sport extreme violence, language, and sexual content. And horror games, such as Resident Evil, Blood Rayne, and The Thing, which contain more twisted and gore-filled images then any slasher film. According to people such as presidential hopeful Joe Lieberman, I should be "a ball of boiling hatred that will explode at the drop of a hat". However, as of today I have not committed any repulsive acts of violence, and certainly none that reflects anything in video games. But I am just one example. One would find a challenge in resulting that a student at Kearns High School (my local school) that hasn't played at least one of these games and as of yet, has not erupted in an orgy of gang warfare. In fact, the people who claim to be inspired by games to commit violent acts make up less then one percent of those who play video games. Now, with the knowledge that overall violence and youth violence has dropped considerably in the past couple of years, how can the theoretical assumptions and analysis's given by experts verify that violent content in video games truly effect the people, especially the youth, who play them? They can't!

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I thought that you would like to know that violence in video games isn't actually affecting you as much as you might have thought. Please comment me on this essay and tell me what you thought about it, and help spread the word about it! Thanks for taking time to read this.