Violent crimes and aggression can be motivated by violent video games. Columbine school shooters(Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold) and theater shooter(James Holmes) all played these games. They would play these games for long hours daily. Studies show violence is motivated by the games that kids are playing. They act out these violent and illegal actions on their games and then do them in real life. Most of the teens in todays generation can honestly say they have played a violent video game at least one time in their lives.
Therefore, they have had to act out a violent action. There are many ways this can affect a child’s behavior in a negative way. Violent video games allow children to act out violent actions on a type of screen with some type of remote. The violent behavior the act out can be complimented and rewarded with achievements. The reward these kids get may make them feel better about themselves and make them more prone to act out in violent ways and in violent behaviors outside of the game.
Kids are mislead by these games by thinking that the violence they are acting out is “ok”. The reward the children are getting is increasing the urge to act out in violent and illegal ways. In a interview in 2007 Evan Ramsey states after sneaking a 12-gauge shotgun in to his Alaska high school killing plenty of his peers & wounding plenty of others such as the High Schools teachers and staff (Jaccarino). This unhealthy obsessive addiction with violent video games has been seen as a growing influential factor to great violent behavior in children.
Years have gone by and specialists have been observing and studying of the variety of health hazards that violent video games may cause on individuals. A large number test and observational studies have been proven to find the true effect of violent video games and how they influence aggressive behavior and thinking towards children of all ages. Violent video games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto are negatively affecting children, expected behavior by excessively cultivating violence, inappropriate language and sexual content.
Over the years violent video games have been a favored popular source of entertainment for most of today’s adolescent generation. Most teenagers would say they have played at least kind of violent video game in their lifetime. Today violent video games are mostly rated “M” (for mature audience) allowing only adults to buy them but it seems as if the retailers do not care & sell to minors anyways. Therefore more minors have got their hands on any type of violent video game promoting and exposing these teens to violent behavior, nudity, sexual acts, and inappropriate language.
There are main reasons why violent video games have an effect on a child or teenager’s behavior. First, violent video games expose and allow children to be a part of the actual game itself by using some type of remote controller, making them actively involved in the violent, sexual, or illegal acts set on the screen. With expertise in video games enhanced, the productivity on violent videos games moved up as well. When a game called “Mortal Kombat” was released in the early 1990’s with a grisly death seen in the game, the US Congress had to intervene.
They told the gambling industry they had to come up with a correct grading method to rate the games on age-appropriateness and content- appropriateness. This brought on the “Entertainment Application Rating Board. ” While rating each video game and posting that rate on them has improved access by little kids, teenagers and young adults can still buy and view violent scenes (Miller-McCune, 2015). In 2007, there was a tragic event at Virginia Tech University.
A young man by the name of Seung Hui Cho went on a rampage on the campus and killed a total of 32 students and faculty (Ferguson, 2007). Cho admitted to watching videos games before the rampant killing, and like the “Columbine massacre” people blamed the Virginia Tech shooting on violent video games. There were also other mental health factors that attributed to this senseless act of violence. In the year 1999, a tragic shooting at Columbine High School occurred. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students, along with teacher at the school.
Soon after the killing spree of their fellow students and teacher, they both shot themselves. After the killing spree, a police gave the public a videotape of both the boys. In the video, both boys made the comment saying it would be “just like Doom” (p. 423). “Doom” is a violent video game that burst on the market in the 1990’s. Since the “Columbine massacre” and the shooting at Virginia Tech, scientists have more thoroughly studied whether violent video games causing aggressive behavior can be linked together (Morrow, Jeff, 2007).
Since the beginning of media, after violence was introduced to it, hundreds of studies have focused their research on viewing these violent acts and aggression. Kids are becoming exposed violent behavior and killing everyday by buying these violent gruel video games. Violent video games sale goes up, and so does the crime rate and violent behavior of minors in the generation today. Children and teenagers are becoming more and more exposed to these violent and illegal activities causing these unhealthy behaviors.
