Video Games and Violence: Both Sides of the Argument

Background

Does playing a video game make you prone to commit real-life violence? This question has been an issue since the very early 90's when violent games like Doom and Wolfenstein were released, but only in the last half a decade or so (mainly since the incident at Columbine, Colorado, 1999 Ð'- when it was revealed that the teenage shooters were avid video game players) has it really come to the majority's attention. The key issue that both sides can't agree on is whether people should be allowed to play violent games or not. I think both sides agree that extremely violent video games should not be played by young children, who have a harder time separating reality from fiction; also, the media does indeed only report one side of the argument. There have been numerous studies claiming both that violent games correlate to real-life violence, and that there is little or no such correlation. The problem is that there is no concrete evidence of a causal conclusion between video game violence and real-life violence. If there was such a conclusion, both sides would likely be able to come to an understanding, but as it stands now, they are in a stalemate.

Article 1: Report

In the article "Violence in Video Games," (Anonymous, found on 123helpme.com) the writer is adamant about the fact that violence in video games/music/movies is not to blame for violence in society. He/she believes that the violence in games actually decreases violent tendencies in individuals by allowing people to vent their frustrations without hurting anyone. Also the media is just latching on to the idea that violence in games promotes violence in real life to gain ratings, because it's an easy scapegoat. The media glorification of the psychopathic violence that sometimes occurs (and is supposedly related to video games) actually gives the perpetrators the attention they want.

The writer explains that people blindly believe that playing violent video games makes the player violent, but from personal experience he/she states that video games do not cause violence: "For me, if I am mad, playing such a [violent] game vents out my anger and I am no longer mad, and no one has been hurt." Also this applies to movies, and music: "If I watch a movie and someone gets killed, it is not going to make me go kill someone like in the movieÐ'... If I were to start listening to music with violent lyrics, it would not make me become violent at all. If I am violent in the first place and listen to violent lyrics, it is not the music's fault I was violent."

Article 1: Evaluation

This argument is short, to the point, and is an argument to certainty. When reading the article, one notices that the writer uses many absolutes ("not to blame at all," "total opposite," etc.), and never uses any "probability" words (e.g. "may," "possibly," "could," etc.), except when such use favors his argument: "In videogames, it is sometimes possible to be a violent character." The selective use of this vocabulary clearly shows that the writer intends absolute certainty with this argument.

The writer also exaggerates and generalizes excessively to sway others to his point of view: "Music is just that, music, and nothing more. If I were to start listening to music with violent lyrics, it would not make me become violent at all." It is obvious that music can quite often inspire emotions such as joy, sadness, calm, suspense, or anger to name a few. Why is it so impossible that it could lead to violence? Such use of exaggeration is often used when arguing to certainty, because if you don't stop to think about if it is true or not, it is easy to believe such claims.

This article deals with the problem that people believe that violence in video games, music, and TV results in violence in real life. The writer is very quick to point out that people believe this, and this belief can be blamed on the media. It is a well known fact that the media will report on anything that will get them better ratings. As the saying goes, "If it bleeds, it leads," so the author is correct in this aspect. However, while there have been many news reports condemning violent video games, there have also been a few defending video games, with research to back up their point of view; but, these shows are mainly on channels like G4TechTV, which does not reach nearly the same amount of viewers as stations like CNN and Fox.

There is a large amount of research by many respected academics that show the correlation between video game violence and real life violence (Bartholow, B.D., Sestir, M.A., Davis, E.B., 2005). However, that does not mean video game violence is the cause of real life violence. As other studies by equally respected academics show, people that are already predisposed to violence tend to gravitate towards playing video games (Delamere, F.M., 2005). There is no proven causal conclusion to be drawn from all the research done on this subject; although, the writer tries to draw his own conclusion: "I believe that [violent video games, music and movies] do the total opposite and allow us to vent some of the built up anger we have that leads to violence." If only he provided some kind of concrete evidence to prove his point, it would sound much more credible.

The author does not provide any suggestion of a solution to the main issue: How can we prove that violence in video games does not lead to real life violence?

I believe that this argument tries to bite off more than it can chew. If you are going to argue to certainty, you need more than wild accusations and exaggeration to prove your point. The writer should have found data to back his argument up, and cited it. A few graphs of violence trends or references to sociological studies proving his/her point would have gone a long way. As it stands, this argument has too much conviction, and too little credibility.

Article 2: Report

In the article, "Violent Video Games," Rachel Ray (2003) begins by referring to the youth shootings in West Paducah, Kentucky, and Columbine, Colorado. She states that in both cases, the boys were said to be addicts of the violent video game Doom. Also, there is "an undeniable correlation between violent video games and youth behaviour." Ray then states her own position in the matter: "I personally believe that violent and aggressive video games have an affect on young children, and in turn can cause them to commit crimes."

However, Ray also believes that parents involvement in a child's life can play a key role in to what extent children are