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Amanda Brown
Mr. Geib Period 7
March 14, 2011
Video Game Violence
Video games, are they good or bad? Over the past couple of years people all over the
world have been playing video games for hours daily and it has been said to increase obesity,
poor social skills, and violence in young children all throughout the United States. Most parents
would say that yes, video games do indeed cause violence in young children, but their children
would beg to differ. In this paper I will show both sides of this debacle about video games
causing violence.
Most parents of children, mostly boys, usually say that yes, yes indeed video games do
cause my children to be more violent. Timothy Winter once said in one of his articles,
“Ultraviolent video games are harmful to children, and children should not be able to purchase
then without a parent involved in the sales transaction.” (Winter). In his entire article he talks
about how and why he thinks that video games cause children to behave more violent than out of
the ordinary. Throughout this article he also states that “The government should stop kids from
buying violent video games.” He says this because in his own opinion, including all the parents
who agree with him, they think that children playing video games such as Call of Duty, Modern
Warfare, Grand Theft Auto, and any other video game like that cause increasing violence in the
youth of today.
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In Ted Gregory’s article he interviews a man named Dave Grossman, a former soldier
and an expert on killing, about his personal opinion on video game violence. “I teach them what
we know about killing. What enables killing, what our psychological responses to killing are.
How we turn it on and off in our soldiers… and how we’re doing the same thing to our kids.”
(Grossman). When Grossman said that, he was saying that since he was a former soldier and he
knows lots about things related to killing and violence and that he teaches soldiers and cops
about killing and fighting, that when children play games all about killing and shooting people
we’re teaching them the same tactics as we teach soldiers in the army.
On the other perspective of this dispute about video game violence, almost all kids and
some adults would disagree with most people and say that no, video games don’t make kids
more violent. Although Grossman seems to believe that video games cause children to be
violent others also say, “The games clearly are fantasy, that other factors, including
dysfunctional parenting and children with delayed emotional and intellectual functioning, are
more serious factors in youth violence. A few opponents said the violent games actually provide
a healthy outlet for aggressions and a harmless way for adolescents to rebel.” (Gregory). A
woman that goes by Wendy Stogner, a mom of three boys, believes and stated in her article, “If a
child has no natural violent tendencies, then playing a game should not cause violence. If a child
is already violent beyond normal measures, then perhaps their parents should be careful not to
expose them to any more violence.” (Stogner). Her kids play and love video games, and they
play shooter games where the sole purpose is to kill everyone, but her kids aren’t violent. Her
children don’t roughhouse with each other any more than is normal for young children,
especially brothers.
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Another person that would agree with Wendy is man and his name is Michael D.
Gallagher. Gallagher is the president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, and
according to FBI statistics, “Youth violence has declined in recent years as computer and video
game popularity soared.” (Gallagher). In Michael’s article he talks about how there is absolutely
no evidence that violent video games cause minors to act out and be violent. He also speaks
about how there are parental controls, rating awareness and retailer support when buying a video
game, so if a parent doesn’t want their child playing a game then they can just not buy the game
or before they buy or rent it then they should check the ratings and see if they approve. “The
average video game player is 35 years old and has been playing for 12 years. Forty percent of
gamers are woman, and one out of every four gamers is over age 50. Video games are a mass
medium form of entertainment that is enjoyed today in a majority of homes by players of all
ages.”
My own opinion about this controversy concerning young adults playing violent video
games is that in some cases, yes they do, but in other situations no they don’t. I personally think
that it depends on the age of the person playing and how violent they were beforehand. I’m 15
years old as of now and I play video games a lot yet I’m not that violent and I have lots of friends
that are the same way too. But my friends little brother that’s about 7 or 8 years old on the other
hand, all he does is play Call of Duty: Black Ops and Modern Warfare all day when he’s not at
school or doing homework and he has been acting out and has been a lot more violent than his
older brother who’s around 13 years old, who plays the same games as him the same amount of
time. So my theory about this issue is that if a child is already violent and tends to rebel, don’t
let them get any worse by tainting their mind with that stupid stuff.
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I’ve given my own opinion and both sides on the argument on whether or not video
games cause violence in young adults. But now that you have read what I had to say, what
Timothy Winter and Dave Grossman had to say, and what Wendy Stogner and Michael
Gallagher have had to say about this ordeal, the decision is yours. Video games, are they good
or bad for the young minds of today?