Video games are often blamed for violent outbursts in young people. Too often those stricken by tragedy look for a scapegoat to explain why someone they thought was a good person did something evil. We were bombarded with the connection between video games and the Columbine high school shooters. The two responsible for the 1999 massacre were fans of Doom and Castle Wolfenstein, two games that portray a great deal of violence. Critics argue that playing these games desensitized the perpetrators to the violence which enabled them to carry out these horrible acts in real life. Parents of some of the victims filed unsuccessful lawsuits against video game publishers, blaming them for the violent outbursts.
While it is natural to look for something to blame, video games are not the problem. The Columbine shooters had many influences, including the movie Basketball Diaries and the extremely violent Natural Born Killers. Both perpetrators had histories of depression and mental conditions brought on by school bullying.
The bullying issue probably gets to the heart of the problem. Kids who like to play video games and participate in other "geek" pursuits tend to be considered outcasts by their peers. They are frequently quite intelligent and misunderstood. What is misunderstood in high school is often ridiculed relentlessly. Instead of going after video games, parents should make sure that their kids are either not the victim of school bullying or are not participating in school bullying. There is nothing more hurtful than being made fun of for doing something you enjoy.
Video games are an easy scapegoat. They frequently portray acts of extreme violence. Some games even glorify criminal activity, violence against women, children and animals, as well as other despicable acts. These kinds of games are difficult to defend. In the words of Evelyn Beatrice Hall, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Video game producers have every right to produce violent games. You may not like it, but for the sake of free speech, you should defend that right. Anyone who goes out and commits an act of violence is mentally disturbed and would do so whether they played a video game or watched a violent movie. Study after study has demonstrated that playing violent video games does not significantly increase the risk of violent activity.
This does not mean that parents should allow their children to play violent video games merely that playing the games does not dramatically increase violent activity and certainly is not a valid indicator that a certain individual will commit a violent act.
The Secret Service released a report entitled The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States where they found that only about 12% of violent school attacks exhibited an interest in violent video games. In one key finding they wrote, "The prevalence of bullying found in this and other recent studies should strongly support ongoing efforts to reduce bullying in American schools. Educators can play an important role in ensuring that students are not bullied in schools and that schools not only do not permit bullying but also empower other students to let adults in the school know if students are being bullied." We need to follow this advice and get to the heart of the real problem instead of wasting energy blaming video games
While it is natural to look for something to blame, video games are not the problem. The Columbine shooters had many influences, including the movie Basketball Diaries and the extremely violent Natural Born Killers. Both perpetrators had histories of depression and mental conditions brought on by school bullying.
The bullying issue probably gets to the heart of the problem. Kids who like to play video games and participate in other "geek" pursuits tend to be considered outcasts by their peers. They are frequently quite intelligent and misunderstood. What is misunderstood in high school is often ridiculed relentlessly. Instead of going after video games, parents should make sure that their kids are either not the victim of school bullying or are not participating in school bullying. There is nothing more hurtful than being made fun of for doing something you enjoy.
Video games are an easy scapegoat. They frequently portray acts of extreme violence. Some games even glorify criminal activity, violence against women, children and animals, as well as other despicable acts. These kinds of games are difficult to defend. In the words of Evelyn Beatrice Hall, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Video game producers have every right to produce violent games. You may not like it, but for the sake of free speech, you should defend that right. Anyone who goes out and commits an act of violence is mentally disturbed and would do so whether they played a video game or watched a violent movie. Study after study has demonstrated that playing violent video games does not significantly increase the risk of violent activity.
This does not mean that parents should allow their children to play violent video games merely that playing the games does not dramatically increase violent activity and certainly is not a valid indicator that a certain individual will commit a violent act.
The Secret Service released a report entitled The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States where they found that only about 12% of violent school attacks exhibited an interest in violent video games. In one key finding they wrote, "The prevalence of bullying found in this and other recent studies should strongly support ongoing efforts to reduce bullying in American schools. Educators can play an important role in ensuring that students are not bullied in schools and that schools not only do not permit bullying but also empower other students to let adults in the school know if students are being bullied." We need to follow this advice and get to the heart of the real problem instead of wasting energy blaming video games
