Do Video Games Cause Violence?

What's one question asked more and more by the media after a mass shooting? Did the perpetrator own a video game console? It's always the first thing at which the media looks. You know, apart from whether or not the shooter upvoted a Trump tweet.

Do violent video games have an affect on children? And, if so, should the game designers be blamed for an increase in mass shootings?

Well, let's look at the numbers of mass shootings. It certainly feels that they're on the rise, doesn't it? I mean, it seems we hear about a new one every couple of months. However, Many criminologists and psychologists disagree on that point. Actually, overall violent crimes in the US are trending downward, it would seem.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were big gamers, both were players of the game Doom. On April 20, 1999, they shot many of their fellow students at Columbine High School. It was said that they were very anti-social and spent many hours playing this game. The media would have you believe that the anti social behavior was caused by the video game. However, there's no way of knowing which caused which.

As I said before, one question asked after a shooting is "did the perpetrator own a game?". Well, nowadays, that's kind of like asking "did the perpetrator own a toothbrush?" Who DOESN'T own a video game?

I remember back when I was a kid, the big violent video game was 'Mortal Kombat'. Any politician who wanted to earn easy political points would hold up the cartridge and yell about how we poor children were being corrupted by evil video games. All I can say is this, I played that game every friday night with my friends at Round Table pizza; and, as many of my friends can attest, I'm the kind of guy who wouldn't raise his voice if he was on fire.

People say video games promote anti-social behavior. In rebuttal, I present this: the online game. Games are a social experience now. In a way, they always were. I remember sitting on a couch with my friends playing games like Goldeneye, Star Fox, and Street Fighter. Most people would look at us and think "Why don't they play a real game together?" However, if they really watched, they'd see us talking, joking, laughing, and overall having a good time. Not to mention the times we'd sneak our Game Boys into school and battle our Pokémon at recess.

Video games don't promote bad behavior in children any more than hula hoops did in the '50s, or The Beatles did in the '60s.

Now you might say, "What about the violent ones? The 'Call of Duty's and the 'Doom's?" That's why the ESRB exists. The big "M" that sits on the corner of the game with the guns and blood on the cover? That means the game isn't meant for little Timmy. Parents need to take an interest in what their kids are playing. Just as the 'Friday the 13th' movies are rated R and aren't meant for kids, so are the games rated M.