Violence in Video Games to Blame for almost all random acts of aggression?

Saying that someone committed a crime because they play "violent video games" is like saying that someone committed a crime because they brush their teeth. I don't understand how people can believe that. I'm not bashing either side of the argument, I am simply interested to see what other peoples' opinions are on the topic, and why they believe that. Yes, I understand it could open their eyes to certain things that they may not otherwise see, but with all the violence, drug use, and sex on TV today, why isn't that the first to blame? Instead, violent video games is the immediate response. Any thoughts?

Video games are the easy target for the ignorant who don' t know or don' t want to blame the right culprits. How can they openly blame today' s entertainment and low standards when it' s a huge source of wealth and power for the them?

yes it is teaching kids to use guns and desensitising them to the violencecheese_game619

yes it is teaching kids to use guns and desensitising them to the violencecheese_game619

Let most of the CoD kids fire a real gun and they will **** themselves. I guarantee it. I've seen it happen before. They don't expect the recoil and loudness :lol:The same is true for any real physical violence. I highly doubt that playing GTA will inspire people to actually threaten, assault, or kill people.

I suspect that only the mentally unstable and those predisposed to violence would be affected by video games.

PLEASE READ:

I know this may come a shock to you but in all honesty once you think about it, its hard to argue with the point I am about to make. I did a dissertation on the effects of Music to PRIME (note the word prime) agression. Now from this I obviously had to look into what else PRIMES agression and the pure sight of a weapon such as a gun, knife etc envokes agressive tendices. There is plenty of research on the subject so you will have no problem actually looking it up.

Anyway my point to keep it short is that people can/do become more agressive when playing games. How many of you trash talk? how many have you rage quited? I mean take any sport atleast, people become angry if they lose or there is foul play etc. Its a natural human reaction. Now with games this can be heightened for some individuals, as an example, those people who rage quit who might throw their controller, hit their keyboard or have to actually remove themselves from the console or PC because of how angry its made them.

However this does not mean, if you play games you shall start to pick up a gun and unload the contents of it into people. Again however to say "games have no part in this" is not correct, atleast to what I have found out. If someone who is unstable who then played a game of COD online, was then becoming frustrated, that occurance could PRIME an agressive reaction.

Obviously some games are worse than others for this on the level of visual priming. Mario for example, you are killing mushrooms by stamping on their heads. However this isnt seen to us as agressive behaviour that warrents a high certificate rating. But weilding an M4 and gunning people down is. What you make from that is your own personal opinion.

Its hard to have a rational conversation; let alone on these boards, however I get sick to death of people saying "video games do nothing to us..." its complete BS and ignorance. Of course they do and so do other things. Just with games there is more things to prime agressive behaviours such as actions the player has to partake in, the visual imagery, the sound track etc. It seems like nobody on either side of fence has come out to say whats actually going on. Developers are to protected over their games to say something that I believe is their responsibility because it may help stop future occurances from parents (long shot I know) but to see if their child is getting overly agressive, to simply take them away from it for a break.

[QUOTE="cheese_game619"]yes it is teaching kids to use guns and desensitising them to the violencegamerguru100

[QUOTE="gamerguru100"]

[QUOTE="cheese_game619"]yes it is teaching kids to use guns and desensitising them to the violencecheese_game619

The media also males it worse. I've heard that one news outlet claimed that Sandy Hook or the Aurora shooting was a few more casualties short of being deadliest shooting or some crap, as if it were some kind of contest.gamerguru100

[QUOTE="gamerguru100"]The media also males it worse. I've heard that one news outlet claimed that Sandy Hook or the Aurora shooting was a few more casualties short of being deadliest shooting or some crap, as if it were some kind of contest.cheese_game619

Violence has been around as long as people have been around. People act as if it were something new. The Mongolians and Romans didn't play video games, but they were pretty violent.

Of course.

I used to go out to steal cars and kill old hags all the time when I was playing Vice City.

yes it is teaching kids to use guns and desensitising them to the violencecheese_game619

I blame religion.

I once read Shakesphere and all the sudden I wanted to kill everyone and do my mother.

We should ban Shakesphere. He also made the word assassination. If that word didnt' exist, we wouldn't have assassinations and Lincoln and JFK would still be alive

But seriously, I think there's a very small effect on children but if you want to look at the root problem in all this, perhaps we should delve into the violent person's life. For example, child abuse and parental neglect, as well as sexual abuse can have a profound affect on a child. That doesn't mean we should automatically feel sorry, it's just that perhaps there needs to be a change in how we raise our children. It'll still not going to be perfect but raising and loving your child with reasonable discipline is better than raising your child with constant abuse and neglect.

It's like raising a dog. You raise your dog right, that dog will be a good dog. Raise your dog violently, it'll bite you back.

Why yall keep bringing up videogames,violent crimes usually come from boredom,being hungry for money,the rush of doing something crazy and peer pressure Bucked20

[QUOTE="cheese_game619"][QUOTE="gamerguru100"] Sarcasm? I hope. A video game alone doesn't teach someone to use a gun. Either a person teaches themselves how to use a gun or someone else does. I'm sure we're being desensitized to violence just from hearing the news all the time. It's always about something political or violent. Movies and music probably add to this. But who cares? Millions of people watch violent movies, listen to music about violence, and play violent video games, and they do not go out on shooting sprees with AR-15 rifles and Glock pistols. America's violence glorifying, gun-loving culture, easy access to guns, and mental illness have more to do with these shootings than some Call of Duty or Battlefield games.

gamerguru100

And hundreds of millions of gun owners don't go on shooting sprees, yet you're blaming our "gun culture". Hypocritical much?

If you're so anti-games, why are you on GS? Two-thirds of American households have at least one video game console. Taking away everyone's games will be about as easy as taking away everyone's guns...Almost impossible. There are hundreds of millions of them. We should stop blindly glorifying violence in the media and increase mental health care and educate people on this stuff, not ban games because a few people who may or may not have played a violent game go out on a shooting spree. Games have been a scapegoat for too long. gamerguru100

There certainly may be some association between increased violent tendencies and violent media. We just dont know. It's a hard thing to study. I think it's naive to make that connection without adequate evidence, but it's also somewhat naive to adamantly claim that there is no association. Some preliminary psychiatric and pediatric studies have shown some kind of link, but the evidence is not entirely conclusive.

LOL I'm a dumbass. Whatever. I'm just tired of video games being a scapegoat. That is all.

There certainly may be some association between increased violent tendencies and violent media. We just dont know. It's a hard thing to study. I think it's naive to make that connection without adequate evidence, but it's also somewhat naive to adamantly claim that there is no association. Some preliminary psychiatric and pediatric studies have shown some kind of link, but the evidence is not entirely conclusive.

sonicare

LOL I'm a dumbass. Whatever. I'm just tired of video games being a scapegoat. That is all.

gamerguru100

As always, Cracked offers the most succinct explanation i've read in a while....

The research I looked into it looked rather conclusive. o0squishy0o

Getting angry over a videogame doesn't make you violent, it's only a catalyst. The reaction would happen anyway in a different context that has nothing to do with videogames like card games or chess. It depends on the person.

The research you looked into is bullsh!t and you should feel bad if you think you can do inference on something like that. Even Pachter would laugh at the level of dumb your premises, execution and conclusion of the "research" are.

[QUOTE="cheese_game619"]yes it is teaching kids to use guns and desensitising them to the violencegamerguru100

Violence has been around as long as people have been around. People act as if it were something new. The Mongolians and Romans didn't play video games, but they were pretty violent.

TheHighWind

Violence has been around as long as people have been around. People act as if it were something new. The Mongolians and Romans didn't play video games, but they were pretty violent.

TheHighWind

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=school+shootings+history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States

Video games probably play some role in these recent violent acts. Stuff like this didn't happen twenty years ago. Why? Our society's mass media was not nearly as violently depicted as it is today. To say that the spike of violence in entertainment doesn't have any influence is pretty ignorant if you ask me. -Tish-

[QUOTE="-Tish-"]Video games probably play some role in these recent violent acts. Stuff like this didn't happen twenty years ago. Why? Our society's mass media was not nearly as violently depicted as it is today. To say that the spike of violence in entertainment doesn't have any influence is pretty ignorant if you ask me. N30F3N1X

I find it hilarious that The dutch purchase and play twice as much violent video games and they haven't had a school shooting since... ever.

I think it's plausible to say that violent video games make people more fond of violence in that those games portray violence as an amusement. However, that doesn't mean that it actually makes people go out and commit random acts of aggression; that's because violent video games portray violence as an amusement within a certain context, like, you know, playing a game in which no one is actually harmed because the characters are imaginary. That is pretty much obvious to anyone who is sane.

And anyone who thinks that violent video games are to blame is ignoring the mountains of evidence that show that the incidence of aggression is linked to many factors like socioeconomic status, institutionalized prejudice, oppression of minorities, and so on.

I find it hilarious that The dutch purchase and play twice as much violent video games and they haven't had a school shooting since... ever.zenogandia

[QUOTE="N30F3N1X"]

[QUOTE="-Tish-"]Video games probably play some role in these recent violent acts. Stuff like this didn't happen twenty years ago. Why? Our society's mass media was not nearly as violently depicted as it is today. To say that the spike of violence in entertainment doesn't have any influence is pretty ignorant if you ask me. zenogandia

I find it hilarious that The dutch purchase and play twice as much violent video games and they haven't had a school shooting since... ever.

:lol: I want to laugh at this as well.

I find it hilarious that The dutch purchase and play twice as much violent video games and they haven't had a school shooting since... ever.

zenogandia

The dutch also have the most violent music culture in the world. I'd love to see what these degenerates who think media is the cause for violence have to say about that ;)

[QUOTE="zenogandia"]:lol: I want to laugh at this as well.

I find it hilarious that The dutch purchase and play twice as much violent video games and they haven't had a school shooting since... ever.

N30F3N1X

The dutch also have the most violent music culture in the world. I'd love to see what these degenerates who think media is the cause for violence have to say about that ;)

[QUOTE="-Tish-"]Video games probably play some role in these recent violent acts. Stuff like this didn't happen twenty years ago. Why? Our society's mass media was not nearly as violently depicted as it is today. To say that the spike of violence in entertainment doesn't have any influence is pretty ignorant if you ask me. N30F3N1X

PLEASE READ:

I know this may come a shock to you but in all honesty once you think about it, its hard to argue with the point I am about to make. I did a dissertation on the effects of Music to PRIME (note the word prime) agression. Now from this I obviously had to look into what else PRIMES agression and the pure sight of a weapon such as a gun, knife etc envokes agressive tendices. There is plenty of research on the subject so you will have no problem actually looking it up.

Anyway my point to keep it short is that people can/do become more agressive when playing games. How many of you trash talk? how many have you rage quited? I mean take any sport atleast, people become angry if they lose or there is foul play etc. Its a natural human reaction. Now with games this can be heightened for some individuals, as an example, those people who rage quit who might throw their controller, hit their keyboard or have to actually remove themselves from the console or PC because of how angry its made them.

However this does not mean, if you play games you shall start to pick up a gun and unload the contents of it into people. Again however to say "games have no part in this" is not correct, atleast to what I have found out. If someone who is unstable who then played a game of COD online, was then becoming frustrated, that occurance could PRIME an agressive reaction.

Obviously some games are worse than others for this on the level of visual priming. Mario for example, you are killing mushrooms by stamping on their heads. However this isnt seen to us as agressive behaviour that warrents a high certificate rating. But weilding an M4 and gunning people down is. What you make from that is your own personal opinion.

Its hard to have a rational conversation; let alone on these boards, however I get sick to death of people saying "video games do nothing to us..." its complete BS and ignorance. Of course they do and so do other things. Just with games there is more things to prime agressive behaviours such as actions the player has to partake in, the visual imagery, the sound track etc. It seems like nobody on either side of fence has come out to say whats actually going on. Developers are to protected over their games to say something that I believe is their responsibility because it may help stop future occurances from parents (long shot I know) but to see if their child is getting overly agressive, to simply take them away from it for a break.

o0squishy0o

[QUOTE="N30F3N1X"]

[QUOTE="-Tish-"]Video games probably play some role in these recent violent acts. Stuff like this didn't happen twenty years ago. Why? Our society's mass media was not nearly as violently depicted as it is today. To say that the spike of violence in entertainment doesn't have any influence is pretty ignorant if you ask me. -Tish-

People who blame video games are just like those folks in the 1800s who argued that books taught people to sin or something.

[QUOTE="-Tish-"][QUOTE="N30F3N1X"]

ghoklebutter

People who blame video games are just like those folks in the 1800s who argued that books taught people to sin or something.

As always, Cracked offers the most succinct explanation i've read in a while....

Lotus-Edge

rofl, Dutch music culture. If such a thing exists it beats me. Or are you talking about the Morrocan kids in Rotterdam and Islamsterdam that imitate American rappers and street gangs?MrPraline

Hardcore techno

I never said that they definitely contribute. You don't think the spike in violence exposure in today's society is a plausible candidate for these mass shootings? The time period most definitely has relevance. -Tish-

No, I don't. It's true that exposure to violence can cause people to become violent later on, but it depends on the nature of the exposure. In violent video games, the exposure is very obviously in the context of amusement, the subtext being that all of the violence in the game is solely part of the game.

The only kinds of exposure to violence that actually engender violent attitudes are things like a child seeing his or her parents fighting or literally being raised to become violent.

[QUOTE="MrPraline"]rofl, Dutch music culture. If such a thing exists it beats me. Or are you talking about the Morrocan kids in Rotterdam and Islamsterdam that imitate American rappers and street gangs?N30F3N1X

Hardcore techno