On March 8, 2018, in reaction to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, President Donald Trump hosted a meeting with several representatives from the video game industry to discuss the supposed of issue of real life violence sparked by violence depicted in video games. This controversial idea is nothing new. People have criticizing and calling for legislations on violent video games since the early 1990s. However, time and time again it has been shown that there is no evidence showing a solid correlation between fictional violence depicted in video games and violent acts committed in real life. People should not direct blame towards video games for it is not only unjust and false but diverts attention away from real solutions to real life violence. The call for legislations and restrictions on video games is a fundamentally flawed and hopeless endeavor. Just one day after the mass shooting in the Parkland, Florida high school, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin, without evidence, pointed towards video games and their supposed corruption. …show more content…
A 2017 study by the Entertainment Software Association showed that 67% of American households own a device that is used to play video games and 65% of households are home to at least one person who plays video games 3 or more hours a week (“Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry” 4). A 2015 Pew Research Center study states that 72% of all American teens play video games (84% boys, 59% girls). Because of the sheer amount of people who play video games, it should be of no surprise that a person committing a violent act has played them. Patrick M. Markey, PhD, Director of the Interpersonal Research Laboratory at Villanova University, says that pointing out a criminal’s video games is “as pointless as pointing out that the criminal also wore socks” (Markey 292). This correlation in no way implies a causal