Do Video Games Affect You Enough To Be The Cause Of Mass Shootings?

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Over a million violent crimes are commited each year. Some of these crimes are mass shootings by people you could never imagine to be the ones doing it. These people are teens that attend high school just like their fellow classmates. With these young people commiting these crimes, many wonder if video games with blood and gore are driving these teens to commit these crimes. Though it may be guessed this coud be the cause it simply isnt true,Video games don't affect you enough to be violent,It takes a lot of games to be violent at all, and mental illness plays a bigger role Mental illness plays a bigger role in violence than anything else. Most if not all who commit extreme crimes are clearly mentally ill, Erik Kain makes draws our attention …show more content…

People who may suffer from mental illness may not be able to have a proper grasp with reality. Kain points out how “Not everyone can draw lines between fiction and reality” Those who play video games and have a grasp with reality can know that games like GTA V are just a game while others may somehow see it as something completely different. Kain is pointing out how yes, these shooters are addicted to video games, but their mental illness is what is actually causing them to go out on these violent rampages since they can’t decipher what is truly reality. Just because you play video games it does not make you a violent criminal. Many argue how Terrible people playing these games are addicted to video games, making video games …show more content…

More playing time can lead to more violence. Carey states “Some studies in schools have found that over time digital warriors get into increasing numbers of scrapes with peers”. You must play a ton of video games to have this kind of effect where you are getting into fights simply over the fact you play video games. Most kids don’t get long time exposure to video games. According to the ESA about 95% of kid’s parents monitor what they play (1). This monitoring likely involves limiting time. Kids aren't getting long time exposure because their parents prevent it. Teens also know how to monitor their own time on games. Some believe parents don’t control how much their kids play on video games and those kids may be the ones causing the school shootings,Though this may be true under strong circumstances about 15% of kids playing time goes unmonitored, these are likely the kids in high school who already have the skills to monitor their own time and keep their priorities straight. In a graph by Adam Thierer you can see that about 99% of parents are aware of what their kids are playing in 2007 but only about 85% of parents actually monitor and control what they are playing. the other 15 percent are likely older kids near the age of 18 who don’t need their parents to baby them on what they are playing since they are mature enough to control