Do Video Games Cause Violence Research Paper

Do Video Games Cause Violence?

On April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School, 13 people were massacred by two teenage shooters who were avid players of the videogame Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. People debated over whether these violent video games influenced the two kids to commit this terrible crime. Supporters of video games stated that there was no real connection to whether these games were a cause of this tragedy, while people who are against violent video games state that the games were the leading cause. Were video games a factor of this? I believe the answer is no. There is no real evidence connecting video games to an increase in crime rates among people who play video games. While video game sales have increased since 1996, the number of total violent offences has gone down. There has also been precautions taken in order to prevent young children from picking up a particularly violent game. These factors prove that there is no connection based off of evidence to where video games are a contributor to real life violence.

While most older people would tell you that video games are the cause

California Attorney General Dan Lungren lists a major concern, which is that violent video games have "a desensitizing impact on young, impressionable minds." While the American Psychological Association has stated, "The research demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behavior ... and decreases in ... empathy and sensitivity to aggression," they have found no link to an increase in violence. In addition to this, there have been precautions taken, such as the ESRB, to make it difficult for a young child to pick up a particularly violent video game. The evidence has also been against this opinion. While violent video game sales have gone up, murder by juveniles and violent crime rates have