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Does Violence In Video Games Link To Real World Violence?

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Ralph Califano
Kathryn Fischer
ENG-101-012
27 Oct. 2015
Does Violence in Video Games Link to Real World Violence?
Every day, through multiple mediums, video games are being played all around the world. These games range from the child based Super Mario Bros. series, to the omnipresent over popularized shooter series: Call of Duty. Video games are a great thing as they allow the user to become part of this new world, to be immersed into a different reality away from their own. But there is a particular trending thought that due to the high immersion, video games have psychological effects on children and adults alike, potentially leading to actual violent acts in society. Despite this being such a prevalent thought shared by the media, there …show more content…

But I see the thought as viewed from an improper angle. It is true that video games do increase aggressive behavior, but it is “not the violence aspect that creates this aggressive behavior. It is actually the inherent competitive nature within video games” (ProCon.org), as many video games have a multiplayer option in which you battle against other players. Of course natural competitive instincts kick in and it is no wonder that if one were to lose it could create aggressive behavior. It is just like with football and the different teams people cheer for, people get excited and often times aggressive if their team is losing, this exact behavior can be applied to video …show more content…

Video games help a child learn to make “split second decisions, looking for different solutions to a problem, and learning to master concepts instead of simple memorization.” (Villines)
The biggest thing that has confused me as a gamer over the years discussing this controversy is how it came about. I admit that video games have increased by substantial amounts over the years, but research shows that with the rise of violence in video games “(Video game hardware and software sales increased by 204% over 20 years), the rate of violent crimes among juveniles has decreased by 37% and solo murders among juveniles have dropped by 76% in that same time period”. This goes to show that there is no true causal connection between violence in video games and actual

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