History Of Violent Video Game Violence

97% of kids from the ages of twelve through seventeen play video games. More than half of the 50 best selling games are considered violent. This shows that more than half the amount of kids that play video games, play one that is considered violent. (ProCon.org) Violent video games are harmful to society because there is a history of violence linked to them and they cause addiction, they increase aggression in players, and they also teach immoral behaviors.

There has been a recent run of very controversial violence in the U.S. The killers in these massacres were described as addicts to the video games. From the Columbine shooting in 1999, to the two 2012 massacres, Aurora and Sandy Hook. All perpetrators from U.S massacres in between

A test was taken with 70 french university students. A group was assigned to play violent games on consecutive days such as Call Of Duty 4. The other group was to play non-violent such as Dirt 2. The groups were in testing to see the hostile or aggressive reactions. The group that played the violent games had more violent reactions such as cursing, and getting angrier much easier. This shows that violent video games cause aggression.(Nauert). 90% of pediatricians agree that video games increase aggression in children. The United States Army uses video games to train soldiers to kill. Yes, The Army. It enlisted game developers to create a game called Marine Doom. It was used to recruit soldiers and train them. (ProCon.org) This shows that even an important industry knows that video games increase violence and used it to their

In games such as Call Of Duty, it takes 5-6 bullets to hit a target to kill them, also, the “victim” spawns and are alive again. This is a problem because some gamers can’t draw the line between fiction and reality. It is shown especially in young children as well. In 2013, an eight year old boy shot and killed his grandmother, not even ten minutes after playing Grand Theft Auto Four. This shows that even young kids are influenced by the killing in the video games. The child figured his grandmother could get back up and be fine, He didn’t know the difference between GTA and real life.(Russell). In some games, it will reward the player for killing multiple people by leveling up, gaining XP (Experience Points), and allowing them to unlock a bigger, better weapon. Studies suggest that when violence is rewarded, aggression in players increases rather than when violence is frowned upon.