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Video Games And The Desensitization Of Today's Youth

951 Words4 Pages

Punishing violence, crime, discrimination, torture, prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse…these images plague the American landscape and keep viewers tuned into the evening news. They are also some of the same traits that make video games increasing popular and have critics believing violent video games contribute to school-aged violence. Despite these allegations, there remains no measurable connection between violence in video games and the desensitization of today’s youth or the motivation to commit violence. Video games and the gaming community have grown year after year with children now spending a substantial amount of their time playing games, many of which are contain violence. One such game that has grown in popularity is Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto” in which players take on the criminal persona armed with a “wide array of weaponry” and are able to “…kill hundreds of characters, including civilians, police officers, and gang members” (Haynes). It is this type of game that fuels the notion of monkey see, monkey do…asserting that violence is infectious and impacts the mental well-being of children. …show more content…

The Center for Innovative Public Health Research reported that in 1994, nearly 500 out of every 100,000 youth were arrested in suspicion of violent crimes. In 2011, the rate of youth violent crime had declined by 60% to a rate of slightly over 200 arrests for every 100,000 youth (Chen). Likewise, in the 1990s the video game industry was beginning to bloom as manufacturers flooded the market with new gaming systems, graphics and game designs. Today it is estimated that 97% of American teens play video games

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