Violent Gaming | Teen Ink

Violent Gaming MAG

By Anonymous

     Many people believe that violent video games should be banned, claiming that they have a negative effect on people. Some even say violent games make people commit violent acts. These games do influence human behavior, which isn’t always positive, but this does not mean that they should be banned.

If a child began playing violent video games at a young age, then he might think that violence in real life is the same as the game violence and that it doesn’t have a real impact on others. However, most children can distinguish between virtual violence and real violence.

Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine conducted a survey of 44 males and discovered that after 30 minutes of playing violent video games, subjects showed “increased activity within the amygdala (part of the brain involved in emotional arousal).” When the same group played non-violent video games, the opposite effects were seen. Doctors concluded that more research would need to be done to prove that playing violent video games increases violent behavior. Thus, this study provided no conclusive evidence that video games cause aggressive behavior.

People often try to excuse their actions and find a scapegoat. Some blame music, others movies, and some blame video games. We seem to have forgotten that our world is a violent place. Years ago video games were innocent - “Pong” in the 1970s and, in the 1980s, “Pac-Man.” In the 1990s “Mortal Kombat” - a violent game - became popular.

Today games are extremely violent. Take, for example, the “Grand Theft Auto” series. In these games the main character is a man who has connections with the mob. Players can steal cars and money and even murder. This game isn’t an evil, conjured-up thought of some sick person; these things happen every day!

The evolution of video games from innocent to violent reflects our society’s evolution. Much of the daily news focuses on war and murder. Video games just reflect our violent world.

I enjoy playing video games, especially violent ones. Whether I am virtually mowing down people with a semi-automatic, or hacking them into tiny little bits with a ninja sword, I enjoy it.

After playing, I might talk about how cool it was when my character jumped over two guys and sliced them in half, but I - unlike the Columbine killers - will not carry that into real life. Both Eric Harris and Dylan Kiebold, who murdered 13 people at Columbine High School in 1999, played “Doom,” a game used by the U.S. military to train soldiers to kill. Harris had a website with his own version of “Doom,” which an investigator said the boys were playing in “God” mode. Obviously, the video game itself didn’t cause Eric and Dylan to murder; rather, they had problems to begin with.

In many video games the characters are nimble and can perform unreal stunts that most people only dream of doing. That, I believe, is the joy of video gaming: doing something you can’t do in real life.

Some countries have resorted to banning video games. Australia currently holds the record for the most banned games. Most were banned because of their violent content, which led to censored versions being released. Germany has banned “Mortal Kombat” due to its violence, as well as a couple of games containing Nazi symbols. The U.S. has not banned any video games yet. Saudi Arabia hasn’t prohibited violent video games either, but it has banned “Pokemon: Blue” for allegedly promoting Zionism.

I believe that games don’t kill people, people kill people.



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This article has 14 comments.


i love this so much!

on Apr. 11 2017 at 11:45 am
thewritebrother GOLD, Powell, Ohio
10 articles 0 photos 6 comments
alright, this claim "The evolution of video games from innocent to violent reflects our society’s evolution. Much of the daily news focuses on war and murder. Video games just reflect our violent world." makes no sense to me. I actually feel that humans as a whole aren't becoming less violent, but rather better at it through technology. for example, we were able to invent nuclear bombs, however using them are now considered a war crime, yet if the aching greeks had that tech only for alexander the great to come across it, BOOM! every one would die because A), alexander already broke records for killing people and B), he got drunk a lot so he probably would've used the bombs to solve overly simple personal matters. of course, the knowledge to make such a weapon may cancel out the brain's capacity to think committing overly violent acts. but violence was literally considered more ligitimently acceptable by some cultures at the time. nowadays, we panic when even fictional characters hurt each other, especially around kids.

mplo said...
on Dec. 30 2015 at 9:37 am
That's why guns do kill or permanently maim people.

mplo said...
on Dec. 30 2015 at 9:35 am
I don't believe that banning violent video games altogether is the answer, but I do think that parents must educate their kids about the important difference(s) between fantasy and reality, if one gets the drift.

on Apr. 2 2015 at 2:37 am
Allen. PLATINUM, Palo Alto, California
32 articles 9 photos 525 comments

Favorite Quote:
[i]No matter how much people try to put you down or make you think other things about yourself, the only person you can trust about who you really are is you[/i] -Crusher-P

Using facts to fight opinions. You've done a very good job.

elly said...
on Apr. 2 2015 at 2:35 am
I believe they should band theses violent video games people deem because they will corrupt children.

o.jgp said...
on Jan. 20 2015 at 12:42 pm
Guns dont kill people,internal bleeding,bleeding out and organ damage kills people.

on Feb. 20 2014 at 11:19 am
I like this

rockyraccoon said...
on Jun. 17 2011 at 10:13 pm
rockyraccoon, Fort Wayne, Indiana
0 articles 0 photos 54 comments

Favorite Quote:
today tommorow next month next year all look remarkably gray.

i agree panning violent games wouldn't help and if they did ban all violent video games the media would just saying metal music or such was causing things like columbine.

lolz said...
on Jan. 11 2011 at 1:58 pm
guns dont kill people, people with guns kill people

lawl66 said...
on Apr. 6 2009 at 5:44 pm
Well, I agree, and dont agree. If we ban violent video games. They can still play violent online games or watch violent movies. The games have ratings for a reason, and if theres a kid playing these games its the parents responsability. If someones mentaly unstable, and wants to do these things that they see, there parents, teachers or workers need to step up and tell them its not o.k, and tell them when its time to shut it off.

RedRangerLOL said...
on Jan. 21 2009 at 9:40 pm
I loved this article. I enjoy Fallout 3 or Grand Theft Auto as much as the next guy, only I don't grab my dad's shotgun and run out into the street to kill people because my game brainwashed me to do that. I play games because, like you said, I can do what I normally couldn't. My anger builds up inside, and then I release it to help me succeed. Great job!

wolfmongoose said...
on Nov. 23 2008 at 3:31 am
When I play violent games, such as Turok, Tekken, or any Star Wars games, I feel the same as I do when playing Mario, Sonic, or Zelda games. It's all the same, in a way. In each game, you have goals or missions. On one game, a goal can be to shoot and kill all your enemies. On another, it can be to hop up onto platforms and collect a star. For me, its all a game. The "people" you kill are nothing more than little lights on the screen. I don't focus too much on content or graphics. If I want to play a shooting game, I'll play star wars, but Asteroids or Galaga will entertain me just as well. Games are becoming almost too realistic, and I'll laugh in the face of the rich fools who must have every system as soon as it comes out. No offense, if I am talking about you. Some people say that violent video games release anger. When playing Pac-Man, the anger goes away and I relax and sink into the game. When I'm angry, and I play Tekken, the anger builds, and actually helps me win. I play newer games also , and own a Nintendo DS, but my two favorite games are Tekken3 and Galaga!

BlueRanger said...
on Oct. 17 2008 at 3:04 am
*claps* Awesome. I love violent games. Especially the dark, Japanese ones - Persona 3, for example, where you shoot yourself in the head with a gun-like thing called an Evoker. Persona 3, like many of Japan's anime and videogames, involve high school students doing something that people in real life can't do. That's what's so fun about videogaming, as you said: "Doing something we can't do in real life."