Introduction

With development of technology the gaming industry became more advanced and the games started to become more real, violent and hence began the argument that violent computer games caused violent and aggressive behavior amongst children and adults alike. This blog shall explain why console (ps2, computers, Nintendo) video games are linked to aggressive behaviour and argue the fact that minor actions like gaming cannot change the complex human behaviour by providing concrete evidences to support the claim.

Why are video games considered to increase violent behavior..

Because of certain shooting incidents (in America and other countries) such as the:-

1. 1999 Columbine High School massacre
2. 2007 Virginia tech massacre
3. 1966 University of Texas massacre

After the events it was falsely concluded that as most of the attackers played violent computer games it had to be the source of their anger.

Instead it was discovered from recent studies that kids play games to get rid of their aggressive feelings in a safe manner.The games lets them forget about hard-work and worries of life and at times helps them become more peaceful. Also games helped children with social or learning dis-abilities to start relating and talking to their peers.

Studies on the topic have proved

Video games are found to be therapeutic for numerous kids helping them express their frustration, rebellion while enabling them to experiment in a harmless and non-threatening way.

Also it has been proved that in general, violent people are attracted to violent games more than people with calmer personalities and hence its the person and not the game that causes violence.

Grand Theft Childhood


A report done by Cheryl and Kutner(2008)(of the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Co-Directors at the Center for Mental Health & Media) after they discovered that most of the studies undertaken earlier were incomplete in important ways, they discovered:-
• Focus on groups with older respondents including older teens and college students.
• Subjects were exposed to pre-selected games and not games they would have normally chosen.
• Use of outdated games.

After their research they concluded after a study of 1254 (out of which 58% were males)middle-school aged game players that kids used the games to learn new things and to relax. Most of them preferred violent games following a tough day of hard-work as it helped them get rid of their aggressive feelings and ideas in a safe and non-threatening manner. Also it was found that most players tended to be less angry after playing a violent game. Moreover it was discovered that kids liked playing these games in groups which helped them lose their aggressive feelings even more.

Some concrete evidences

As most people are not convinced by researches done by universities and medical schools lets head on to some more concrete evidences.

The Final report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative


After the 1999 columbine high school shooting incidence the US Department of Education and the US Secret Service founded the safe school initiative to see if high school shootings can be stopped. They conducted a study and found out that even though one-eighth(12%) of the attackers exhibited an interest in violent video games it had nothing to do with promoting thoughts of violence in the attackers mind. But most of the attackers(37%) showed their interest in violence and aggressive nature in the form of their own writing such as poems, blogs, essays and art.

THE SCHOOL SHOOTER:A THREAT ASSESSMENT PERSPECTIVE

Report conducted by The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that “unusual behaviours, interests, hobbies, etc., are trademarks of the student destined to become violent and that you can’t easily identify would-be violent criminals or pigeon-hole people with one suspicious characteristic as potentially violent. They said that identifying a violent personality involves a pour step process which assesses: a person’s personality traits and behaviour, family dynamics, school dynamic and social dynamics.



Both these organizations were designed to find causes of violent behaviour and even after conducting a large number of studies they did not point to any significant influence of violent video games on the complex personality of a human.Hence they concluded that even though violent games might cause a spark of violence in the person it isn’t enough to change his nature to be more aggressive and violent.

Conclusion

After going through all the studies and researches we conclude that minor activities such as violent gaming cannot change and convert the human personality to be more aggressive in nature, on a larger level its helps people cope with daily pressure in a non-threatening way.
Some food for thought in the end...
What came first...
The Game
or
Anger

References

Jaques, R. (2008). Video games “do not” encourage violence. Retrieved from http://www.v3.co.uk/vnunet/news/2216732/scant-evidence-video-games

Mommymythbuster. (2008). Myth 14: Video games encourage violence. Retrieved from http://mommymythbuster.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/myth-14-video-games-encourage-violent-behavior/

O’toole, M. (n.d). The school shooter: A threat assessment perspective. Virginia: Federal bureau of investigation.

Schaffer, A. (2007). Why video games are really linked to violence. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/id/2164065

Vossekuil , B., & Reddy, M. (2002). The final report and findings of the safe school initiative: Implications for the prevention of school attacks in the United States. Washington: United States secret service and United States department of education.