Arguments
against Violent Video Games
One
of the arguments that continue divide society corresponds to the connection
between youth violence and violent video games. On one hand, supporters
continue to emphasize how the use of this platform induces deviant behavior. On
the other, critiques continue to highlight inconclusive evidence to showcase connections
both in the short and long term. Arguably, the arguments connecting violent
video games to youth violence remains to be flawed and inconsistent due to its
inability to provide sufficient evident to support the claim, lack of
statistical data to back the claims and the potential benefits that can be
gained from playing violent video games.
The
most apparent criticism concerning violent video games contribute to youth
violence comes from the lack of sufficient evidence to support such claim.
Supporters of the argument continue to mention how children exposed to violent
video games have a high tendency to commit deviant behavior. However, this
contention remains to be flawed and suffer from either tampered measures or
inconsistent ways to assess behavior. Arguably, this fixation towards violent
video games fails to provide appropriate justification as to the long term
impact to the youth as well as a bigger challenge happening in society today. Shaw
in her argument provides that, “these games only exist in the first place
because society already glorifies violence and facilitates the creation,
distribution, and purchase of such games” (1). This quote goes to show that
violent video games are not the cause but one result of man’s inclination to
violence and conflict.
Statistical data also challenges the
connection between violent video games and youth violence. Rather than
demonstrating the youth to be inclined to violence due to video games, the numbers
provide an alternative view of the situation. Shaw argues that, “despite the
growing global popularity and engagement with incredibly violent videogames and
extreme media portrayals of violence, violent crime rates in many Western
countries have actually been falling over the last decade” (1). Equally
valuable to point out is that there are other correlations surrounding violent
video games that have limited connection to condition such as anti-social
behavior. Romeo Vitelli in his article contends that, “while psychological
studies designed to correct for these problems continued to show a link, other
studies turned up no relationship at all between video game violence and
antisocial behavior in children” (1). All these challenge the notion of supporters
claim that numbers support violent video games and youth violence.
Lastly,
critics also contend how violent video games remains to be a good avenue for
people to understand the repercussions of this behavior. Here, players are able
to recognize the challenges and consequences of violence in a virtual world.
This in turn equips them with the right familiarity of how the environment
works and the necessity of preventing this to happen in real life. ProCon.org
contends that “violent games also allow youth to experiment with issues such as
war and death without real world consequences” (1). Having a good idea of what
this means enables players to learn valuable information of the outcomes of
violence and also take into consideration the importance of rules in the
maintenance of peace and order.
In
summary, the arguments presented illustrate the arguments against the claim
that violent video games promote youth violence. Here, the lack of sufficient
data, contrasting numbers and the potential impact of violent video games offer
ways to show how the supporting claims remain to be flawed and inconclusive.
Though there continues to be a divide that exists between defenders and
critiques of violent video games, it clearly demonstrates the reality that this
issue remains to showcase the nature of violence and the social constructs that
have shaped its manifestation through violent video games.
Works Cited
ProCon.org. Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence. 10 Mar. 2014. Web.
Accessed 28 June 2014.
Shaw, Julia. ‘Time to rethink the video games and violence debate’ CNN World. 5 Dec. 2013.
Web. Accessed 28 June 2014.
Vitelli, Romeo. ‘Can Video Games Cause Violence?’ Media Spotlight. 1 Apr. 2013. Web.
Accessed 28 June 2014.
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