violent video games?

I wish my old computer was still alive. I had a 22 page sociology paper I wrote on the subject.

Long story short... I don't believe that violent video games (no matter how grotesque) make people violent. In the same way that watching Rambo this weekend didn't make we want to move to Thailand and start decapitating the local rebels.

Video games, like movies, are just a way for people to escape reality, not to hone their skills for a future massacre. Its the equivalent of saying people that listen to heavy metal will eventually start dressing in black trench-coats and gunning down their peers. We both know this is not true.

A lot of people like to focus on the negative aspects of gaming, but there is little, if any, truth to any of these arguments. In fact, there are many good things that can come from gaming. For example, I believe that my higher than average IQ is linked directly to the fact that I played many text based video games when I was young. This is actually how I learned to read and expand my vocabulary.

Crazy people will be crazy people. And people in relationships to crazy people will always want to find excuses for the crazy behavior, so that they have a scapegoat and can sleep a little easier. Video games, music, movies, etc. do not suddenly turn people into murderers, rapists, etc.. Millions of people play videogames and are perfectly fine. Anti-video game arguments are the equivalent of saying since 1 out of 10,000 car drivers are murderers, then driving cars must make people murderers.

Video games only impact people in such a way if they are susceptible to suggestion. They do not make violent people. Violent people happen to play videogames, but that does not mean videogames caused it. In terms of children, parents must take responsibility. It is the parents purpose to raise their children and to help development. If parents cannot or do not teach their children the difference between fantasy and reality, they're doin a pretty sloppy job. Nevertheless, children imitate what they see, regardless of whether they totally understand it or not, and some children carry videogame experiences with them. Parents have to teach children what is appropriate behaviour, if they cannot, they are at fault more than anything else

i am a gamer and am not violent you can go on line and they will blame things on video games i have heard a lot of things like halo teaches people how to snipe. And i know that i play violent video games or fighting games with big combos to let off some steam. I play violent video games and thats all i really play and i dont go around beating people up or causing any more trouble then the other 16 year old boy

I wrote a paper on this ages ago.. My general conclusion was that in:

young children, below the age of 7, violence in any form of stimulus affected their behavior. Above this age violence in video games doesn't affect the mind as much, and as the child grows up the less it affects them. My sources for this were from different studies done, and outside information that dealt more with child development that I got from an old psych teacher.

Teenagers, particularly those doing school shootings, play violent video games. I cited a bunch of articles on this from specific school shootings and a few school violence/troublemakers. I then stated my opinion, which I didn't back up (shame on me) that teens in general are drawn to violent video games and that these statistics were merely coincidence.

I didn't add adults to my paper, but it would be an interesting study. Many adults do not have time to play video games, but do those that do have similarities, particularly in violence? This would be an interesting question to examine. Sadly most cases of domestic violence, crime, and so forth do not say one way or the other as to the perpetrator's video game preference.

I personally find the level of violence in some games very disturbing, and I am sure games could be enjoyed without it!

I also think that the reaction to violent games could depend on the mind of the player, and also that people that already have a violent tendency would be more drawn to playing the violent games.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4594376.stm -

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8449 -

Tests have shown that violent video games reduce the amount of violent activity in every day life because when people are able to vent the violent part of their brain that need is reduced.

Violent video games don't make people violent.

If they did, logically someone who plays Grand Theft Auto 4 will go around shooting people, stealing cars, etc.

But, according to that "logic", if someone plays Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08, they'll become a pro golfer.

As you can see, the "logic" that makes some people think violent video games make people violent is full of holes.

I have played my share of violent video games & i never have been a violent person unless I'm forced to defend myself.

I like christhe...'s answer. It makes complete sense and sounds reasonable. I respect that answer, but I believe games do influence your behavior. Like I said, christhe... answer makes sense and sounds right, but I think that violent games, such as GTA, give players desire to do such things in the game. Maybe not use the cell phone on GTA to use cheats, or probably not fly a helicopter and kill people. But in a way so there would be more fights on the streets or more car stealing. If I had to predict 10 years from now, the amount of crime WILL change. It will either increase due to influences of many things, or decrease due to a society that will become a better place. I don't expect to have the same amount of crime 10 years from now.

I play GTA and do crazy suff(which I listed above: using cell phone for cheats and helis to kill), but all my friends consider me to be "nice." That's because most of my friends know that I don't cus. GTA involves cussing, but you knew that! : )

Happy researching!

i play the most violent video games out there and im not a violent person at all