Ammar AlQuran

Mrs. Allison
Period 3
January 5, 2015

Dont Put It On Video Games

No one knows for sure what sinful and vile thoughts crossed Adam Lanzas mind the
heartbreaking day he put 27 others to death besides himself. Theories have been developed that
Lanzas murderous rampage was a result of the excessive amount he played violent video games,
and that the content of said video games led him to commit a violent act in the real world.
However, many people honestly believe that these video games are not the sole reason for a
savage act such as the one in Sandy Hook on December 14th, 2012. This belief is due to the fact
that most parents have an uneasy feeling towards their children constantly playing video games,
thereby providing a scapegoat for parents to use based on just a few cases where school
shootings have happened with video games being involved. Another reason people believe that
violent video games are not mainly the cause of these infamous shootings is because crime rates
in the most populous U.S. cities have been the lowest in a decade. Interestingly enough, this falls
in accordance with the sales of these video games increasing swiftly. Finally, people believe that
video games are not to be blamed for this cause, owing to the fact that the main motive for
school shootings is mostly along the lines of mental illness/revenge.
In todays society, parents are invariably attempting to provide their children with
alternatives to entertain themselves. Although this attempt is having no effect whatsoever,
parents have discovered a way to put blame on video games by finding that a few of the worst
school shootings in U.S. History have had a backstory involving them. The evidence is shown at

http://www.brophybroncos.org/roundup/index.php/2013/11/violent-video-games-used-asscapegoat-for-recent-shootings/, which describes and accurately explains the situation in which

parents are using these incidents as a part of their fight against video games. Only because a few
of these infamous school massacres have coincidentally had a violent video game background to
them, it has led adults to believe that they have an effect on young minds. The point that these
adults are missing is that, even though video games do not come about the story in most
shootings, the incidents that do involve them arent even mainly based off of them. The Sandy
Hook School shooting is believed to have happened because the perpetrator, Adam Lanza, was
bullied. www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/adam-lanza-abused-sandy-hook_n_3086468.html
states the fact that he was abused while he had been a student there. Another quote in the article
states that, while he underwent this type of treatment, he also kept a mass spreadsheet of other
school massacres and was influenced by them. As it says, It's been previously reported that
Lanza may have been influenced by other mass shootings. The Newtown shooter apparently
kept a huge, meticulously detailed spreadsheet of other mass murders and attempted killings.
This suggests that Adam Lanza was not completely aroused from having played the video games
he had possession of. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the perpetrators at the Columbine School
Massacre, were dreadfully bullied and treated poorly before going on their mass murder to kill
anyone with a white cap (referring to the jocks who they had been bullied most by). Seung-Hui
Cho, another perpetrator, this time of the Virginia Tech School Massacre, was mentally ill and
had no influence from video games whatsoever.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/2004/04/the_depressive_and_
the_psychopath.html describes the faulty behavior towards Eric and Dylan, with a quote saying,
They were taking revenge against the bullies who had made school miserable for them. This
means that the dual-perpetrator shooting at Columbine did not happen because of the video
games they played.

The second reason that leads others to believe that violent video games are being
wrongfully condemned is the statistic from an AVID Weekly article that stated that the crime
rates in even the most populous cities have dropped to the lowest in decade(s) as the sales of
video games with intense content have risen. It is backed up by the article
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/05/24/study-video-games-actually-lower-crime/ which
explains the crime rate drop is an effect of violent video games sales increasing dramatically. It
is proven by a University of Texas study which states, The study found that for every 10 percent
increase in the number of violent video games sold, the crime rate dropped by 1 percent. That
suggests violent video games might be a solution, as violent video games may be a way for
people to virtually commit violent acts rather than hurting a human being in real life. This is
being further examined and researched to discover other statistics that suggest violent video
games are not a cause of violent acts. According to the AVID Weekly article aforementioned in
the paragraph, crime rates in the four largest cities in the USA (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
and Houston) dropped significantly as the sales of violent video games went on the rise. This
means that parents have the wrong idea as to what the effects of violent video games are. Often,
school shootings are not caused by this factor judging from this stat.
http://www.polygon.com/2013/2/13/3983830/violent-video-game-sales-coincide-with-dropin-violent-youth-crimes is an online article that explains the situation in which violent video
games coincide with the drop in violent youth crimes. It states, High sales of violent video
games do not result in spikes in crime rates, instead correlating with a decrease in violent youth
activity, according to research statistics shared in The New York Times. This denotes the fact
that video games are helpful in some ways for reasons unknown. As shown by multiple statistics,
video games are ultimately a help in terms of the crime rate in the USA.
Finally, the main reason its argued that violent video games are not the cause of violent
acts is due to the fact that the perpetrator is either mentally ill or seeking vengeance for bullying
aimed towards him in the events leading up to the violent act. An online article,

http://www.criminaljusticeschoolinfo.com/homicide.html states the main motives for

homicidal acts and acts such as those. The article states nothing relating to violent video games
or anything of the sort. This proposes a theory that violent video games have caused less violent
acts than people may think. Bullying is one of many personal conflicts involved.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/05/13/us-deaths-usa-idUSTRE64C53R20100513,
another online article, states that the largest cause for murder in the USA and violent youth acts
are caused by personal conflicts, stated in the previous sentence. This is basically to suggest
bullying, which is a personal conflict in itself. That is another crucial statistic that is in favor of
violent video games remaining in the USA, as it stays out of the common motive list of homicide
acts committed in the USA. Finally, yet another article from The Times Herald,
http://www.timesherald.com/lifestyle/20140930/villanova-professor-violent-video-gamesdont-cause-real-life-violence-in-most-cases talks about how the amount of violent acts caused
by violent video games are minimal and are mainly along the lines of other things. Many things
suggest that motives for homicide are caused by mental illness, money, revenge, or robbery.
Violent video games are seldom included in these statistics, and if so, in an extensive list.
Despite having a large collection of evidence supporting the fact that video games are
being wrongfully blamed, it is essential to recognize the other side of the argument. Infamous
school-shooting assailants have had a recurring tendency to play these violent video games in
the events leading up to the massacre. Furthermore, an aggressive attitude is commonly
developed after playing a game with a violent tag, since committing murderous acts in a video
game leads people to/ thinking about committing the same act in the real world. It has captured
the undivided attention of many, as Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, and Adam Lanza played violent
video games for the majority of their time. This is a vital piece to assess.
That finalizes the argument. It is believed that violent video games are not to blame for
these violent youth acts. Overall, the statistics show the decrease in crime rate as the sales of
these games rise. Evidence also shows the motives of homicidal acts are rarely because of violent

video games, and mostly happen for other reasons that vary between cases. And finally, parents
have ignored the background behind these specific incidents in question that have happened
supposedly due to violent video games. These specific acts have involved other motives, yet
parents do not pin it on that because it does not become addicting to their children. Whatever it
may be, adults are mistaken and should realize that violent video games are not as bad as they
think they are.