Seth Klee

Mrs VanRiper

English 10

13 May 2019

Video Games and Violence

Video games are a widely discussed topic today. For good reason, seeing as 72% of teens

play video games (Lenhart). One of the main talking points about video games is whether or not

they cause players to act violent, and there is many people that believe they do. But, video games

do not cause violence.

For starters, there is plenty of studies showing video games do not cause violence. For

example, a recent study from the University of Oxford, being called “one of the most

comprehensive studies to date,” agrees video games don’t cause violence (Barder). This is

certainly not the only study that shows this. Some studies even show there is positive benefits to

video games, such as cognitive benefits like reaction time, decision making, and memory; and a

study on teenage boys showed they allowed them to work through frustration and that they use

them as social tools (Gray; “The Role of Violent Video Game Content in Adolescent

Development”). Why would you let an unbacked, even opposed, belief that video games cause

violence stop your kids from playing games when there is solid proof that they positive benefits?

There is also a correlation in the decrease of violent crimes and video game sales. A

study that analyzed crime rates a month or so after a surge in video game sales showed that crime

rates, especially violent ones, drop. (Carey). In fact, since 1996 video games sales have more

than doubled while from 1994 to 2010 juvenile crime rates fell by more than half (Carey). If
video games caused people to act more violent, then why would there be this correlation and

why would the crime rate go down so much while video games have become increasingly

prevalent in today's society? It’s possible that these games provide the players with an outlet for

their frustrations.

Lastly, the Supreme Court even agreed that video games do not cause violence. In 2011,

California attempted to pass a law banning the sale of violent video games to minors and the case

got taken to the Supreme Court. In the Supreme Court's majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia

said “Psychological studies purporting to show a connection between exposure to violent video

games and harmful effects on children do not prove that such exposure causes minors to act

aggressively. Any demonstrated effects are both small and indistinguishable from effects

produced by other media,” (Conditt).

Some people may claim that there are still studies that show video games cause violence.

But, many of these studies are flawed. In 2013, 228 researchers, psychologists, and academics

signed a letter disavowing previous APA research because it was so flawed (Tach). The letter

said there was “methodological flaws, ideological biases, and conclusions drawn from

inconsistent or weak evidence,” (Tach). In the Supreme Court case talked about in the previous

paragraph, they had also rejected to consider evidence they relied upon because “most of the

studies suffer from significant, admitted flaws in methodology,” (“Only a Game: Why Censoring

New Media Won't Stop Gun Violence”). So many of the studies that claim video games cause
violence are very unreliable and flawed. The results would not be the same if the flaws and

biases in the studies were eliminated.

In conclusion, there are many reasons to believe video games do not cause violence.

There is many studies that back this, there are positive benefits to video games, crime rates go

down when video game sales go up, the Supreme Court agreed, and much of the evidence that

says they do cause violence is biased or unrealistically tested. It is time for video games to no

longer be demonized and for the debate to end.

 Works Cited

Bailey, Ronald. “Violent Video Games Don't Make Players More Violent IRL.”

Reason.com,​ Reason, 14 Feb. 2019,

reason.com/2019/02/14/violent-video-games-dont-make-players-mo/.

Barder, Ollie. “New Study Shows That There Is No Link Between Violent Video Games

And Aggression In Teenagers.” ​Forbes​, Forbes Magazine, 16 Feb. 2019,

www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2019/02/15/new-study-shows-that-there-is-no-link-bet

ween-violent-video-games-and-aggression-in-teenagers/#584d0b9d328e​.

Campbell, Colin. “Do Violent Video Games Actually Reduce Real-World Crime?”

Polygon​, Polygon, 12 Sept. 2014,

www.polygon.com/2014/9/12/6141515/do-violent-video-games-actually-reduce-real-wor

ld-crime​.

Carey, Benedict. “Shooting in the Dark.” ​The New York Times,​ The New York Times, 11

Feb. 2013,

www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/science/studying-the-effects-of-playing-violent-video-ga

mes.html.

Conditt, Jessica. “For the People in the Back: Video Games Don't Cause Violence.”
 Engadget​, 8 Mar. 2018,

www.engadget.com/2018/03/07/video-game-violence-trump-meeting-esa-nra/​.

Ferguson, Christopher J. “It's Time to End the Debate about Video Games and

Violence.” ​The Conversation​, 1 Oct. 2018,

theconversation.com/its-time-to-end-the-debate-about-video-games-and-violence-91607.

Ferguson, Christopher J. “Video Games Don't Make Kids Violent.” ​Time,​ Time, 7 Dec.

2011, ideas.time.com/2011/12/07/video-games-dont-make-kids-violent/.

Gray, Peter. “Cognitive Benefits of Playing Video Games.” ​Psychology Today,​ Sussex

Publishers, 20 Feb. 2015,

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201502/cognitive-benefits-playing-vi

deo-games​.

Lenhart, Amanda. “Teens, Technology and Friendships.” ​Pew Research Center:

Internet, Science & Tech,​ Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, 1 Feb. 2016,

www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/teens-technology-and-friendships/​.

“Only a Game: Why Censoring New Media Won't Stop Gun Violence.” ​Mediacoalition​,

21 June 2013, mediacoalition.org/only-a-game/.

Tach, Dave. “Researchers Express Concerns about APA Task Force on Violent Media.”

Polygon​, Polygon, 30 Sept. 2013,

www.polygon.com/2013/9/30/4786466/group-of-228-calls-on-apa-to-review-media-viole

nce-research.

“The Role of Violent Video Game Content in Adolescent Development.” ​SAGE Journals,​

2008, journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0743558407310713.