Games: Media Violence Essay

Submitted By makkhi916
Words: 342
Pages: 2

It's in video games, movies, books, music videos, cartoons, the nightly news, on the web and even in commercials. Violence is literally everywhere in media. And it's becoming harder to avoid. With the explosion of the new advanced technology and the access of 24/7, we see at least some form of violence everyday. In the article, "It's Important to Feel Something When You Kill" Dave Grossman claims that "interactive violent games and media violence are teaching kids to kill everything that come in their path without even giving it a second thought," and it is a "junk" culture. To demonstrate, Grossman gives examples of video games such as Time Crisis and Doom, and a horrific event of Heath High School shooting that happened in 1997. He points out that these games are changing our kids in a negative way and helping them become "killers." According to him, labeling these games as "fun" sends all the kids the message that killing is fun and the realistic graphics of the game leaves a very small window of confusion between fantasy and reality. Although Grossman's claims have some truth and evidence behind them, I believe that media violence is a tool that could help thousands to control their rage and impulses rather than keeping them buried inside our children and it can teach people a lot about essential life skills such as innovative and strategic thinking, creativity, and cooperation. In his research, Gerard Jones suggests that violent media can be used to treat people who