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Nathan Huseman

English Composition I

6/3/2013

Recently, people have gotten the idea that violent video games are a direct link to violent behavior, the government has actually had scientists research if there is a link between the two. To me, this idea is absolutely absurd. For anyone to think that if you pick up a game like Halo or Call of Duty you instantly have homicidal thoughts and tendencies baffles me. “Sales of video games have consistently increased whereas homicides, rapes and aggravated assaults during this same time have decreased“ I believe violent video games do not lead to violent behavior but can influence a violent individual. As research by Dr. Patrick Markey, professor of psychology at Villanova University has indicated individuals who play violent video games are more likely to: expose others to loud noises, give hypothetical criminals longer prison sentences, report feeling more hostile on a questionnaire and give hot sauce to people who do not like spicy food. Violent video games cause a brief period of hostility after playing but not enough to make an individual go on an all out killing rampage. There are other contributing factors that can lead to violent tendencies that are influenced by violent video games such as poverty, gun availability, family environment. I, myself, play a lot of video games, I also have access to a gun my family owns for protection. Does that mean that after I get done playing a few hours of Halo that I am going to grab said gun and go shoot up a school or other public building? No I certainly will not! I am only one of millions who play games such as these. A lot of those players include teenagers, preteens, and even younger. Video games are like movies that you are controlling. They contain several aspects like imagination, creativity, friendship, accomplishment, wonder, passion, romance, learning, emotion, and sportsmanship. These are all aspects of real life, why should violence be spared the limelight? Violence is a part of life as we know it and isn’t ignored by any other form of media. In the early 1900’s dime novels got the same criticism and in the 1950’s it was comic books. “History doesn’t repeat itself but it rhymes” a quote I find rather appropriate in this matter. In an article written by Carol Pinchefsky, she suggests that violence in video games isn’t the cause of aggressive or violent behavior but the competition of the game. There are nonviolent competitive games that can ignite aggression in younger players. She states that “It is competitive video game play and