My Thoughts And Opinions On: Do Video Games Make People More Violent (Part 2)
Time to Debunk Baseless Claims And Empty Blanket Statements (It's What I Do Best!)
About a few
days after 9/11, video games briefly became public enemy number one
again. The irony was that the game in question had a "E" (Everybody)
rating. It widely reported by the major news outlets hijackers were able
to commit their act by simulating it extensively using the Microsoft
Flight Simulator. A claim that was later proven false, as the hijackers
received real flight training in Florida.
As widely noted, even though the Flight Simulator provides the
opportunity for a person to fly a plane virtually, it's not a substitute
for the real thing. It was reported that The Flight Simulator was
removed from store shelves at Virgin Megastores and Woolworths in the UK
shortly after the disaster. Even if the hijackers did use the software,
that alone wouldn't have provided them with the capabilities to carry
out the attack. That's like someone making the claim that just playing
Call-Of-Duty alone can turn the gamer into a super-soldier. For those
that embrace this mindset, military-grade-training isn't necessary in
that claim. Will watching The Terminator turn me into a killer cyborg?
World Trade Centre to be removed from MS Flight Simulator
WWW.THEREGISTER.CO.UK
More
researchers delved into the study of video game violence and it's impact
on society. Since the studies were in their infancy, their wasn't much
to go on at first. Around 2005/2006, I was in sociology class, and we
were given the final assignment of researching a topic to study and
write a report on. Since I was playing a lot of PC games at the time, I
thought that I would cover the topic of video game violence and it's
impact on society. The studies were still in-progress, but a lot of the
information that we now know has already been confirmed by that point.
If video games did cause violence, then youth crimes rates should
be at their highest levels ever recorded given their mainstream appeal.
This isn't the case. Crime was already at a 30 year low when I did my
assignment. It has fallen some more since I did my assignment. Youth
crimes had fallen greatly since 1994.
Homicide Rates Among Persons Aged 10–24 Years — United States, 1981–2010
CDC
WWW.CDC.GOV
The Rise and Fall of American Youth Violence (PDF)
Urban Institute
WWW.URBAN.ORG
Extensive studies have been done and they couldn't find a divisive link between video games and violence.
Studies have been done to refute those bogus, sensationalist claims.
These games are
played around the world, but yet, only in this country did they see a
significant problem with crime and gun violence (Mass-shooting do happen
in other countries, but statistically, their tend to be isolated
incidents, and not the norm as in this country). Also, their have been
mass shootings before video games became prominent as well. In fact, the
studies at the time were already reflecting that time spent playing
video games wasn't time spent committing criminal acts. Basically, games
were keeping youths out of trouble, not causing it as commonly
believed. And this was in 2005/2006.
There have been countless studies that show that people often gravitate to these games because it's a reflection of there interest, not a influence that causes people to become violent. Correlation does not equal causation. People play these games because it reflects there interest, not causes it. In the instances where video games were the "blame", the one who committed the crime was already going through mental or social issues, suffering from abuse or some other personal issues, and often has easy access to firearms.
There is no conclusive link between video games and violence. The studies have been going on for around 20 years now, and they failed to make the connection. One study did note that their was a short-term burst of aggression when people play video games. At the same time, that study also note that various other activities, like sports activities, watching movies, and playing games or partaking in contest (essentially anything), also caused these short burst of aggression as well. That study, like the other ones, failed to make a long-term connection between video games and violent behavior though. The chance of short burst of aggression is basically the worst you could say about video games violence.
There have been countless studies that show that people often gravitate to these games because it's a reflection of there interest, not a influence that causes people to become violent. Correlation does not equal causation. People play these games because it reflects there interest, not causes it. In the instances where video games were the "blame", the one who committed the crime was already going through mental or social issues, suffering from abuse or some other personal issues, and often has easy access to firearms.
There is no conclusive link between video games and violence. The studies have been going on for around 20 years now, and they failed to make the connection. One study did note that their was a short-term burst of aggression when people play video games. At the same time, that study also note that various other activities, like sports activities, watching movies, and playing games or partaking in contest (essentially anything), also caused these short burst of aggression as well. That study, like the other ones, failed to make a long-term connection between video games and violent behavior though. The chance of short burst of aggression is basically the worst you could say about video games violence.
News Media, Public Education and Public Policy Committee
The Amplifier Magazine
Division 46 (Society for Media
Psychology and Technology) of the
American Psychological Association
WWW.DIV46AMPLIFER.COM
New Study Shows That There Is No Link Between Violent Video Games And Aggression In Teenagers
Forbes
WWW.FORBES.COM
Violent video game engagement is not associated with adolescents' aggressive
behaviour: evidence from a registered report
Royal Society Publishing
WWW.ROYALSOCIETYPUBLISHING.ORG
Every Country Has Video Games, Only One Has A Mass Shooter Problem
IGN
WWW.IGN.COM
How playing video games affects your body and brain
Business Insider
WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM
The Evidence that Video Games Lead to Violence Is Weak
Psychology Today
WWW.PSYCHOLOGYTODAY.COM
Do Video Games Inspire Violent Behavior?
Scientific American
WWW.SCIENTIFICAMERICAN.COM
Violent Video Games Don't Lead to Increases In Violent Crimes, Study Finds
GameSpot
WWW.GAMESPOT.COM
El Paso And Passing The Buck
I take very
particular offense when those who have strong opinions, but yet, highly
uninformed, rail against a topic based on opinions not grounded on
research.
What I find
upsetting about the politicians response to the El Paso shooting is that
with the vast majority of these shootings, there are specific reasons
why they occur; extremism. This has been pointed out by countless
individuals. Extremism knows no religion, race, or political
affiliation. However, the vast majority of extremist crimes in the past
10 years have been committed by white-supremacist. Statistics reflect
this.
Combined this with the second very obvious problems; easy access to high-powered weapons. Hand-guns and rifles were never a issue during the whole gun-control debate as one couldn't kill massive amounts of people in such a short amount of time with weapons that serve as much a defensive purpose as offensive. However, many are getting their hands on high-powered guns that were by nature designed to kill massive amounts of people quickly in a short amount of time. Weapons that serve purely a offensive purpose.
Instead of acknowledgment of these two very obvious issues, people are
quick to look for scapegoats to pass the buck. It's very annoying when
several will do a hit piece demonizing video games based on claims that
haven't been substantiated by science, but yet proclaimed as the gospel
truth by those that don't want to take the time to research the topic on
hand. Also, many wanted to quickly pass the buck to deflect attention
from the gun-regulation debate.
I do consider gaming as one of my personal (occasional) hobbies. A s a result, I take very particular offense when those who have strong opinions, but yet, highly uninformed, rail against a topic based on opinions not grounded on research. I would hold concerns if there was a validated link between violence and video games. This isn't the case however. One would think that in the information era with access to statistical data at one finger tips, one would be much more enlightened. Unfortunately, many are still living in the information dark age. Extensive studies have been done and they couldn't find a divisive link between video games and violence. Studies have been done to refute those bogus, sensationalist claims.
Combined this with the second very obvious problems; easy access to high-powered weapons. Hand-guns and rifles were never a issue during the whole gun-control debate as one couldn't kill massive amounts of people in such a short amount of time with weapons that serve as much a defensive purpose as offensive. However, many are getting their hands on high-powered guns that were by nature designed to kill massive amounts of people quickly in a short amount of time. Weapons that serve purely a offensive purpose.
A Call Of Duty reference made in the shooter's manifesto. Leave it to
the talking heads on Fox News (why am I not surprised) to misinterpret
the COD reference. It said NOT to live out your life like a
super-soldier in COD. In short, the shooter was telling his followers
not to treat shootings like a video game. Despite this though, Trump
went on blaming everything under the Sun for the shootings except the
things that was actually responsible for the shootings.
What makes this event very different from what occurred after
Columbine was that the "video games cause violence and mayhem" banter
was quickly debunked. The research was still in it's infancy after the
shooting at Columbine. This wasn't the case after the El Paso shooting,
where this topic had been covered in far more extensive detail. As a
result, many quickly realized that when the politicians (and Fox News)were
blaming video games, they were trying to pass the buck, looking for
that convenient and familiar scapegoat, and change the dialogue so
people didn't focus on the topic of the regulation of high-powered
firearms and extremism inspired by political rhetoric. It was simply a
political ploy that many quickly saw through, plain and simple.
I do consider gaming as one of my personal (occasional) hobbies. A s a result, I take very particular offense when those who have strong opinions, but yet, highly uninformed, rail against a topic based on opinions not grounded on research. I would hold concerns if there was a validated link between violence and video games. This isn't the case however. One would think that in the information era with access to statistical data at one finger tips, one would be much more enlightened. Unfortunately, many are still living in the information dark age. Extensive studies have been done and they couldn't find a divisive link between video games and violence. Studies have been done to refute those bogus, sensationalist claims.
Analysis: Why it’s time to stop blaming video games for real-world violence
PBS News Hour
WWW.PBS.ORG
Video Games Aren’t Why Shootings Happen. Politicians Still Blame Them.
New York Times
WWW.NYTIMES.COM
More Articles of Interest
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
BROWN, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA, et al. v .
ENTERTAINMENT MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION et al.
Cornell University Law School
Legal Information Institute
WWW.LAW.CORNELL.EDU
THE FINAL REPORT AND FINDINGS OF THE
SAFE SCHOOL INITIATIVE: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SCHOOL ATTACKS IN THE UNITED STATES
UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE AND
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
WWW2.ED.GOV
New Scientific Study Shows That Playing Action Video Games Is Good For You
Forbes
WWW.FORBES.COM
New Study Finds No Link Between Gaming And Sexist Attitudes
Forbes
WWW.FORBES.COM
Video games unlikely to cause real-world violence, experts say
CNN
WWW.CNN.COM
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