Controversial Issue of Video Games

Written by Murad Dawood
 The controversial issue of whether or not video games cause violence has been around since the 1980’s. Over the years, just like any other piece of technology, video games have advanced quite a bit. The games are more realistic, and bloodier than ever. There are many studies that have tried to prove

whether or not there is a correlation between video games and violence. The United States is one of the

most dangerous countries in the world. It statistically has higher homicide rates. If video games are the main cause of violence every country should have roughly the same statistics. Some can argue that not all countries have access to the same video games the United States has access to, but in Japan the video games are even more violent than the video games we have here. There are many other factors that people do not take into consideration. It is too easy to point fingers in a situation like this. At times music can promote violence, parents can also be the cause of a child being violent, even our very own presidents have the reputation of being violent. Not every child that swings a sword or shoots a gun in a video game is going to become extremely violent because of it; not every girl that watches a Disney movie is going to run away from home and marry a prince. Video games are just another form of entertainment; they do not make children more violent.
 A common misconception is that only children play video games. Adults are more trusted with video games since they are old enough to know right from wrong. Sixty-seven percent of households in the United States play video games; of this sixty-seven percent, seventy-five percent are at least eighteen years old. There are many different kinds of video games out there. There are racing games that allow you to tune cars until they can go 200 miles per hour. If a child grows up playing those video games he would be just as hesitant to speed in a real car as any other kid. Children are not stupid. At some point, if not right away, they know that there are some things you can do in a video game that you cannot do in real life. I would imagine that a racing game would improve a person’s driving. It can teach someone how to use a map, and make you more aware of your surroundings.
 My all time favorite video game is “The Legend of Zelda”. Since it is not based on real historical events it is hard to say what time period it is set in, we can assume it is somewhere in the Middle Ages. The weapons are not very modern. There are swords, hammers, ball and chain, and many other weapons that you can use. The first time I ever played a Zelda game was when I was eight years old. I have been playing the same series of a video game for twelve years. Though I do enjoy doing everything in the games, I have never felt the need to repeat actions that I see in the game in real life. I have never used a weapon, not even in a fight. It is too easy to just blame children being violent on any violence we see. Other video games that are more realistic and use weapons such as baseball bats and guns have also been out for a very long time. It doesn’t matter what weapon you use or how the game looks it should still have the same effect on children. Since Zelda never had an effect on me and Call of Duty never had an effect on any of my friends, it is hard for me to believe that other games have had an effect on other kids.
 I have seen many children less than three years old hit other children of many ages. At first the parents are blamed since the kids are not being exposed to any kind of violent media, but once video games

come into the picture we forget that the parents were there the whole time. If violence in video games causes violence in real life, it would only make sense that more than fifty percent of the country should be violent, since more than fifty percent play video games. It would also only make sense if I was violent because I have been playing The Legend of Zelda. If video game technology keeps improving at the rate it has been going at, soon we will not be able to tell the difference between a video game and a movie. No one is killing in real life because they are killing in a video game. A more believable statement than “video games cause violence” would be “claims that video games cause violence, cause violence”.
 Works Cited
 "How Much Do You Know About Video Games." ESRB. ESRB, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.