Video Game Violence Does Not Lead To Violence In Youth

House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, says video games lead to future mass shootings (Wu). However, The New York Times reports that there is little evidence to suggest there was any link between video games and mass shootings and youth violence (Wu). Research has shown that violent video games can cause violent behavior in youth, but those studies are exaggerating the results without examining other possible causes. Video games are not harmful, they are helpful because they increase reaction time and cognitive activity. Many gamers will argue that video games serve as an outlet for stress and anxiety, and also creates happiness when they play. Even though some research tries to claim that video games are addictive as a drug, mass shootings are not caused by playing violent video games, there are many other factors that should be considered. Many people in America are convinced by their own assumption that video games are harmful, but in fact, they are not as bad as some people believe.

“More than half of the top 50 selling games contain violence” (“History of Video Games”). Video games are popular with many youths today, but people that are looking for a scapegoat are quick to blame games for violent youth. In 1999, the controversy of video games resurfaced after the massacre of 13 people at Columbine High School. On June 27, 2011, the US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Brown vs. Entertainment Merchants Association that the California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors violated free speech rights (“History of Video Games”).

Violent video games all started with a game called “death race” released in 1976, a game that is about hitting gremlins with a small-pixelated car. People protested the game by burning the machines in the parking lots of the arcades that had them and ceased their existence and manufacture. In 1993, public outcry following the release of violent video games Mortal Kombat and Night Trap prompted Congress to hold hearings on regulating the sale of video games (“History of Video Games”).

Many gamers will argue that the use of video games acts as an outlet for stress, anxiety, and does not create violence. Video game advocates contend that a majority of the research on the topic is deeply flawed and that no causal relationship has been found between video games and social violence (“History of Video games”). Video games have more positive effects on the brain than negative. Studies show video games having a positive effect on attention, visual, and motor skills, but a negative effect that is similar to addiction. Video games allow you to explore and do things you can not in real life without ever having to leave your bedroom. With first-person shooter games, the player usually has to attack and defeat the enemy or reach an objective more times than the opposing team; therefore, players plan, practice, and play. This type of gaming trains the brain to think and process faster. That's right, video games are not bad as some people claim. In fact, studies show that games can be powerful brain-training tools that can improve such cognitive skills as visual attention, concentration, navigation, multitasking, and task switching while simultaneously increasing speed and accuracy.