Video Games and Aggression
Do video games amount to more than just entertainment in our everyday lives? With just how popular video games are in our society you have to wonder if they play a part in how we think and in our actions. In an article written by Brad Bushman he talks about the navy yard shooter and how his over consumption of violent video games lead to his more aggressive actions.
This issue with violent games started back in 1976 with the release of the game Death Race. The object of the game was to run over stick figures with a car, at which point they would turn into tombstones. The real issue was that these stick-figure resembled humans, and its post-production title was Pedestrian. With the outrage over Death Race many machines …show more content…
Friends have said to reporters that his heavy game use, described as up to 16 hours at a time, may help explain his actions” (Bushman, 2013). But he goes on to say “Violent video games alone likely didn 't cause Alexis to go on his rampage. But these games aren 't harmless, either. Recent reports suggest he may have been mentally ill and had anger control issues. But it isn 't hard to believe that video game use may have been a contributing factor” (Bushman, 2013). Looking at what he says; saying “reports suggest” it really seams they are drawling off of speculation rather than facts. And that they are not sure of his mental state at that …show more content…
This could show that games have become a outlet for aggression or that games and violence are not related.
Moving on to Brad’s suggestion he states “We can make it more difficult to get access to them. We can strengthen our laws against teens acquiring these games. Parents can keep the games out of their homes and help their children avoid them at friends ' houses” (Bushman, 2013). I believe his suggestion is a little extreme and that we already have rules in place such as the ESRB. The ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) rates games based on their content and assigns games with a compressive rating that ranges from “Early Childhood” to “Adults only.” And with these ratings many retailers prevent underage kids form buying a rated “M” (Mature) game without parents’ permission.
In conclusion I believe if violence and aggression is tied to video games we need more thorough studies done to prove this claim. Also if this is the case the system we have in place puts the responsibility on the parent to choose what their child is exposed
Do video games amount to more than just entertainment in our everyday lives? With just how popular video games are in our society you have to wonder if they play a part in how we think and in our actions. In an article written by Brad Bushman he talks about the navy yard shooter and how his over consumption of violent video games lead to his more aggressive actions.
This issue with violent games started back in 1976 with the release of the game Death Race. The object of the game was to run over stick figures with a car, at which point they would turn into tombstones. The real issue was that these stick-figure resembled humans, and its post-production title was Pedestrian. With the outrage over Death Race many machines …show more content…
Friends have said to reporters that his heavy game use, described as up to 16 hours at a time, may help explain his actions” (Bushman, 2013). But he goes on to say “Violent video games alone likely didn 't cause Alexis to go on his rampage. But these games aren 't harmless, either. Recent reports suggest he may have been mentally ill and had anger control issues. But it isn 't hard to believe that video game use may have been a contributing factor” (Bushman, 2013). Looking at what he says; saying “reports suggest” it really seams they are drawling off of speculation rather than facts. And that they are not sure of his mental state at that …show more content…
This could show that games have become a outlet for aggression or that games and violence are not related.
Moving on to Brad’s suggestion he states “We can make it more difficult to get access to them. We can strengthen our laws against teens acquiring these games. Parents can keep the games out of their homes and help their children avoid them at friends ' houses” (Bushman, 2013). I believe his suggestion is a little extreme and that we already have rules in place such as the ESRB. The ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) rates games based on their content and assigns games with a compressive rating that ranges from “Early Childhood” to “Adults only.” And with these ratings many retailers prevent underage kids form buying a rated “M” (Mature) game without parents’ permission.
In conclusion I believe if violence and aggression is tied to video games we need more thorough studies done to prove this claim. Also if this is the case the system we have in place puts the responsibility on the parent to choose what their child is exposed