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Dustin Lewis
Mrs. DeBock
English IV
9 April 2016
Video Game Violence
Video games can be a great past time. They can help you learn and improve skills
such as memorization, hand-eye coordination, and even help build basic math skills.
Some games are educational, some are just fun to play, but there are others that pose a
threat. Violent video games are posing a threat and can cause increased violence in the
real world.

Violence is an issue that everyone has had to deal with at one point in their
lifetime and putting violence in video games was probably a mistake to begin with.
Violent video games can be seen as a gateway into transforming a person like a game
addict, into a more violent person then they used to be. Gaming requires some serious
dedication and attention due to the fact that many things can be happening on the screen
at one given instance, which requires the player to stay constantly aware of what is
happening at all times and because of that games that don't have a pause option makes
things even worse as they will require the player to pay even more attention than before.
Because video games require players to divert most of their attention to them more than a
TV show or movie would, the extended amount of attention could possibly lead to having
more enhanced behaviour and reactions to the violence that is being portrayed in these

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types of games (Anderson 4). Most research is shown that when a player is playing a
violent video game, aggressive behaviour is increased while the brain is rewarded for
acting out aggressive behaviour such as beating someone up, stealing, and even killing
people. Since video games have a direct way of rewarding violent actions while TV
shows and movies only portray scenes of violence this suggests violent video game
exposure may be more detrimental (Anderson 4). The way these types of games work is
that violent actions are rewarded, which usually consists of either a message or an ingame reward like a new weapon or skill, this causes the brain to send out a feeling of
accomplishment to the player. This makes the player believe that violence will almost
always be met with reward even in real life and since the brain is rewarding this activity
the player will want to continue to act out these acts of aggression and anger.

Adults are not the only ones susceptible to the dangers that video game violence
brings. There have been many reports of an increase in youth violence among schools.
The teenagers at Oak Hill Youth juvenile detention facility were found to be playing
Grand Theft Auto a popular game series in which the player controls a criminal character
who steals, kills, and performs various acts of violence in order to win the game. One of
the children stated that "he would have never gotten into a stolen car, a step which led to
stealing cars later on and eventually to violent carjackings (Moten 1). Another child had
said that playing video games such as Grand Theft Auto put him into a different state of
mind where he thought he had to do whatever it took, including violent actions, to
survive (Moten 1). Violent video games should not be sold to children, there is proof that

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kids have done illegal and violent things after repeated gameplay of violent games.
Parents should either be well informed about the game their child is buying or banned
from even buying the game for their child.

Violent video games are a hazard to people everywhere there have been cases
where it has even led to giving people the motivation to take the life of other human
beings. Dustin Lynch, a 15-year old boy, was convicted after a school shooting that took
the life of one of his fellow students, while clinically injuring the other. (Thompson).
Lynchs favorite video game was Grand Theft Auto: Vice City a very violent game in
which you imitate a florida drug lord who kills, and steals to get what they want. It has
been shown that over 71 percent of males have played a Grand Theft Auto game and they
are more likely to show a more aggressive behaviour than someone who has not played
one. (Thompson).

Violent video games are posing a threat and can cause increased violence in the
real world. If people do not step up to the plate, video games can be a strong influence on
this generation and even the next as the years fly by. Overall violent video games have
been proven to cause people to have a more aggressive behaviour than someone who
does not play those type of games.

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Works Cited
Anderson, Craig A. "Violent Video Games Cause Aggression." Video Games. Ed. Laurie
Willis. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from
"Declaration of Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., in United States District Court,
Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division." 2005. Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.

Thompson, Jack. "Violent Video Games Promote Violence." Popular Culture. Ed. John
Woodward. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from
"Video Games Train Young Killers." Beacon (Ohio) Journal 6 Oct. 2003.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

Moten, Ron. "Video Games Are Responsible for Increased Youth Violence." Has
ChildBehavior Worsened? Ed. Amy Francis. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2014. At
Issue.Rpt. from "Violence on the Screen, Violence in the Streets." Washington
Post 28Dec. 2012. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.

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