Violence in video games
Gameplay from the video game “Battlefield 1” during a battle in a trench.
January 20, 2017
Bullets fly, flaming shreds of metal fall from the sky, blimps burn, tank shells zoom, artillery fire detonates, dynamite destroys trenches, WW1 veterans turn in their graves in real life. This is the scenario of Battlefield 1.
Parents have been saying that these types of games have negatively influenced their children. However, the children have said that video games don’t affect them.
GTA V, Battlefield 1, TitanFall 2 are basically all games that involve guns. Some games like DOOM have extreme violence, and some have cartoon violence like in the Mario Brothers. But no matter what, they are still considered violent.
“Playing violent video games is no more likely to be damaging to young children’s behavior than those considered harmless,” suggested an Oxford University study(2). Video games are often seen as just plain old fun. Just because your child finds fighting demons entertaining doesn’t automatically mean he is a psychopath.
“Video games are seen as a stress reliever for kids to just put their imagination into a harmless game,” said Hayden Mosher Smith, a freshman at the iSchool.
“It can just be fun and stop kids from being violent,” said Mario Castillo, a senior of the iSchool. Other students at the iSchool also believe that violence in video games can be fun.
Junior Jian Xi Chen says, “I like violence in video games. It looks cool and gives you the high temperature, and makes you enjoy your life.” Kids can naturally have violent tendencies. In fact, research shows that kids who play violent video games are less likely to be violent (1).
“It gives you freedom and the ability to escape reality to do whatever you choose,” said sophomore Christian Zogopoulos. “In real life people get weird if you stab a random guy on the street, but in GTA V no one even blinks.” In simpler terms, violence in video games can prevent kids from committing crimes in real life.
These opinions may sound a little bias, however, as these people play video games. Perhaps you think adults say otherwise, when in fact, it’s the contrary.
Mr. Snyder, an English teacher at the iSchool, says, “violent video games are just fun for kids.” It’s the reason violent video games sell; if you saw every kid becoming violent because he played one, then there would be crime everywhere.
Another teacher at the NYC iSchool, Ms. Behar, said, “violence in video games can sometimes be too violent, and sometimes it’s okay.” This explains how some video games should have a healthy balance of violence to passive gameplay.
So far, the paranoia about violent video games making kids violent isn’t seen as true. So you can get back to playing your bloody, futuristic, post-apocalyptic game, or go back to making a giant robot with guns to kill other giant robots with guns.
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