Do violent video games cause behavior problems?
Have you seen the news? A mass shooting, done by an 18-year-old, must've been because he played video games right? Although it is always used in cases like this, video games do not cause behaviour problems. But it must right? I mean video games are riddled with violence; although this is true, video games do not cause behaviour problems.
Majority of the violence dealt by the younger generation is blamed on the fact that they played video games. There are cases like the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting done by Adam Lanza, where he spent hours playing games like 'Call of Duty', 'Grand Theft Auto'. There’s also James Holmes who went on a rampage at the cinema during ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, James was a frequent player of ‘World of Warcraft’. These are two people who played violent video games; and went on murderous rampages, so violent video games must cause behaviour problems?
Although they did play violent video games and went on murderous rampages, video games can’t be blamed; yes they were exposed to violence in the video games, but to blame their rampage’s on video games is a bit extreme; surely the ones to blame are their parents, I mean violent video games have an age rating that is suitable, ‘Grand Theft Auto’ has a rating of 18+ in most places around the world (In the U.S it has a rating of M). Whilst ‘Call of Duty has a rating of M. But parents still buy their kids these games despite the rating; these video games are meant for adults yet adults buy them for kids. If the perpetrator played violent video games, the video games get the blame; but if they didn’t what caused their violent manner?
Why don't they blame violence in movies or T.V shows for their violent acts, everyone gets exposed to violence on T.V at some point in their life, shows like ‘Spartacus’, Game of Thrones, and ‘The Walking Dead’ could come on at any time. Why don't they say violence on T.V cause James Holmes who went on a rampage at the cinema during ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, James was a frequent player of ‘World of Warcraft’. These are two people who played violent video behaviour problems; it’s everywhere on television, shows like ‘South Park’, ‘Family Guy’, and ‘Futurama’ appeal to children because they’re animated shows, parents may not know what they are and could think they’re children shows. So there’s no proper evidence that violent video games are the sole cause of behaviour problems.
Although video games expose people to violence, there is no evidence to prove the sole cause of behaviour problems. Video games do expose people to violence, but a lot of things like T.V, Movies, and people also expose people to violence.
