Violence 101, Revised

If a child plays violent video games, they are going to grow up to be a more aggressive and violent person.

Just because a child plays violent video games does not necessarily mean they are going to be a more aggressive and violent person.

I don’t think there is one answer to violence in this world. I’m sure people would like to pin point one primary cause to a number of problems in this world, but the truth is there is no ONE answer to a lot of problems. I think this makes people very uncomfortable. If there is a problem then it would be nice to just have one answer and simply eliminate the problem all together, but that is sometimes impossible. 

There have been many studies on whether violent video games affect children and cause them to be more violent. Some studies have shown that playing violent games leads to increased physiological arousal, increased aggressive thoughts, increased aggressive feelings, and increased aggressive behaviors. 

Another study shows that children who were exposed to more video game violence did become more aggressive over time than their peers who had less exposure.   

One more study shows the brain activity in a person who played a violent video game versus one that did not play a violent video game. 

The person who played the violent video game had more activity in the part of the brain that displays emotion, and a decrease in activity in the part of the brain that shows self-control, inhibition and attention. With these studies it makes the problem seem so simple, cut out violent video games and your child won’t grow up to be a violent or aggressive person right? Here are some other factors to think about.

Child abuse and neglect could possibly lead to violent behavior later in life, according to the Surgeon General Report. It also goes on to say that youth violence tends to begin at puberty and adolescence and ends when the person transitions into adulthood. Therefore, aggressive and violent children don’t necessarily turn into violent adults. The Surgeon General also states that most children that are highly aggressive and have behavioral problems do not, I repeat, do not become serious violent offenders.  Even if video games do make children more aggressive, that shouldn’t transfer into adult life. Once again, this is from the Surgeon General Report.

A lot of people think that aggression in children is greatly influenced by video games and in turn will make them violent adults. I don’t think you can blame violence on just video games. I look more to the way the parents raised the child, the quality of their home and school life, psychological disorders, stressors like losing their job or husband/wife (in violent adults), etc. There are just so many factors to consider and there is no ONE answer to this problem and many other problems. People just have to live life knowing that and make the best out of the answers they do have.