Analysis: Are Video Games The Blame?

Superior Essays
Nong 8
Amy Nong
Professor Livanis
Eng 1C 70004
26 November 2015
Is Video Games the Blame?

Video games have been around since the 1940s, and it began with games that were interactive such as chess and tic tac toe. It wasn 't until the 1970s where games started to become more arcade-like with games from Atari like space invaders. Videos games back then had a different meaning, whether it is to spend time with friends, or maybe to reach a high score in a game, but when did the controversy of video games begin? When are video games to blame for children and people mass killings or violent acts? It is a debate that exist today between the video game fans and the older generation that claim video games are to blame for violent children. According
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Even when every video has a rating system on it? ESRB (Entertainment System Rating Board) make it simple for parents to follow a guide of what games they can buy for their kid. This system has been around since 1994, and the rating system has an age-based rating categories, along with descriptor letting parents know what games consists of. For example, Fantasy Violence, Crude Humor, minor blood, etc. Now according to, a consumer research by ESRB on August of 2014, the results show 84% of parents are aware of the ESRB rating system, 69% regularly check a game 's rating before making a purchase, and 66% are aware of content descriptors, 78% of whom check them …show more content…
"Video Game Content Ratings: Does Anyone Care Anymore?" The Artifice. Godaddy.com, 9 Jan. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2016. .
Katersky, Aaron, and Susanna Kim. "5 Disturbing Things We Learned Today About Sandy Hook Shooter Adam Lanza." Online posting. Abcnews.go.com. N.p., 21 Nov. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. .
Kushner, David. "Violent Video Games Do Not Cause Aggression." Video Games. Ed. Laurie Willis. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Off Target." Electronic Gaming Monthly (Aug. 2007): 12-16. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 5 Dec. 2015.
Magnusson, Henrik, Will Leonard, and Ryan Menezes. "5 Ridiculous Things the Media Blamed Video Games For." Cracked.com. ENOM, INC., 02 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. .
Oakland, Chris. "Hofstra Papers in Anthropology." Graphic Prejudice in Comic Books: Cause or Symptom of Racism in American Culture. Educause.net, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015. .
Parkes, Alison, Helen Sweeting, Daniel Wright, and Marion Henderson. "Do Television and Electronic Games Predict Children ' S Psychosocial Adjustment? Longitudinal Research Using the UK Millennium Cohort Study." Http://adc.bmj.com/. Julie Halfacre, Mar.-Apr. 2013. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

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