Video Games Promote Violence

Recently, there has been an interesting topic being argued over. The issue that has stirred much controversy recently, is if video games promote violence in the users. Many scholars, as well as professional organizations have dove deep into researching the topic. As expected, there are two sides to the argument. On one side, there is a group of individuals who strongly believes that violent videogames promote violence in the users. While on the other side, there is a vast majority of individuals who believe these claims are false. Though it is necessary to take a side on such a topic, it is necessary to look at all the facts and not be misled by mere opinions of others. From a large majority of studies and articles written by scholars, as well …show more content…
The APA has been performing studies on various individuals since 2013. Since then, the APA have been one of the associations studying and stating accusations against the violent videogames. Their studies increased after the Sandy Hook school shooting occurred. In the process, Adam Lanza slaughtered 20 children and 6 staff members. While there were some individuals that claimed this was a result of loose gun laws, others speculated that his obsession with violent videogames may have come into play. Since the shooting, the APA has been performing numerous studies on individuals in a desperate attempt to solidify the claims that violent videogames do incite violence. However, in a recent interview led by Alexandra Sifferlin of Time News, the APA stated “playing violent games is linked to aggression, but that there’s insufficient evidence to link the games to actual criminal violence” (Sifferlin). In the interview, the representative for the APA states that after 2 years of research on the case, they are still missing required data in order to connect violent videogames to aggressive criminal behavior. In multiple other interviews by news sources such as CNN and CBS News, the APA provided the same response to the interviewers. However, in all interviews, when asked what more information they need in order to link the …show more content…
Within a numerous amount of their studies, the APA has claimed to base their studies upon the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. In the APA’s studies, they fail to mention that the shooter, whose name is Adam Lanza, had a wide array of mental conditions that effected his actions. Within an article published by Health Day, they stated “Worries about a connection between video game use and violence spiked in 2012 after Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut” (HealthDay). However, the APA is not the only group associating mentally unstable individuals with violent videogames. In an article written by Fox News’ Mike Jaccarino, Jaccarino states “several other mass killers, including Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, have been linked to violent videogames” (Jaccarino). The APA and Fox News only referencing these mass shooters when on the topic of violent videogames does not help the subject. These associations are only associating mentally ill individuals with videogames in order to make videogames appear like they are the primary motive. In the Fox News article, Jaccarino fails to mention how each of the mass shooters had an array of mental illnesses. The mental illnesses would be the primary cause for such actions