In the midst of the COVID19 pandemic, both children and adults are spending more time playing video games than usual. This has reignited fears in many parents that playing violent video games will cause their child to be more aggressive.
In a study we learned about in class, we learned how neural pathways are modulated when people play violent video games. This can be seen in differences in empathy and inhibitory responses. However, the study concluded that these differences could be due to outside factors and that there needed to be more research to better inform policies regarding the social-cognitive risks associated with playing video games.
In an age where mass shootings are unfortunately almost commonplace, many politicians place the blame on violent video games. In a White House press conference, President Trump said, “We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and violent video games.” This sentiment is echoed by many people around the country including other politicians and parents. However, there is little evidence that violent video games are the reason why there are so many mass shootings in the United States. According to the American Psychological Association, there is little connection between playing violent video games and actually committing acts of violence.
A reason why many believe that the abundance of mass shooting in the United States is caused by other factors than video games is the lack of mass shootings in countries like Japan and South Korea. These countries dominate in worldwide competitions of some of the largest video games, almost all of which contain violence. However, these countries have some of the lowest numbers of violent crime in the world.
Video games are merely a scapegoat for a problem that we do not know the answer to. It is easy to say that a commonality between mass shooters is that they play violent video games. However, when the majority of mass shooters are young males, it is to be expected that this demographic plays video games generally. The majority of young males all play video games that involve violence.
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