Violent video games

            Gun laws have been the hot topic of the news lately, and a recent news story really got me thinking on a topic that is now considered the ‘social norm.’ “Do video games cause increased violence in children?” This was also a practice ACT question that was always hard for me to defend because it’s touchy and you need a lot of evidence. My answer and opinion to this controversy would be that it does not cause a child or young adult to be more violent, but it desensitizes the idea of killing someone or what a gun can really do to someone.

            I am not trying to cause an uproar of comments or a bunch of, “you’re wrong and I’m right” debates, but I am just saying that you do not need a mass-murder weapon like the ones used in the Sandy Hook Elementary or Aurora, Colorado theatre shootings. My manager at work (who trains children gun and knife safety at Boy Scout camp) would argue that you do need guns. I honestly never really listen to him when he explains his reasoning to me, partly because I don’t like debates about current events, and also because I don’t like listening to topics that are currently sensitive in modern day culture.

            The argument on the news was that President Obama should do something about the video game industry and the ratings on violent video games. My questions are: What else can he do? What else is there for video game companies to do? The problem isn’t the ratings on the games, the problem is the parents who buy their children the video games and then wonder why they are always consumed in them. Call of Duty is rated M for MATURE. This means anyone ages seventeen and up. Yet, parents still buy their 8 year olds these games. Do they not realize what they are letting their child do? Basically, they are telling the child that they can have anything they want and do whatever they want when they are given the freedom to play a violent video game. I know that it’s not a real life scenario, but what happened to the innocence in children? Why can’t they play Super Mario Bros and be happy? Parents who buy their young children video games are basically conforming to the social norm of the ‘cool, new thing,’ without thinking twice about what the game actually is. There is nothing wrong with the video game industry, nor President Obama’s action on this topic, it’s something that is happening in American families that needs to be taken care of.  (438)