From the moment video games became a thing, people have claimed that they’re harmful. Is there any evidence to suggest this is true though, or is it all lies?
We’re about to unpack the facts and reveal the truth behind video games and their link to violence. Plus, we’ll also unpack some common misconceptions, along with what we think video game developers should do going forward.
We’ll cut right to the chase – evidence that video games cause violence is extremely lacking. In fact, there’s about as much evidence to support it as there is the belief that black cats are unlucky. This isn’t new either, studies have been coming up with the same result for years. The University of Oxford recently posted this study, and still people refuse to believe that video games might be fine.
Is there any evidence to support the claim that video games might be making folks violent though? As we said, not really – however, there is one piece of data that people latch onto;
Russell Shilling, chief scientific officer at the American Psychological Association, claimed that some video games do cause a minor rise in aggression after being played. However, he quickly added that aggression doesn’t equal violence. The thing is, we get it. We understand why a parent might believe games are bad.
Plenty of people who are ordinarily perfectly nice get a little angry during a LoL match. A person’s mum might see this and think “Oh yes, that darn ‘League of Heroes’ that’s making kids these days like this.”
Now imagine if you’re playing Call of Duty – a game where shooting people is the main objective and yelling at others on voice chat is fairly common.
It’s important to remember that those who are against video games often grew up in a world without them. This fear of the unknown can lead to a big batch of paranoia – especially when you take all the recent school shootings into account. People don’t want to believe that kids can be evil, they try to make excuses for them.
Back in the ’80s, it was Dungeons and Dragons. People claimed that somehow slaying fictional monsters made them satanic, but now we laugh at those people.
This can’t be all there is to it though. Surely people must have other reasons for believing that video games are turning their kids bad?
People hate taking responsibility, no matter what the issue may be. Take a look at these two options, and see if you can decide which is the more likely culprit behind mass shootings?
The answer, of course, is neither – that’s right, you were tricked.
In all seriousness though, while the US does need stricter gun laws, the person pulling the trigger is the one who should be blamed. People don’t want to talk about that though. The idea that our son’s friend might be concealing a pistol beneath their Minecraft hoodie is not a nice one.
Someone facing reality would say the child smuggling a pistol has difficult home life and many mental issues. Sadly, there are many poor arguments that people latch onto, for instance;
We doubt there’s any actual scientific evidence for this one, although we’ve heard it cited a fair bit. We’re not sure why anyone’s still spreading this statement to be honest, while there may be some truth to it, it’s easy to explain away.
Children who commit violent acts are more likely to have a bad home life. People who are struggling at home are more likely to play video games – be it to escape into a fantasy world, or to relieve some pent up anger.
Either way, it’s clear that people who make this argument jump right over “struggling at home” and go straight to video games as the cause of the issue.
This is much like the above point. The statistic that is often cited goes like this;
“60% of middle school boys who played at least one Mature-rated game hit or beat up someone”
Yes, aggressive people might prefer violent games, but studies have shown that’s a good thing. Aggressive people need a way to channel that aggression, or it risks boiling over. The flawed logic doesn’t end there though folks.
This assumes that people can’t tell fantasy and reality apart – which, while true for a tiny minority of the population, doesn’t apply to most of us. Take Tom and Jerry for instance.
Most of us watched the cartoon as kids, and we all saw Tom get dragged across a cheese grater. We also saw him get beaten by a mallet, coconut, spoon, piano and many other gadgets.
How many of us wanted to beat Tom ourselves? We would bet on there not being very many. Claiming that gamers will start seeing make-believe violence as actual violence is almost insulting.
With that said, people have probably taken steps to avoid the spread of misinformation, right? Well, some have taken to social media to spread memes about video games causing violence, as seen below.
While the memes might be funny, this wonderful hobby is still under attack, and developers can make a difference.
Despite the lack of real evidence that suggests violent video games make people violent, developers still need to act. It’s not enough to casually dismiss the concerns of people who have been lied to, changes have to be made.
We’re not suggesting that video games have to cut down on violence, rather, add more meaning to it. Take Hotline Miami for instance – you get to shoot through a bunch of thugs while some upbeat music plays, but that all changes as you reach the end.
The music cuts, and you’re forced to retrace your steps over a carpet of bodies in silence. There’s a couple of First Person Shooters out there that can also be used as an example – essentially, any game that offers violence with a side of reality.
Games that allow you to shoot cowering civilians, and deal with the fallout of doing so, or games where refraining from violence has major benefits. Violence, but without glorifying it.
The TV show “Game of Thrones” does a good job at this; violence plays a major role, but because of it, everyone suffers – you could even argue that Grand Theft Auto does something similar – if you would like to hear our opinion on GTA and other controversial video games, be sure to check out this post!
With that said, here’s still plenty of people out there that believe violent video games cause actual violence – if you’re having a hard time changing their mind, be sure to link them to this post! Be sure to check out our League of Legends smurf store too, if you’re looking for a fancy skin to impress your friends.
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