1

Ryan Butler
Fish/English 2010-030
October 11, 2014
Paper #2 Final Draft

Violent Video Games and Violent Behavior in Children

My crosshairs are slowly sweeping back and forth, scanning open windows of what I hope to
be abandoned buildings. All I can hear is the pounding of my beating heart. My breathing is
slow and steady looking for any movement. Im searching, for those that want to end my life as
much as I want to end theirs. Finally I find what Im looking for, I see my enemy slowly peeking
his head around the corner of an old red brick ruin. My adrenaline level starts to rise; Im
waiting patiently for the right moment for my enemy to make a mistake and when he does, he
shall pay with his life. I squeeze the trigger and I see the signature red cloud as his head opens
up, and his corpse falls lifeless to the ground. The sense of victory in defeating the enemy is
indescribable; I turn to my buddy sitting next to me on the couch and punch him in the arm. I got
you sucker, better try harder next time, he looks at me in anger and says, You just got lucky.

Every day children are being bombarded with violence in the video games that they are
playing. It is heard in their conversations, and in their mock battles on the playground. They are
consumed with the newest virtual craze, most of which are targeted for an adult audience. Older
children are bragging they have the games rated for adults, and the younger children are bragging
of how they have friends where they can go play these same games. My argument will show that
violent games lead to the desensitizing of children which can lead to violent acts.
Concerns over the effects of video games and violence are as old as the games themselves.
As early as 1982, the Surgeon General of the United States, C. Everett Koop, stated that
children are into the games, body and soul - everything is zapping the enemy." 1 Public concerns
have intensified with the escalation of violence and detailed graphics which are making these
games appear much more realistic. Following the Columbine High School shootings in the

Vessey, Judith A., and Joanne E. Lee. "Violent Video Games Affecting our Children." Pediatric Nursing 26, no. 6
(November 2000): 607. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed September 23, 2014).

spring of 1999, President Clinton and the first lady addressed violence and marketing.2 The
columbine shooters were said to have been obsessed with video game violence, and violent
movies. President Clinton stated that over 300 studies report that the boundary between fantasy
and reality violence, which is a clear line for most adults, can become very blurred for vulnerable
children.3 Children that are constantly exposed to violence are becoming desensitized to it and
are more likely to repeat the violence themselves. We see it in the news every day, children are
bullying children.
Many see the virtual world as a means of escaping their day to day routine. What a great way
to kill time and forget about the world for a few hours. As technology advances, so does our
dependence on it. Human interaction is on the decline. We are becoming dependent on our
virtual lives for happiness. The lines between fantasy and reality are being blurred, with social
media, and the games we play. We are using this virtual world a source for happiness and selfvalidation. But in the eyes of a child who is struggling to define the world around him, we cannot
tell him/her not to do what we are doing ourselves. As adults we can differentiate fantasy from
reality. Children, especially young children, struggle with those definitions.
Living in an age of technology, the age of children with the ability to use this technology
keeps getting younger. All you have to do is look; electronic notebooks have become the new
babysitter. Small children everywhere are staring blankly at their mothers cell phone while
sitting in the shopping cart. Vehicles are manufactured with televisions built into the seats. Who
or what is raising our children?

Vessey, Judith A., and Joanne E. Lee. "Violent Video Games Affecting our Children." Pediatric Nursing 26, no. 6
(November 2000): 607. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed September 23, 2014).
3
Ibid.

Children are struggling to define the world around them. As they develop the sense of self,
what is right and wrong? How then can we help them define the world if they are being exposed
to virtual violence?
Studies prove there is a direct relationship between video game violence and aggressive
behavior. Studies also link violent games to depression, sexism, in children.4 Early research into
the question of violence in media and the effects on children posed two main questions? First, is
there a significant connection between exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior?
Second is this connection casual, can we directly say that violent games and television are
causing aggressive behavior in children? Research shows that a single brief exposure can cause
aggression in an immediate situation, and that repeated exposure can lead to aggressive behavior
over time.5
Children are constantly learning through observation of the world around them. They repeat
what they have observed, whether it was something they observed a peer or and adult doing, or
one of their favorite characters of a game. In the early years of gaming the idea of violence and
sexism was a little more subtle. As a child I remember sitting in front of the television playing
Super Mario Brothers, my task was to save the helpless princess that was being held captive. It is
always up to the hero to save the princess, right? Over the years the games have changed
becoming much more violent and sexist.
Last year I received the game Grand Theft Auto Five as a gift. It had been years since I had
indulged in a video game. What I found was quite shocking. The first level of the game I was

Hasan, Youssef, et al. "The more you play, the more aggressive you become: A long-term experimental study of
cumulative violent video game effects on hostile expectations and aggressive behavior." Journal Of Experimental
Social Psychology 49, no. 2 (March 2013): 224-227. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed September
24, 2014).
5
Ibid.

given the task of going and stealing cars. The character was a young inner city African American
male. This game is teaching children to stereotype based on race. As the game progressed so did
the level of violence, drug use, nudity, profanity, racism and sexism. At no point in the game are
there any strong female characters. All females were either portrayed as prostitutes, or women
seeking money from men. There were only more racist stereotypes. I was an Italian Mafioso, and
at one point in the game I was given the option to purchase a strip club where I could pay women
for topless lap dances, which was very graphic and anatomically correct. Rockstar Games was
sued in 2004 for hiding sex scenes in their games to get a lower maturity rating, to market to a
younger audience.6 As an adult, this game can be seen as offensive but placed in the hands of a
child who is developing their own sense of identity, it can be very damaging.
According to Brad Bushman, a communications and psychology professor at Ohio State
University, the link between video games and aggressive behavior is clear: Over 130 studies
have been conducted on over 130,000 participants around the world. Bushman says that these
studies provide evidence that violent video games can lead to an increase in aggressive thoughts,
angry feelings, physiological arousal, including increased heart rate, and aggressive behavior.
They also decrease helping behavior and feelings of empathy for others.7
Not only has the research shown an increase in violent thoughts and actions. Separate studies
have also linked video game violence with depression and insomnia in children. The latest study,
fifth graders who played high-violence video games for two or more hours a day were
significantly more likely to report depressive symptoms over a the course of a year compared to

Kushner, David. 2005. "Sex, Lies & Video Games." Rolling Stone no. 980: 41-42. Academic Search Premier,
EBSCOhost (accessed October 14, 2014).
7
Carnagey, Nicholas L., Craig A. Anderson, and Brad J. Bushman. "The effect of video game violence on
physiological desensitization to real-life violence." Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 43, no. 3 (2007):
489-496. (accessed September 23, 2014).

those who reported playing low-violence video games for less than 2 hours a day.8 Children are
experiencing an adrenaline rush for prolonged periods.9 They then experience a crash; its the
same with any addiction across the board. The initial sense of a high or rush, followed with a
low or depression.
How much is too much? Where do we start to regulate and control the level of violence in the
games? How do we keep them from getting into the hands of the children? Where does this
responsibility lye? Is it the responsibility of the parents to refrain from purchasing and allowing
violence in the home? Or is it a social responsibility, to be closely watched and regulated by the
government? The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings provide concise and
objective information about the content in video games and apps so consumers, especially
parents, can make informed choices.10 But if the game manufacturers are specifically making
the games to target children, hiding sex scenes in these games to bypass the rating system,
further action must be taken.
My findings show that violent video games are in fact desensitizing, demoralizing, and are
affecting the behaviors of the children playing them. My argument is not if you let children play
these games that they will be the next Columbine or Sandy Hook shooter. But, the more they
indulge in violence, and violent video games. The more they will see the world around them as
being a hostile place and they too will become more hostile themselves. Violent thoughts lead to
violent acts. The innocence of today is being lost to technology.

Tortolero, Susan R., Melissa F. Peskin, Elizabeth R. Baumler, Paula M. Cuccaro, Marc N. Elliott, Susan L. Davies,
Terri H. Lewis, Stephen W. Banspach, David E. Kanouse, and Mark A. Schuster. 2014. "Daily Violent Video Game
Playing and Depression in Preadolescent Youth." Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking 17, no. 9: 609615. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed September 23, 2014).
9
Ibid.
10
Kushner, David. 2005. "Sex, Lies & Video Games." Rolling Stone no. 980: 41-42. Academic Search Premier,
EBSCOhost (accessed October 14, 2014).

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