"Life is like a video game.

Everybody has got to die sometime" said Devin Moore after his capture and killing spree that resulted in the death of 3 policemen (Leung). This statement caused many people to think that video games were the cause of not only Moores case, but many others too. But the real question is do video games cause bad effects such as antisocial behavior, obsession/addiction, and murder? Many people would

say yes but I say that video games not only dont cause these things, but are actually good for you. Many people say that video games cause anti social behavior, but I say that is not true. In fact, with the advent of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs), Video games actually encourage social interactions. According to research done by the Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College:
Our findings conflict with a commonly held perspective that youth who play video games are socially isolated and often antisocial. We also found no evidence to support scholars concerns that young people involved in the Internet (in this case by playing video games) are less civically engaged (Evans, Kahne, Middaugh).

That research studied the ordinary youth that plays video games and those that dont and found that result. That search was done by survey and certain flaws can be seen in that type of research but then a study done by Nick Yee, a research scientist at the Palo Alto research center found that About 1/5 of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their MMORPG experiences have made them more comfortable with face-to-face communication.(Yee). People also say that video games cause obsession/addiction to the games that causes interference with day to day life. While Video games may cause some people to become obsessed or addicted to the game, just because something can be addicting doesnt necessarily mean that it should be banned. People become addicted to various things for a variety of reasons that often are more about the problems that they are having in life rather than the thing they become addicted to. I want to also point out research

made that shows that the addictiveness in games actually has many good benefits. For one thing, games can make the gamer smarter, and Im not talking about education games Im talking about just casual games that someone might play for fun, such as World of War craft, and many Real time strategy games or Role playing games or such. In fact, according to Emily Anthes, a correspondent for the Boston Globe writes, The very structure of video games makes them ideal tools for brain training and The games arent just hard - theyre adaptively hard. They tend to challenge people right at the edge of their abilities. This adaptive challenge is stunningly powerful for learning, said John Gabrieli, a neuroscientist at MIT (Anthes). The adaptive challenge that shows so much potential for learning is also the cause of the addictiveness, which makes that challenge all the more powerful because people wouldnt want to stop playing. That does present some problems but I believe that the positive effects far outweigh the (if any) negative effects. Lastly, probably the problem people are most concerned about is whether violent video games cause violent behavior. I want to acknowledge that violent video games probably cause violent thoughts; I want to dispute whether or not those thoughts translate into violent behavior. Many people when trying to prove that violent video games translate into violent behavior cite the various shootings and murders that people believe were caused by video games. But I want to point out that there are millions of people playing those games and they are not going on a killing rampage. I am saying that one-ina-million people go on killing rampages, and in many of those people you could probably find a much better reason for them to murder: a broken messed up family, stress at school, being hurt physically or emotionally by various people. Really, all forms of stress and anger assist in a person committing homicide. To blame it all on video games is really wrong. So I then point you to a study supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. According to the study, Many children are playing video games to manage their

feelings, including anger and stress; Children who play violent games are more likely to play to get their anger out (Science 20 staff). So rather than video games encouraging violence, they actually help relieve stress. So while anecdotal evidence may seem to support the idea that video games cause violence, research does not seem to support that idea. Video games players are not more antisocial than non gamers. In fact playing video games may help socially awkward people to interact. The addiction to video games that people say interferes with day to day life is most likely caused by different factors in the gamers life than the actual video games. The slightly addictive quality found in many well made popular games is actually a powerful tool for learning. Lastly, violent video games that people say causes violent behavior is a misdirected thought. The real factors are most likely problems in the persons life than the game. Video games are even thought to help control the factors that cause homicide. Video games are not bad or dangerous; in fact they can actually be pretty good for people.

Bibliography

Anthes, Emily How video games are good for the brain The Boston Globe October 12, 2009. April 3rd, 2012. http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/10/ 12/how_video_games_are_good_for_the_brain/?page=2

Evans, Chris. Kahne, Joeseph. Middaugh, Ellen. The civic potential of video games Civic Survey pdf September 7, 2008. April3rd, 2012 http://www.civicsurvey.org/ White_paper_link_text.pdf Leung, Rebecca. Can a Video game lead to murder? February 11, 2009. April 3rd, 2012 CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/04/60minutes/main678261.shtml?

tag=currentVideoInfo;videoMetaInfo Violent Video Games Help Kids Manage Stress Science2.0.com July 2nd, 2007 April 3rd, 2012

Yee, Nick The Daedalus Project: Communication/Relationship skills The Daedalus Project March 9th, 2009 April 3rd, 2009 http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/ 000339.php