Video game violence in teenagers has become a topic of discussion in the public due to the continued school shootings. The media has been portraying video game violence as one of the key aspects that are fuelling behavioral aggression among the youths. The increased behavioral aggression such as bullying, fighting and even criminal assaults calls for investigation to be done to determine the cause especially among the teenagers who are already having some mental health problems.
According to study conducted by Kutner and Olson (2008), 60 percent of middle school boys who have at least played one mature rated game have engaged in violence compared to 39 percent who have played video games where acts of violence are punished (Kutner, & Olson, 2008).
The recent school shootings in Price Middle School in Southeast Atlanta and other shootings in Norway Sandy Hook and Aurora have been linked to the exposure of the teenagers to violent video games. Senator Rockefeller has called on researchers to investigate the connection between the continued violence among the teenagers and their exposure to violent videos and films. Wayne La Pierre, the head of NRA blames the recent school shooting on the exposure of teenagers to violent video games (Archer, 2004).
Despite the argument by many critics that violent video games cause teenagers to become violent, there has not been any study pointing to violent video games as the cause of the increased shootings in school. In fact, the statistics show that juvenile crime in America has reduced as a result of the increased video games popularity. Juvenile violent crime arrests have reduced by 49.3 percent between 1995 and 2008. Juvenile murders arrest rates has also decreased by 71.9 percent. During the same period, the sale of video games increased up to four times.
According to annual Australian Crime Facts and Figures report, teenagers aged between 15 and 19 years are the most dangerous. Teenagers mostly aged 17 years have been involved in crimes such as robberies, sexual attacks and abductions (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2012). In Sweden, there has been growing concern about the time teenagers spend playing video games. Sweden has implemented public policies that seek to govern what teenagers are exposed to through video games. In the Brown vs EMA case, the court allowed the sale of violent video games to minors arguing that they were protected speech as stated under the First Amendment. The US House of Representatives in the 113th Congress have come up with a comprehensive plan to reduce the gun violence. This will be accomplished through the use of Video Games Ratings Enforcement Act, which indicates that a person would be required to produce an id card to purchase the M- and AO- rated video games.
References
Archer, J. (2004). Sex differences in aggression in real-world settings: a meta-analytic review. Review of general Psychology, 8(4), 291.
Australian Institute of Criminology. (2012). Australian crime: Facts & figures 2011. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Kutner, L., & Olson, C. (2008). Grand theft childhood: The surprising truth about violent video games and what parents can do. Simon and Schuster.
Literature review on the impact of playing violent video games on aggression [electronic resource]. (2010). Canberra: Attorney-General's Department.
