Viral videos around the internet have displayed many young children and adults’ rage after playing violent video games. You may see videos where the parent comes into the room and tells them to put the game away for a bit and the child throws the controller to the ground or even calls the parents derogatory slurs.
Obviously, this has become so much of an issue that 45% of parents think that violence in video games is a major problem; and I can’t disagree with them.
Now, this doesn’t mean I’m completely against video games. Sure, some games can be good, such as educational video games. To be honest, some of them can be pretty fun! Educational video games and games not surrounding violence are not the issue, the callous games are.
Even with ratings on the package, some parents do not check the age suggestion for the game. I can’t even count how many times I have walked into a house and saw 13-year-olds (sometimes even younger) playing rated 18+ games. Most 18+ games are very violent and/or have graphic sexual content, and some parents are ignoring the issue.
As of 2018, 28% of children under 18 years old played violent video games daily; and with new first-person shooter games making a popular arrival into the gaming world (ex. Fortnite, Call of Duty, etc.), it’s only opening our children to more violence.
If you don’t believe that the gaming industry is making money on mostly violent games, 25% of all games are shooter games, 6% are fighting, and 21% are action games (which, a majority of the time have some sort of violence within them). In 2017, the best selling game was Call of Duty; in third place, Grand Theft Auto V, which are both very violent games.
For example, Call of Duty is a first-person shooting game. The overall goal of the game is to meet “objectives,” and get as many kills as possible. Grand Theft Auto is another game series, this game includes the option to start gang violence, steal vehicles, and use drugs. Prostitution also is a big aspect of the game. There are many more than just these few that I have listed.
Even though there is not much for “scientific evidence” on this topic, you still can see the impact on our youth. Some children’s minds are not suitable to play these sorts of games. Everyone’s minds work differently, but violent video games plant this notion that makes violence more acceptable.
You can see the violence in many areas of some young children, you may wonder why they are so angry when they are so young, maybe just take a glance at what they spend their free time doing.
Sources:
1.kotaku.com/survey-75-of-parents-think-violent-video-games-contri-5975014
2.www.aacap.org/aacap/families_and_youth/facts_for_families/fff-guide/Children-and-Video-Games-Playing-with-Violence-091.aspx
3. videogames.procon.org/video-games-violence-infographics/
Pailey Gordon is a student at Fillmore Central High School. She is one of eight area students participating in the Journal Writing Project, now in its 21st year.
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