Video Games Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Video Games Violence - Essay Example For instance, there was the case of Virginia Tech massacre, where a student tragically ended the lives of his fellow students in April of 2007. This was just one of the violent acts affiliated with academic institutions, and numerous attributions of violent video games are easily available to anyone. In addition, this case worsens if one has the financial power to invest in a gaming console or just a computer, and even at times, if one can afford to spend time in cyber cafe. Analysts of the Virginia Tech incident sparked debate over violence in video games and their influence on the student who decided to massacre his fellow students. I believe this was the same reason Phil McGraw took to the television screens stating that video games of a violent nature and content have causal effects on the violent nature of the students conduct in killing his fellow college mates. Video games also have significant influences on the behavior of students in being violent towards their schoolmates, for instance, in the case of Phillip Kazmierczak, who shot his fellow students in Northern Illinois University, and evidence points to video games. This is following the fact that he was an avid gamer of violent games, although there may be some form of confounding in which other factors were overlooked prior to make such conclusions that may have led to the shootings. Similarly, video games have been proved to have a profound impact on the behavior of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebod, the main characters in the Columbine High shooting. The above said two, are known to have been fans and avid players of the game â€Å"Doom† (Ferguson 26). Even though records indicate that video games are not to blame for every act of school violence, every two out of five are directly related to video games. However, relying on statistics, video games are the highest causal agents of school shootings especially considering that there are many who view those that view video games as causal agents are only seeking to find a scapegoat. Personally, I believe it also means that, in spite of all opposition on the dangerous effects of games on the wellbeing and safety of students in college and institutions of learning, video games play a significant role. As of the case of Columbine High shooting, students who were well acquainted with the perpetrators gave detailed information on the level of exposure to violent games. This includes their networked computers in order to play games in multiplayer mode against each other and even against other computers. Moreover, the two perpetrators were exposed for hours on end, which can be perceived as a tool to harden and get their skills to the outside world, in this case, fellow students. Furthermore, with the games that the two were hooked on, â€Å"Doom and Quake†, the level of violence portrayed is not one that anyone can boast of considering it led to the real loss of human life. In addition, considering that the killings were d one by the two as a team, it appears more as a continuation of their gaming process in their favorite video games that saw the loss of twelve lives. In addition, once an individual is exposed to violent media, of which video games are included; their cognitive, affective and behavioral processes are altered (Funk et al 23). This process