by Andrew Franz

Created on: June 23, 2008

Video games are being blamed for corrupting the children of America. They make those children more violent, and disposed to enacting a physical justice on peers and superiors. When a school aged atrocity occurs, parents blame the video games as a corruption of youth. Video game makers blame the parents for not raising their child properly. Who is right is irrellevant. Video games do desensitize and give a child a prediliction toward violence, but they do not do it alone. Video games are a small part of the broader media, which echoes our wants, needs and desires rather than forcing them upon us. It may be argued that the media puts out what will sell and is more a reflection of society than a driving force. This would make video game's influence on society's behavior a non-issue. My question then is if video games are not the sole cause of the degeneration of morality, then what is and how do we fix it?

The media absolutely has negetive effects on the aggressiveness of a child. "Violence and Youth: Psychology's Response", a 1993 American Psychological Association report, details four long term effects of viewing violence:

1. Increased aggressiveness and anti-social behavior
2. Increased fear of being or becoming a victim
3. Increased desensitization to violence and victims of violence
4. Increased appetite for more and more violence in entertainment and real life

Parents should take note and try to filter content in the video games their children are playing, but the issue is more complicated. In the broader sense, the media bombards children with more than just video games. The evening news is one of the most violent shows on television. If a parent wants a child to be up on current events, they are running the risk of exposing a child to violent act after violent act. Though video games are not solely to blame, they are part of this mass media that is not helping.

The issue is more a socio-economic than anything. With the current financial situation, families ranging from poor to middle-class are forced to work more hours to stave off bills and obligations. Often, video games and television become quick replacements for real human contact. It is an unavoidable fact of our society. Parents need to work, children need to learn life lessons from somewhere. They start to trust those influences that they spend the most time with and are being brought up by video games and the media.

There needs to be a solution to this issue, but children playing violent video games is not the sole cause for violence rising in society. More prominent factors are lack of supervision, non-development of a moral and ethical compass, incorrect treatment of emotional disorders, and increasing competition between peer groups. Though violent video games are not the main cause, they certainly are a contributing factor. More needs to be done by parents and game makers to prevent these games falling into inappropriate hands.

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