by Thomas Kling

Created on: November 08, 2008

Video game violence contributes to real life violence in the same way that smoking by pregnant women contributes to birth defects and abusing drugs leads to addiction. Some people are exposed and are not affected, so many draw the conclusion that the risk of harm is negligible.

This is one of those issues where the cause and effect are not so clearly linked as putting your hand in the fire and getting burned. However, researchers have known for decades that exposure to violent actswhether movie, video game, sports, or real violencecauses a change in the brain chemistry that makes it more vulnerable to aggression. This is especially important in children because the parts of the brain that are responsible for rational thought and reasoning take until the late teens to begin to fully develop. Their brain chemistry is changed for the worse with each act of violence that they observe, whether it is real or fictional. I played some violent video games and watched violent movies growing up and turned out "all right," but cannot, now knowing the potential effects, let my children do the same.

Genetics also play a large role in people's reaction to violence in video games. University
of Chicago researchers recently found that brain scans of children who exhibit bullying behaviors suggest that these children enjoy seeing others in pain.
It would be interesting to find out what kinds of exposure to violence they have had in their lives. Such children may be more likely to take part in a violent act even without having played a single violent video game. But knowing that each exposure to violence desensitizes the child to violence and may drive them further toward a violent act, we need to keep kids away from as much violence as possible.

The debate over video game violence has been going on since I was a child, but has been renewed in the last ten years due to what many consider excessive graphic violence.
Video games, in particular, are a target of parent groups because they put the player in an active role with the violence. Many kids consciously know that the violence is fictional, but it may wear away subliminally at their tolerance for it.

I am not advocating that all violent television, movies, and video games be banned, but we need to continue to support and enforce strong rating systems they have their exposure limited to adults who can make a more informed decision on whether they can "handle" the violence or not. They should not be allowed to make a negative impression on the growing minds of America.

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