by Julius Albert Custodio

Created on: February 17, 2009   Last Updated: February 25, 2009

"On Violence, Video Games and Brussels Sprouts"

When it comes to problems they don't understand, some people tend to blame the most mundane things. With the way things are going, it won't be long before people blame brussels sprouts as the leading cause of violence.

"Experts" say that violence stems out from rock music, action-packed TV shows and movies. Now they're putting the blame on video games. That last one struck a chord in me because I've been playing video games since I was a kid. To give it such a bad reputation irks me a lot. I consider these so-called experts, no matter how highly they think of themselves, as finger-pointing whiners. I don't want to turn this into a rant, so I'll try to be as objective as possible.

Violence stems out from all forms of bullying and not from video games. Campus killings have happened not because the killers played Grand Theft Auto but because the people around these killers treated them like trash. A dysfunctional family can also contribute to violence. If your mom or dad would fight in front of you, you'll probably grow up beating your wife as well.

A video game, more than anything, is a good source of solace. I don't agree with the people who profess that it makes others lead a violent life. What these video games do is they provide a good diversion from the cruel world we live in, those violent video games included. Look at it this way, it's the person himself who needs to check if he's controlling the video game and not the other way around. Why should they single out that it's only the video game's fault? It's almost as illogical as those fat people blaming McDonald's for them being fat.

There are too many loopholes with the statements regarding the contribution of video games to real life violence. If you give a kid a gun, it doesn't mean he'll automatically shoot the people around him just because he saw it in his video games. Human beings are a lot more complex than that! We do have primal instincts, but it sure is not triggered by something as basic as copying what we see. There's a deeper reason why people hurt other people.

I surfed the net looking for articles that explained if video games indeed provoke violent reactions in kids, and almost all of them are not backed up with any strong proof. In one case, a writer even said that playing video games is just a harmless activity and parents need not worry that they're raising future killers. What these kids need is proper nurturing and attention from both parents and school authorities. A recent university study concluded that majority of violent activities resulted from parental neglect and/or a poor school discipline system. There's nothing there about the "bad influence" of video games; Think about that.

Let me end this with a quote from music legend, Jim Morrison: "Violence isn't always evil. What's evil is the infatuation with violence."

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