by Adam John

Created on: May 05, 2009

According to Women's Aid, a British charity, one in four women will become a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime, many on a number of occasions. The Maryland Uniform Crime Reporting Program recorded four hundred and twenty-five carjackings in the first six months of 2008. An FBI report in 2002 noted that 1,426,325 violent crimes were reported to law enforcement agencies.

These shocking statistics give an insight into the growing trend of violence which is taking a grip on the world. More and more often there are reports of violence, knife crime in particular taking a sharp increase among younger people. Schools are increasing security, with metal detectors and, in some extreme cases, guards. In light of such statistics and the noticeable rise in violent crime among youths, one cannot help but wonder if video games have had any influence.

In recent years we have seen an increase not only in the violent content of games, but the number of video games available with violence as a main theme. What started out as space invaders, with tiny dots being fired at imaginary enemies has transformed into 3D images of carjackings, petrol bombings, physical and verbal abuse exchanged between both men and women. The more carnage is caused, the more points a person can score.

Similarly, there is a culture of violence growing ever stronger out on the streets and a similar mentality is reflected in the actions of the people involved. The worse your behaviour, the more street cred' is attributed to you. Of course, observation alone is not enough to conclude that it is the fault of the video games, although it would seem that this is the trend, so what do the professionals say?

A number of studies suggest that violent games can have a significant affect on a person's mood and attitude to violence. Research psychologists at Iowa State University found that "exposure to violent video games can desensitize individuals to real-life violence."

Clearly, a person's attitude toward violence is impacted by violence in video games:

According to psychologist Craig A Anderson, "One study reveals that young men who are habitually aggressive may be especially vulnerable to the aggression-enhancing effects of repeated exposure to violent games."

Sadly, evidence has come to light that violence in video games contributes to a person's violent behaviour. Says Dr Anderson: "Violent video games provide a forum for learning and practicing aggressive solutions to conflict situations."

Violence in video games certainly does contribute to real life violence. At the very least, these games encourage violent tendencies. At worst, they teach them. Of course, the marketers of such products would have you believe otherwise, and the keenness of a child to own the latest game can be very persuasive when it comes to buying computer games. However, by allowing our children to play such games we are opening their minds to the prospect of violence, and the prospect of perpetrating that violence.

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