Opinion Editorial

I am a person who thoroughly enjoys violent video games, but they are not to blame for violent actions such as mass shootings. There can be positive aspects to violent video games and non-violent video games as well. I am inspired by the op-ed linked below to write my own. I love playing video games and I play violent games most of the time and I have never wanted to hurt anyone.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/10/12/op-ed-are-fortnite-and-other-combat-video-games-bad-for-american-democracy/

Below is my op-ed about video games.

Matthew Burnett

31 July 2020

Video Games and Violence

 

In the aftermath of horrific shootings, the gun lobby and various U.S. senators have tried to shift the blame away from the real issues toward video games. There is no scientific proof that links video games and violent acts among people.

Christopher Ferguson, professor of psychology at Texas A&M International University, has researched the myriad studies that question whether video games lead to aggression. He wrote, “I think anybody who tells you that there’s any kind of consistency to the aggression research is lying to you”. He continued, “It is not strong enough to draw any kind of causal, or even really correlational links between video game violence and aggression.”

Gaming is not an industry that solely serves to entertain teenage boys stuck in the basement playing video games until 4 a.m. hopped up on Mountain Dew and Cheetos, as portrayed by the media.

Even if first-person shooter games such as “Halo,” “Call of Duty” and “Borderlands” contain violent action, they are not “the video game industry.” That specific genre is centered on gun and weapon combat through a first-person perspective, and is usually rated M, for mature players.

Only 9 percent of all games in 2012 were rated M. The dominant category, as in the past, were titles rated E for everyone, at 45 percent. Some 22 percent of the games were rated E10+ for players ages 10 and up and 24 percent were rated Teen for those ages 13 and up. Only a minority of games are first-person shooter games.

The gaming industry is more pervasive than many believe, with myriad gamers who do not even identify as such. According to the Entertainment Software Association, the average gamer is 30 years old, 47 percent of all players are women and women over age 18 are the fastest-growing player demographic. This includes those who play games such as “Words with Friends” or “Tetris” on their smartphones while waiting in the checkout line or games such as “Angry Birds” on their iPad or tablet.

The video-game industry is much more complex and deeper than the gun lobby and some politicians would have us believe. In fact, playing video games has been proved to offer numerous benefits, including improved dexterity, eyesight, education, physiotherapy, stress relief, improved multitasking abilities, increased IQ and faster response or reaction times.

Just like any other form of entertainment, there are a vast number of video-game choices. The whole industry should not be targeted because of a few games that happen to be violent. Even violent games do not have proof that is linked towards violent acts.