Kind Of Video Games Including Violent Ones example essay topic

1,157 words
Over the past couple years, violence in video games has been a fairly hot topic in the news. The question that most people want to know is does violence in video games really give people the urge to kill? In my opinion I don't think it does. I believe that as humans we are born with the instinct to kill.

For example when most people see a spider on the ground, what is the first thing they do? Kill it. By saying that I don't believe that it's the video games that kill people, I believe that it is the people that kill people. So now I will go over my reasoning for saying this and my oppositions reasoning as well, by talking about the Columbine shootings, being able to take legal action against video game companies, proving that violent video games are not a bad thing, and how video games can actually keep children out of trouble. After the Columbine shootings in 1999 the media instantly started looking for reasons why this tragic even had occurred. They thought of every imaginable thing they could, trying to come to the conclusion to why this happened.

They thought it could have been because of hatred toward gay people, or maybe because of hatred towards Christians, but naturally they also added in video game violence too. But even one of the own murderers himself said that it was nobody's fault but his own. "It's my fault!" he wrote just before the killings. "Not my parents, not my brothers, not my friends, not my favorite bands, not computer games, not the media, it's mine". (Rolston) Proving that the media did not have an effect on his decision to do what he did that day, it was something more than that.

And to make matters worse the media clearly supports the negative claims about video game violence. National news broadcasters, newspapers, and magazines commonly run segments and articles highlighting new studies and their negative conclusions. (Boughton) The first opinion I have about this topic is to make it illegal to take legal action against a video game company just because you think that their game has something to do with a violent act of crime. An example of this is a lawsuit by the victims' families against computer-game makers following a 1997 school shooting in West Paducah, Kentucky. (Rolston) A court case like that should not be allowed because video games do not tell your child to go out and kill people; they make that decision up on their own. Another reason why it should not be allowed is because there are ratings on video games, and if you believe that a video game is violent why are you letting your kid rent it or buy it in the first place?

The ratings are there for a reason, so people should use them and take responsibility for their own actions. The second opinion that I have to make about this is that violent video games in general are not a bad thing. They provide a source of entertainment for children that would normally be outside causing trouble, but aren't because they are inside minding their own business playing their video games. And I know you are probably saying well if they are playing these violent video games, they are just going to get more ideas in their heads for when they do go outside and play. Well that's where the parent's responsibility comes in. If the parents do not want their children to play such violent video games, it's as easy as checking the cover of the box to see if they are violent or not.

And that is one way that all of this controversy is easily avoidable. The third opinion that I will share is about how these games can improve a child's understanding of certain things. For example, the computer game Counter-Strike is a first person team playing shooter. The main object of the game is to defuse the bomb if you are on the Counter-Terrorist team, and to plant the bomb and not have it defused if you are on the Terrorist team. This kind of game play shows excellent ways that a child could learn teamwork because without it in this game, it would be very hard to get your job done.

That is just one of things that a child could benefit from by playing video games. They could also learn from video games that not everything they see is real. They need to be taught that in the first place, so what better way to reinforce it than by showing them exactly what you mean by it. Just so I'm not being completely one sided about this whole thing, I will now show an opinion of a person that is against violence in video games.

This person spoke about the recent sniper shootings in the Washington D.C. area. And this is what he had to say "While the Defense Department was trying to find the serial sniper in the Washington D.C., area, they were training new snipers to take their place". - Jack (Bordelon) This man was referring to a video game that could supposedly train people to operate real sniper rifles well enough to kill several people like they did in this situation. And this is what the author of the article had to say about it. "You are basically saying that I can receive the exact same quality training from a video game as I could in the armed forces?

Hell, if that is the case, then the hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars spent annually by the U.S. Government for weapons training is unnecessary. Simply give them each a copy of Ghost Recon or America's Army, as you mentioned, and they " ll be set. With all the money saved, every American can get another $600 check from Uncle Sam". (Bordelon) And I would have to agree with him. So when it comes down to it, I think that violent video games are not a bad thing. They provide a good source of entertainment for children and people of all ages.

They can help keep children out of trouble by them playing the games instead of them being out causing trouble somewhere else. The only thing you need to make sure of is that the child or person that is playing the game does understand that it is not real, and that it should not be duplicated in real life. And as long as they understand that, there should be no problem with any kind of video games, including violent ones.