Violent Video Games and Increased Aggression Essay -- Media Violence 20

Video games have been a rapidly expanding industry since their inception in the 1970s. Along with their growth have come concerns about violent video games and their effects on aggression and violence in young people. The endless numbers of school shootings have pushed this issue to the forefront. These events brought about the question: do violent video games induce aggression in youth? That’s the question I set out to answer by looking at research. The research shows that there is a link between playing video games and increases in aggression in adolescents. What implications does this fact have ethically? It means that video game producers and distributors need to be held responsible for their releases and the way they end up in the hands of kids. Video games are a rapidly growing industry. There are nearly two games sold for every household in America each year (Anders 271). The vast majority of these are sold to adults, but there is no national law that prohibits minors from buying violent video games. A few states have legislation pending that will prevent this, but the fact is that minors do have access to violent video games. There is a voluntary rating system implemented by the ESRB, where games are rated based on their content. The games that are rated Mature are not supposed to be sold to anyone under seventeen and Adults Only titles, but â€Å"some retailers do not impose such limitations† (Anders 271). The bottom line is that minors do have access to these violent games. One article points out that video games have a big impact on children’s lives and that many of the games played are violent. Researchers have found that â€Å"nearly all children spend time playing video games† and studies have found that â€Å"8th graders spent an average of 17 hours per week playing video games† (Tamborini 336). Moreover, 68% of the most popular video games contain violence (Tamborini 336). So it is clear that many children have access to violent video games and they have a big impact on their lives simply because of the amount of time spent playing them. The shooters at Columbine high school, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold frequently played violent video games such as Doom, and Harris even created a modification for the game. The modification allowed two shooters to use a large arsenal weapons to shoot unarmed civilians (Anderson 353). Is seems eeril... ...ids, I would think twice about my decision to work on the project. I would realize that video games probably more good than harm in a utilitarian approach, but I would also take into consideration the social contract theory and ask, â€Å"would I like to live in a society where people are more aggressive because of something I helped to create?† I hope that I would make the right decision in that situation. Works Cited Anders, Kelly L. "Marketing and Policy Considerations for Violent Video Games." Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 18 (1999): 270. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. DePaul Library. 7 Mar. 2008. Anderson, Craig A.; Bushman, Brad J. "Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: a Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature." Psychological Science (2001). EBSCO. DePaul Library. 7 Mar. 2008. Tamborini, Ron ; Eastin, Matthew S. ; Skalski, Paul ; Lachlan, Kenneth ; Fediuk, Thomas A. ; Brady, Robert. "Violent Virtual Video Games and Hostile Thoughts." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media (2004). EBSCO. DePaul Library. 7 Mar. 2008.