Little To No Correlation Found Between Video Games And Violence

Public violence, such as the events that took place in Florida on Feb. 14, does not primarily occur because of the violence present in video games.

Questions as to whether video games have any correlation in the rise of violence are starting to plague everyone’s brain. Many begin to wonder if video games cause bullying on playgrounds, or are actually resulting in the multiple mass shootings Americans either experience themselves or hear about later in the news.

While it may seem logical to blame violent video games on one of the largest current problems that American society faces, it’s not logical to just blame a singular aspect.

Studies show that, although video games can lead to violent behavior, violent video games alone are not the leading cause.

According to Regis University, the College of Contemporary Liberal Studies, “Violence is a complex problem, and cannot be attributed to one single cause [such as the impact of violent video games]”.

There are many ways that America’s youth could become violent. The games that they play can have some impact on their behavior, but there will always be more to why people act the way that they do.

Kara Swinney, a 20-year-old GRC student, believes that violent video games don’t cause people to be violent. However, they can lead to the “desensitization of violent weapons.” Swinney feels that it is all up to the individual to act on any violent thoughts that they get from playing violent video games.

While everyone knows that there have been multiple American mass shootings recently, comparing America to other countries that have the same access to violent video games produces telling results.

According to PolitiFact, despite common beliefs, America is not the leader in mass shootings. They state that “there’s evidence that the rate of killings in mass-shooting events occurred at a higher per-capita rate than in the United States between 2000 and 2014.”

The United States has a lower amount of deaths due to mass shootings than Norway, Finland, and Switzerland. Though America’s are more frequent, they are not as deadly as some other countries’.

“Violence is programmed into human [nature],” said 18-year-old Running Start student, Dario Munoz. According to Munoz, humans all have the capability of doing something violent. However, there are a few different people whose capability is higher than others.

The citizens of the United States have the most lenient access to guns compared to the rest of the world. To get a permit to carry a gun in Washington State, a prospective buyer only has to be at least 21 years old (depending on the store), apply in person at a law enforcement agency, and get fingerprinted for a background check.

While there is a background check to see if the person applying for a permit has no criminal history, there is currently no way to tell if a person is mentally stable enough to be the personal owner of a gun.

A person can seem stable on the outside, but that doesn’t mean that they are reliable enough to be trusted with a firearm. A mental screening before the purchase of a gun could help decrease the ability of any person having access to buying and carrying guns.

Recently, even President Donald Trump has been blaming public violence on video games. Trump showed his beliefs on the matter when he tweeted “Video game violence & glorification must be stopped — it is creating monsters!”

While the president has the same right as other Americans to express his opinions, there is no scientific backing behind his connections between violence and video games.

Dalton Bair, a 19-year-old GRC student, said, “Politicians blame events on unrelated subjects in order to create a popular opinion that secures their re-election. There is no connection between violent video games and [violent behavior].”

Similarly to Bair, Mark Applebaum, a psychology professor at the University of California San Diego, said, “The short answer is there is virtually no research [on the correlation between violent video games and public aggression].”

Because there is no research to back the claim that video games create violence, it is not acceptable to place the blame on video games. Until a study comes out suggesting otherwise, there is no telling for certain why modern America has spiked in violent trends. It could be anything from the bullying that in schools to the mental illnesses that have yet to be diagnosed.