Argumentative Essay: Do Video Games Cause Violence?

With the media crying aggression, studies contradicting each other, and the rapid growth of the gaming industry, it is understandably difficult for parents to differentiate facts from fallacies. While many parents wish there was an all or nothing answer to the question of if games help or hinder their child’s development, this topic is far too complex. Infact, many studies either hold inconclusive or contradictory results. However, as we move further into 21st century changing, there has been a shift in findings. Many studies now refute the idea that videogames cause violence or, if the results support it, they are still weary to confirm them as 100% accurate. There are many other studies that have been conducted concerning the possible benefits of gaming. These studies have found that due to
Neither of these assumptions are anywhere close to correct. Many games can be great for creativity, such as Minecraft where the player can go from being stranded in a forest to king of the jungle. However, there are also many games that are extremely inappropriate for children like Grand Theft Auto in which the entire goal of the game is to rob banks, hussle drugs, and shoot cops. Just these two games set side by side show how different games can be from each other and thus, how each can have a different effect on children. This concept is understandably hard to grasp due to how far games have come in these few short years as well as the media’s rigorous efforts to vilanize gaming. For years now, the media has made an effort to connect violent crimes, primarily school shootings, to violent games. However many of these events have shown no link to the crimes, such as the Virginia Tech mass murderer who actually refrained from playing video games with his fellow classmates (Olson et al., 2009, p.