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Video Games' Impacts on Youth

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Video Games' Impacts on Youth
Spencer Sheats
Professor Blanchard
English 1102
20 September 2011
Video Games Impact on Youth Today Video games are the most popular form of entertainment and they are enjoyed by people from all age groups. Playing video games can have tremendous impacts on the different age groups, most importantly on the youth. The impact of video games on the youth has many different sides and it is a highly debated topic. One side feels that it has no impact on the youth and is only a game in which the content is meant to be enjoyed. However, the truth is that video games have a detrimental impact on today’s youth, especially violent games, and this is the position of the other side. This side believes the violence in video games is one aspect of today's society impacting the youth in a negative manner. Making a case against this is difficult because in this day and age it is apparent that the youth is becoming more violent. With the popularity of these violent video games growing, the sale and marketing of such violent games to the youth must be slowed down. Violent games increase the level of violence and aggression in young people and there are many examples that support this claim. The concerns for aspects of our society which influence violent acts have become an issue in the recent past, which has caused more research of the issue. The Columbine High School massacre and the Virginia Tech massacre involved young students who used to be fans of violent video games. They went on a killing rampage because of the violent nature imprinted in them by these violent games. After those incidents, people started to question whether violent games should be sold to the youth. Harris and Klebold, the two shooters in the Columbine High School massacre were fans of violent video games such as “Doom” and “Mortal Kombat”. The shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre, Cho Seung Hui, was addicted to a game called “Counterstrike”. Due to this widespread availability of violent games to


Cited: Anderson, Craig A. “Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions.” American Psychological Association (APA). Oct. 2003. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. Bickham. “Video Games Foster Violent Behavior.” Media Violence and Violent Games. 2009. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. Radford, Benjamin. “Reality Check on Video Game Violence.” Current News on Space, Animals, Technology, Health, Environment, Culture and History. Dec. 2005. Web. 15 Sept. 2011.
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