Video Games and Violence

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Video Games and Violence

In the article, “Can a Video Game Lead to Murder?”, Rebecca Leung reports about the case of Devin Moore, and eighteen-year-old boy who killed three people, two of who were police officers. The argument that the article discusses concerns the effect of violent video games on those who play them. One party states that such games encourage and train the players to be violent as it stimulates their thinking. The other party claims that it is not possible for video games to have such an effect on people since many players are not violent even after they play the games.

Many fans of video games spend many hours playing the game so that they can improve their ratings or scores. They want to perfect the skills and become masters at the game. Therefore, playing the games becomes their main activity. Eventually, this influences their thought patterns and consequent behavior. The influences that people have in their lives are important since they can determine the way they behave, their character, and their personality. Although some people believe that violent video games are safe I believe that they can incite violent crimes because they train the players on the different methods of committing crime, influence the mind of the player and generally encourage aggressive behavior, and they entice the players with the rewards they offer.

Video games equip the players with the skills and knowledge on how to become more aggressive and violent. The more the players play, the more they learn and perfect their skills. In the grand theft auto game, the players learn different tactics on how they can escape, confront, or kill police officers. They learn how to avoid the obstacles in their way. They learn how they can steal and use the different weapons at their disposal. According to the article, Moore was able to execute his plans in less than a minute. Although he did not have any criminal records, it is clear that he was depending on the lessons he had learnt from the game. He managed to steal a gun from a trained police officer, shoot him and two others. He also escaped in the police vehicle. It is interesting that he choose to escape in the police car after committing those crimes since the gamers playing the grand auto theft tend to do the same thing.

Video games are able to affect and influence the minds and behaviors of the players. Since the players spend most of their time playing, it is clear that they will eventually be influenced by what they see, think about, and hear. They have to reason as they think of how to overcome the obstacles facing them. Moore had been arrested for suspicion of stealing a car. Although he was initially cooperative, he turned violent all of a sudden. He considered his situation an obstacle that he had to overcome. He had learnt how to identify such obstacles because of playing the game numerous times. Eventually his thoughts controlled his behavior as he ended up killing the police officers.

Many people are encouraged by the fact they receive certain rewards from the games they play. Unfortunately, the rewards do not depend on the moral actions of the players, but on how they are able to play the game to perfection and become the masters in their art. People like receiving rewards in form of gifts and praise. This can be enticing for people who are not used to praise and they will yearn more for it. In Moore’s case, he thought that being able to escape was the reward that he received after committing his crimes. When he was arrested, he told the arresting officers that life is like a video game in which everyone will eventually die. To him, the actions that he had performed at the police station were similar to those he did when he played the game. Therefore, he eventually expected a reward after managing to overcome all the obstacles presented to him.

Despite the evidence presented, some people continue to believe that video games do not lead to criminal tendencies despite the violence in them. They argue that if this were the case, then other players would experience the same effects. People who decide to act violently have some other problems. Other people play the game for the sake of entertainment purposes. Many video games are available in the market and the industry is a multimillion industry. This means that many people buy and play the games. If video games did indeed cause violence, then many more people would be aggressive and violent today. However, such people claim to realize that people are different. Others will show their aggressiveness in different ways. Not every person who plays the game can have access to guns. In addition, people have different mental capabilities and levels of reasoning. While others are able to recognize the entertainment value of the games, some will not have such abilities and they will try to practice the games they learn in real life.

Despite the entertainment value of video games, it is clear that they do encourage violent behavior. When someone spends most of his time doing something, he is bound to perfect it and he does it better. Thoughts eventually influence action and behavior. The more time that the players spend with their games, the more they become influenced by them. Their thoughts will eventually influence their behavior. It is important to note that people are different in their reasoning and mental capabilities. Those who make violent video games encouraging the players to kill and harm should be aware of this.

Work Cited:

Leung, Rebecca. “Can a Video Game Lead to Murder?.” CBS News. 17 Jun. 2005. Web. 19 Mar. 2015