Hey guys, for one of my classes I chose to do an essay on Video Games and the Effects on Youths.

I will be against the idea that video game violence negatively effects youths. I think it is complete bullshit that these "researchers" can say that it is negative on youths and get away with it.

All the accounts of these kids killing people because of video games are fabricated to look like the kid was normal. Nope, they were not normal. First off, these kids had personality disorders in the first place, whether anti-social (sociopaths and psychopaths), bipolar, etc. These kids would have done this crap without video games.

Also, saying that video games cause people to be violent is saying that every single person is one step away from going on a murder spree. These people are saying that all someone needs is a trigger to make them commit acts of violence. I think we can safely say that humans have evolved past that.

Anyway, that's a short biased version of what I'll be doing. In the paper I'll obviously be doing much more and not having a biased rant in there.

Thoughts?

I doubt that video games in and of themselves cause violent behavior in youths.

That being said, I don't believe that children should be exposed to graphic violence, sexual imagery and obscene language at early ages.

Just my opinion though and I have no conclusive evidence to support it so don't bother asking.

Get some tips from Mr. Gary Whitta

You can say that other entertainment affects children more than video games or focus on their upbringing. Because there were murderers around LONG before GTA IV. Alright well, they may have had their own form of GTA but you get my point.

Fuck mainstream media. That's all I got.

@AndyMacneil said:

All the accounts of these kids killing people because of video games are fabricated to look like the kid was normal. Nope, they were not normal. First off, these kids had personality disorders in the first place, whether anti-social (sociopaths and psychopaths), bipolar, etc. These kids would have done this crap without video games.

I'm sure people will still argue that video games were the key contributing factor in driving their actions. To say they would have done it all without video games is almost wishful thinking - the response in your favor is too easy. What would happen if instead of an exposure to violent themes, an individual suffering from one of those conditions was put through trials of medication and counseling? An explosive or aggressive personality doesn't necessarily mean you will become a killer, even if that's one of the possibilities. For a paper like this you'll probably require a lot of information on cause and effect, tracing the impact of psychological approaches and perhaps underlying issues that remain even with intervention (which could still make a "cured" individual susceptible to violent sprees).

Oh, you should probably also discuss video games as the "last straw" of sorts in regards to their sprees. For those individuals that can not be cured, video games may still push them over the edge. To use that argument in your favor, maybe you could provide a good range of examples of what also may cause a spree - whether that might be something like overly hot coffee or a cashier dropping their change.

To say "well, he would have done it even without the games" does not prove that games were not a contributing factor. It simply states that games are one of the factors that can cause the spree, which is to go against your argument. You should address other senseless reasons to put it in perspective. Perhaps only then can you actually display how video games are harmless on a broader scale and you do in fact require a condition in order to be negatively affected by them - in the same way other more mundane sources will cause a spree.

Obviously you'll need to round out that argument a bit more, but you get the idea.

The only thing that would make me think contrary to your point is those new goddamn MW3 commercials. There's something a little bit vile to me about taking Jonah Hill, who some kids may identify with, and having him shoot a bunch of dudes non-chalantly on primetime TV. Just a thought.