Introduction
There is a lot of debate on whether
violent video games such as Call of Duty and GTA V influence people to do
violent things, and I have had the same question for quite some time. I have
been told by people that first-person shooter games have influenced people to
become school shooters, but personally I do not think that the games themselves
were the only thing that influenced them. I searched the internet and found two
credible articles that have opposing views, in hopes of finding the answer to
this question I have had for so long.
According to an article published by the Youth Violence Prevention Center, video games are a risk factor when it comes to violent behavior, and they can influence people to do violent actions such as bullying (Cooper et al.). On the other hand, some feel that the fighting in video games is just play, and quite the opposite of fighting (Sutton-Smith).
After analyzing both sides of the debate, I now understand that there is a middle ground to all of this. There are many factors as to why people act violently, and video games themselves just cannot be the sole reason. It also depends on the person too, since everyone is different and is influenced differently.
Perspective #1: Violent Video Games
Pose a Risk
In the article “Do Video Games
Influence Violent Behavior”, it is mentioned how California passed a law that prevents
people under 18 years of age from buying or renting violent video games (Cooper
and Zimmerman). Dr. Cheryl Olsen opposes this law, stating that youth violence
has decreased while violent video game interactions have increased, but her
claims are too simple and broad (Cooper and Zimmerman). Even though this law
was struck down, the answer to this debate was never clearly explained, since
multiple studies found that violent video games do indeed have a correlation to
violent behavior.
One
of the studies, conducted with children and college students, shows that the
individuals interacting with violent media often in their own lives had more
recent violent behavior. Anderson et al. was able to find consistent correlations
regarding violent video games and aggression by analyzing 136 different studies,
in which included 130,000 participants in total (Cooper and Zimmerman). More
studies were presented showing that violent video games are associated with aggressive
or violent behavior, and even Dr. Olsen who earlier opposed this, states, “[V]iolent
video games may be related to bullying, which researchers have found to be a risk
factor for more serious violent behavior” (qtd. in Cooper and Zimmerman). Using
this information, violent video games can be an indirect source of violent
behavior (Cooper and Zimmerman).
L.
Rowell Huesmann contributes to this claim by stating that “[V]iolent video game
playing may be similar to other public health threats such as exposure to
cigarette smoke and lead based paint” (qtd. in Cooper and Zimmerman). This means
that violent video games are a risk factor when it comes to violence, but not the
sole factor, meaning it can be regulated (Cooper and Zimmerman). So, even
though violent video games are not the sole factor when it comes to violent
behavior, it is an indirect factor that poses risks that can lead to violent
behavior.
Perspective #2: Violent Video Games
Do Not Pose a Risk
Back in 2013, a teenage boy started a school shooting, and an investigator named Michael Mudry decided to find out what influenced the boy to do such violent acts (Toppo 42). He found that the boy had information about weapons and violent individuals on his computer hard drive, including first shooter video games, which brings up the question of whether violent video games influence people to commit violent acts (Toppo 42). One thing that confused the Mudry was that the school shooter’s most visited place is a movie theater, where he constantly played a dancing game called Dance Dance Revolution (Toppo 42).
To figure out whether video games and violent behavior have a correlation, a few studies were analyzed. These studies included showing children somewhat violent behavior towards a balloon doll to see what their reaction to the doll afterwards would be (Toppo 42). After reviewing the results, they confirmed that the children that watched the violent behavior being conducted towards the doll also acted violently towards the doll (Toppo 42). After Critic Gerard Jones reviewed this study, he stated that the researchers have mistaken the child’s normal play style with aggressive behavior (Toppo 42).
Another
experiment, in which involved children watching a tv show called Mister
Roger’s Neighborhood, claimed that the children were up to three times more
aggressive after watching the show (Toppo 42). Jones responded to this study
and stated that the experiment itself made the children uncomfortable, leading
to more violent behavior (Toppo 42).
So,
according to Toppo, using dolls and special environments to figure out if violent
media causes children to be violent in the real world is inaccurate (Toppo 42).
Children can distinguish simulations such as video games from the real world,
meaning it is simply the way they play (Toppo 42). So, research regarding the
correlation of video games and violence is ultimately inaccurate, and pointing
straight to video games for the cause of violent acts is just too simple and
impulsive of an answer. Other factors have a big role in influencing
individuals to do bad things, but video games are an easily distinguishable
simulation which pose almost no risk.
Agreements and Disagreements
Both articles agree that video
games may not be a sole cause for violent behavior. In the article “Do Video
Games Influence Violent Behavior”, Huesmann states that video games are similar
to smoking in a way, since they may be a
factor in which caused a negative outcome but also not the sole factor (Cooper
and Zimmerman). Then, in the article “How Violent Video Games Really Affect
Kids”, we see that Mudry found the school shooter’s hard drive containing
information about not just violent video games, but also violent individuals,
which suggests that other factors came in to influence the teenage boy (Toppo
42).
The main disagreement setting these two articles apart was whether the experiments were accurate enough to judge the correlation of video games and violent behavior. Cooper and Zimmerman show that all the research mentioned in their article proved that video games influence individuals to behave violently. Anderson et al. states that violent behavior was found to be caused by violent media consistently (Cooper and Zimmerman). On the other hand, Toppo claims in his article that the research done was not accurate and interfered with the individuals’ behavior (Toppo 42).
Strengths and Weaknesses
One major strength that Cooper and
Zimmerman had was that a lot of their claims were backed by research that had a
lot of supporting data to show. Research such as the one analyzing 136
different studies, which was conducted by Anderson et al., gave a lot of
evidence and credibility to the claims presented. Toppo had a noticeable
strength in his article, which was using a real-life example of a violent act
that at first seemed to be the result of video game violence, which was the
school shooting committed by a teenage boy. After Mudry found that video games
did not have a direct correlation to the shooting, it gave the article a good story
to make the claim that video games may not at all be the reason, or at least
the sole reason as to why the school shooting happened.
Cooper
and Zimmerman did not have any major weaknesses in their article, but I did
notice that in the article by Toppo there was a weakness related to making
assumptions. In Toppo’s article, Jones states that the individuals
participating in one of the experiments may have been uncomfortable, causing aggression.
This claim seems to just be an assumption, without any evidence to back it up,
which is a noticeable weak point in the article.
After
looking at both of the articles’ strengths and weaknesses, I would say that Cooper
and Zimmerman’s is a more believable article. This is due to the fact that the
article had good claims backed by evidence from credible studies, leaving
little to no space for weaknesses. On the other hand, Toppo made the mistake of
including an assumption made with no real evidence to back it up, which may
lead to the article being marked as untrustworthy.
My Opinion
When it comes to violent video
games and violent behavior, I think it all comes down to an individual’s
tolerance level to such media. Many people are sensitive to violent behavior in
video games, television, or anywhere, which can lead to them being overwhelmed which
can then lead to aggression. Another factor that I would say comes in play here
is how easily someone can be influenced. Individuals who can be influenced
easily can very likely show aggression, which may lead to more violent behavior
the more they consume such media.
I
would not say the same for more tolerant individuals when it comes to being
influenced or overwhelmed by violent video games. Those who have a strong
mindset are less likely to be affected by such media, and in some cases, I
would say they become more tolerant to the media.
Conclusion
Both articles proposed well thought
out arguments, with strong claims. Although Toppo’s article was not as strong
as Cooper and Zimmerman’s, they both proposed debatable arguments that even agreed
and respected certain points. In the end, I think that a middle ground for this
would be that violent video games are not the direct cause for violent behavior,
but rather the indirect cause. As both articles agree, violent behavior can be
caused by many things, but violent video games are not the sole cause.
Sometimes they can be more closely related to violent behavior, but sometimes
they may not even be related at all.
So, when someone becomes violent without clear reason, it would be wrong to right away point fingers at video games, as they may only be a piece to the puzzle and not the full picture.
Works Cited
Cooper, Roanna, and Marc Zimmerman. “Do Video Games
Influence Violent Behavior?” Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center,
24 Aug. 2011, https://yvpc.sph.umich.edu/video-games-influence-violent-behavior/. Accessed 13 July 2025.
Toppo, Greg. “How Violent Video Games Really Affect
Kids.” Scientific American Mind, vol. 26, no. 4, 2015, pp. 40–45. JSTOR,
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24946323. Accessed 13 July 2025.
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