Do Not Blame Video Game Violence

President Trump’s meeting with video game executives and their critics after the latest school shooting is yet another example of complete blindness when it comes to understanding the root causes of violence in the United States. Violent video games have become a predictable scapegoat for politicians and other critics to place blame in the immediate aftermath of mass shootings committed by young people. As early as 1976 and barely two years after Pong’s first rally, the video game industry has been accused of influencing aggression and violent behavior in children and teens.

Video games have exploded into the mainstream, from geeky hobby into cultural norm. The United States ranks as the second largest consumer of games in the world. A 2008 report by the Pew Research Center found that over half of American adults played video games, and a whopping 98% of teens did as well, fueling speculation about their negative impact on society. However, a more recent report in 2015 found that the percentage of adult players dropped just under half, with teens dropping to 72%. 

  

But more are playing shooting games than ever before. The Entertainment Software Association reports that in 2016, shooting games accounted for the largest game sales in the country at 27.5%. Not surprisingly, the top 4 best-selling games of 2017 was Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Battlefield 1, Destiny 2 and Grand Theft Auto V, all war-based shooting games.

Yet, decades of research has been unable to establish conclusive evidence that playing violent games correlates with violent behavior. Some studies have even suggested that games can be beneficial for a child’s development. Not surprisingly, critics disregard these studies and continue to believe that they breed children to become desensitized killing machines.

Even though teens are playing more violent games than ever before, acts of violence continues to drop in the United States.

From 1993 to 2016, the percentage of violent crimes per 1,000 people dropped from 79.8% all the way down to 21.1%. During the same period, video games transitioned from 2D to 3D, becoming graphically realistic and increasingly violent. Curiously, the level of violent crime in the country was much higher while the video game industry was still in its infancy. Now teens are exposed to violent video games more than ever yet violent acts continue to decline. Critics who see video games as the root of the country’s mass shooting problem forget that violent crime continues to diminish despite increasing demand for shooting games.

What politicians and other critics fail to realize is that video games are a direct reflection of American culture. They are inspired by the events and actions that shape our society, not the other way around. It is no coincidence that shooting games are so popular considering the United States produces and owns more guns than any other country in the world. America also consumes nearly the same amount of video games as China, Japan and South Korea. Yet, the US more than triples them when it comes to gun related murder.

The violence in games that critics blame for school shootings is based on real violence that has become a staple part of American culture and society. Shooting games do not expose children to an imaginary sadistic fantasy world, they are a manifestation of the real-world violence that plagues the country we live in. Video game violence is not the real issue. It is the symptom of a cultural disease that has left our children susceptible to experiencing or committing acts of violence. Teens do not need games to encourage them to commit acts of violence. All they need to do is walk outside and take a look at the world they live in.