A Troubled Generation

A Troubled Generation

Our nation has changed over the years. There is no question about that. The generation that my grandfather grew up in during the 1930’s and 1940’s has often been called “The Greatest Generation” (Brokaw). Why is my generation not talked about for our inventions and advances in technology? Maybe that the downfall of our generation has been the media and the influence it has on the public? There is no doubt that the media can spin a story into a shocking and scary account produced solely on the intent to sell. This information force-fed to the public can cause fear and hatred to develop within our country and result in gun violence and bloodshed. One reason for the amount of youth violence in America is the violent content in many video games.

The average adolescent spends a major part of the normal week watching or interacting with some form of the media’s products. Video games are one of these media based mediums and have become increasingly popular since the 1980’s. According to a report in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, "Female gamers spent an average of 44 minutes playing on the weekdays and one hour and four minutes playing on the weekends, and male gamers spent an average of 58 minutes playing on the weekdays and one hour and 37 minutes playing on the weekends" ("Video Game Play Among Adolescents"). What can we understand from this evidence? The fact is that adolescents, male or female, are spending tremendous amounts of time each day sitting in front of a screen with a controller in hand.

Although there is little evidence to conclude that violence in video games directly leads to adolescent gun violence, there are proven studies that show increased levels of anger and aggression in the human brain when playing violent games:

Situational input variables influence aggressive behavior through their impact on the person’s present internal state, represented by cognitive, affective, and arousal variables. Violent media increase aggression by teaching observers how to aggress, by priming aggressive cognitions (including previously learned aggressive scripts and aggressive perceptual schemata), by increasing arousal, or by creating an aggressive affective state (Anderson & Bushman 355).

As stated above, the violence in video games is directly related to an increase in aggression. The American School Board Journal also stated that, “adolescents who play violent video games show increased activity in areas of the brain linked to emotion arousal and decreased responses in regions that govern self-control” (Mathews). The studies show the appalling neurological effects it can have on gamers. Why are we not banning such violent games from the market? It is simple; as long as people are willing to buy and play the games, companies will continue to produce them.

Violence in video games has risen to an astonishing level and shows no indication of slowing down. The scary fact is that violent video games sale at an alarming rate. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released on October 21, 2002. Over 1.4 million copies were sold in two days making it the fastest sales start for a video game in the thirty-year history of the industry (Media Family). Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has been notoriously known for its harsh brutality and demeaning treatment to women. In addition, the National Television Violence Study in 1996 determined that 73 percent of violent video games reward violence as an effective way to handle conflict (Norcia). This constant act of rewarding violent behavior could have devastating effects on teenagers that could lead to horrible tragedies such as Columbine, Colorado and Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Why does media violence in video games lead to increased aggression and violence? Anderson and Bushman state in their report, “Violent media increase aggression by teaching observers how to aggress, by priming aggressive cognitions, by increasing arousal, or by creating an aggressive affective state (Anderson & Bushman 355). Gamers, who continually act out the violent dialogues in many popular games, become aggressive themselves and are slow to distinguish from reality and fantasy. Problems arise when individuals take the anger learned from video games, and forcefully act out in defiance to members of their community.

American citizens have had the right to own guns for a very long time. The second amendment states that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” In modern day America, unless restricted because of good reason, an adult of 18 years of age can purchase a rifle or shotgun and an adult of 21 years of age can purchase a hand gun. One study suggests, “Almost half of all households have at least one gun owner” (Kleck). Now that America has more guns than ever in our homes, wouldn’t it be easy for a teenager who is tired of being bullied at school to grab his brothers rifle or steals a pistol from his friend’s dad and harm others with it? With the lack of self-control that is taught to youths in the video games, the act of getting a gun and using it harmfully to set the score even is very plausible. Parents should realize this problem and talk with their children about negative effects of gun violence and to instruct on how to deal with the child’s emotions.

Video games are rated by the ESRB, The Entertainment Software Rating Board, by how violent the game is and rates them accordingly to the appropriate age level that can handle the material. M-rated games require the buyer to be 17 years of age or older because of its violent and/or sexual content. In 2003 a survey shows that 69 percent of teenage shoppers were able to buy M-rated games (FTC). This percentage of youths