Do Violent Video Games Lead To School Shootings?

[Randy]

source: https://edubirdie.com/examples/do-violent-video-games-lead-to-school-shootings/

Do Violent Video Games Lead To School Shootings?​

Introduction​

Since 1999 when the Columbine high school massacre happened there have been 68 school shootings in the united states. In recent years the average number of days between school shootings has been decreasing. People, like our current president Donald Trump, believe that this is because of violent video games where the user gets to play and use weapons to kill virtual people. This report will be discussing, how my topic relates to the book, the recent and past school shootings, how video games have evolved over the years, what violent games are doing to fix it, and theories people have about violent video games.

Regulating convictions about hostility is one of the foremost vital cognitive components affecting youthful aggression; they allude to an evaluation of hostility acceptability by a person (Huesmann and Guerra, 1997). They can be isolated into two sorts: common convictions and retaliatory convictions. The previous implies a common see approximately animosity, whereas the last mentioned reflects forceful convictions in provocative circumstances. Regulating convictions approximately hostility reflect the degree acknowledgment of aggression, which influences the choice of forceful behavior. Studies found that normative beliefs about aggression are straightforwardly related to animosity. To begin with, self-reported hostility is essentially connected to regulating convictions approximately animosity

How it relates to the book​

This topic relates to the book best in chapter seven which is about crime and deviance. In the book, it talks about control theory and how if everyone was given the opportunity to do deviant acts they would. It also talks about how humans are selfish who make fundamentally calculated decisions about engaging in criminal activity by weighing the benefits and risks to see what works out best for themselves. I believe that this relates to school shootings because, a person might not like some of the people at their school whether it’s a teacher or a bully, so they decide that it would be best for themself to get rid of those people by shooting their school. Not thinking about the other people they would hurt in the process, weighing the risk versus benefit for themselves, like in control theory. School shootings could also be due to conflict theory. Conflict theory suggests that people choose to be deviant as a response to the superior or a ruling class above them. Theorists argue that individuals choose to engage in deviant behavior in response to the inequalities of the capitalist system. To conclude, school shootings could be of a choice to benefit themselves (Control theory) or from a choice in response to those who are of a superior level than themselves (Conflict Theory.

Recent School Shootings​

Within the last year, there have been 11 school shootings within elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and colleges across the country. Jan. 31: Memphis. A 14-year-old at Manassas High School was shot with a pellet gun at school. The student’s injury was not life-threatening. Feb. 8: Baltimore. A man entered Frederick Douglass High School and shot and injured a staff member, prompting students to hide in their classrooms at the sound of gunfire. The police said they believed that the gunman had targeted the victim, a 56-year-old special education assistant. Feb. 12: Kansas City, Mo. A teenage girl was shot and killed outside a high school after an argument at a basketball game earlier in the evening. The police said that the assailant and girl knew each other and that it appeared the suspect had waited for her in the parking lot. Feb. 26: Montgomery, Ala. A 17-year-old student at Robert E. Lee High School was shot and wounded in an arm by another student. The school was placed on lockdown and the assailant was arrested. Apr. 1: Prescott, Ark. A 14-year-old eighth-grader at Prescott High School was shot and injured by a classmate. Apr. 30: Charlotte, N.C. Two students were killed and four others were wounded after a gunman opened fire in an anthropology class at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. One of the students who was killed, Riley Howell, was credited with stopping the massacre. May 7: Highlands Ranch, Colo. One student was killed and eight others were injured in an attack on an English class at STEM School Highlands Ranch. May 7: Savannah, Ga. A Savannah State University student was shot and wounded in a residential hall on campus. Aug. 30: Mobile, Ala. Nine people between the ages of 15 and 18 were wounded when gunfire broke out at a high school football game. The police arrested and charged a 17-year-old student in the shooting, and later sought a second assailant when they found evidence of shots fired by a different gun. Oct. 24: Santa Rosa, Calif. A 17-year-old gunman shot a schoolmate twice just outside Ridgway High School and then walked calmly into class, where his teacher did not realize anything was wrong.(Bosman, 2019)

What video game companies are doing to fix it​

Mortal Kombat is a video game developed by NetherRealm Studios and is published by Warner Bros Studios. The game is widely known for its gore and violence as characters are torn in half and decapitated. Most people like to play the game just to watch the gruesome finishing moves done between the characters. The game is definitely not for anyone who doesn’t like violence because that’s what makes the game the way it is. Warner Bros isn’t gonna change it because that’s what makes the game unique. (Byrd, 2019) Senator Leiberman has asked the makers of Mortal Kombat and other violent video game companies to create a warning system because if parents really knew about what happened in theses games they wouldn’t buy them. (“SENATOR CALLS FOR WARNINGS ON VIDEO GAMES,” 1993) Call of Duty is a war based first-person shooter game. The player can play against the computer in simulated missions or can play online against real-world people. The game has put warning labels warning the player as they log in to the game that it’s an extremely violent game you can even take off the missions that are very gory or show lots of blood. They’ve even implemented a setting to called “paintball” mode where blood and bullets are changed for brightly colored splatters of paint. To conclude, some companies are taking steps to bring down or warn the consumers of the violence their game has.

Theories about Violence due to Video Games​

According to Bandura’s social cognitive theory, violent video games can initiate adolescents’ observational learning. In this situation, not only can they imitate the aggressive behavior of the model but also their understanding and acceptability about aggression may change. Therefore, normative beliefs about aggression can also be a mediator between violent video games and adolescent aggression. ( Anderson et al., 2017)

Conclusion​

We live in a world filled with violent movies, shows, and especially video games. There have been a number of different studies to decide whether violent video games relate to the violence in the youth, specifically school shootings. The evidence shown in these studies shows no definite results. While there are no definite results, some video game companies are taking steps towards making the game less gory as well as less violent in general to help try to stop the many school shootings in America.

Thoughts?

 

[PGen98]

I don't think games or movies or other such things truly influence people to do or not do things. Some people can become obsessed, and yeah, maybe in those cases it can reach a level where they blur the lines of reality and take things too far, but for the vast majority, no. I play a lot of video games involving shooting, I don't own a gun and don't particularly care to. I watch a lot of movies about sport, I don't watch Cool Runnings and try and bobsled afterwards...so, no...movies, games, music don't really influence people to do things, IMO.

 

[MrDawn]

No. For a time after Columbine, because Eric Harris was a fan of Doom, that Ad Ignorantiam was a widely go to argument. They tried it with Adam Lanza from Sandy Hook and guess what? All he played was Mario Bros, dance games, & Guitar Hero before he went postal.

 

[MisterBobbyPin]

Does Star Wars lead to school shootings? How about Marvel movies? What is the real difference between watching a action movie and playing a violent video game? Why is it prefectly acceptable to watch something like The Punisher but playing Doom is somehow more violent? The problem is that we are blaming a median instead of the people commenting school shootings.

 

[Moonface]

No. If someone is going to shoot up a school, they're not getting the idea from video games or necessarily any other media. I'd say most get the idea due to being in a home environment that doesn't promote good gun safety/respect or from seeing stories of others who have done a school shooting before and getting the idea from them. As someone who went to school in the UK the idea of someone doing a shooting didn't even cross my mind, primarily because of the lack of guns but even then I didn't think someone would go around trying to stab another student or something either.

 

[Nebulous]

Humans have a history of being violent since before video games were ever invented. What did they blame it on back then? Its just in our nature, sadly.

 

[MrDawn]

Humans have a history of being violent since before video games were ever invented. What did they blame it on back then? Its just in our nature, sadly.

School shootings would happen whether video games existed or not. That's just how irrelevant video games are in the matter.

 

[fuzzems]

I would say Yes and No. I think most people can understand that video games are the realm of fantasy. Like reading a book or watching a movie or playing a character in a play. Doesn't mean you become that persona. However, I do think that first person shooter games can influence someone and desensitize them to the reality of killing. I think we have heard some of these shooters say it was a dream like experience to them or not seemingly real. So, I do think that for disturbed people, it gives them target practice in a sense. And we also know that "simulation" type scenarios make things more real for people in how to think, act, etc in those scenarios. So, yes, I would be concerned about someone who wants to spend hours and hours first person shooting versus riding around as in a mariokart for instance. I am not saying that we should eliminate the games, just saying it's an additive factor.

However, there are so many other factors in modern society. Societal breakdown, family breakdown, porn, corruption, bullying, lack of caring, sexual abuse, domestic abuse and on and on that i would say are far greater factors. But, I think it's a SOUP of all of these things but not any one thing.