A link was implied from a recent report about how video gaming affects and promotes violent culture in the United States.
In less than 24 hours, two shootings took place in El Paso, Texas. It was estimated that thirty (30) people were lost and more were injured, according to CNN. The incident alarmed the whole nation that President Trump had to intervene and calm the hearts of citizens as he said:
We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace.
But is it really going to solve the increasing violence rate of the nation? Or in any case, will be enough for the children of today and tomorrow to oversee how they play with video games which may ultimately lead to catastrophic video game addiction?
Scientific studies suggest otherwise. Here’s why.
Studies on violence and video gaming
A media professor at the University of Las Vegas, Benjamin Burroughs, stated that there is “no linkage” has been evident to “gun violence.”
Some studies, Burroughs continued, show that video gaming affects players to exhibit a short-term increase of violent and hostile thoughts. But never did it occur to them (in the instances of the experiments) to commit these notions as he confirmed that it “doesn’t lead to violent outputs.”
Another study in 2006 showed similar findings. Researchers at Indiana University studied that teens who play violent video games tend to have elevated emotional states such as fear and anger. It was also viewed having reduced brain activity in their control, thought management and organization, as well as in their behavior but not enough to commit hostility.
These research findings stand strong since then. However, most American politicians still claim how games can be destructive to young minds.
Patrick Markey, a psychology professor, described this as a “weird unifying force” in terms of how politicians tend to “go after video games” while there were no studies that assert its validation.
In the end, the widely known connection of violence to video gaming might not be constructive to address the core issue. In fact, it distracts from how the occurrence of mass shootings became prevalent.
In 2018, Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, mentioned to CNN that America has to put gun safety laws into more emphasis than video games.
What separates America is our weak gun laws and unacceptable rates of gun violence. Americans want action on gun safety, not video games.
