# data[].attributes.body
C- Feb 7, 2003
R- yes it is relevant.
A- Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication.
A- No.
P- It informs and teaches, but also some what persuades but for both sides of the topic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
About Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints

Find overviews, news, and opinions on hundreds of today's important social issues.

Don't know how to login?

Depending on this location's preferences, the log-in process could include your library card number, a student or user ID, or another provided password. If you don't know how to log in, please contact your library or school directly.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
About Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints Find overviews, news, and opinions on hundreds of today's important social issues. Don't know how to login? Depending on this location's preferences, the log-in process could include your library card number, a student or user ID, or another provided password.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Email Save Remove

Background of the Issue As many as 97% of US kids age 12-17 play video games, contributing to the $21.53 billion domestic video game industry. [120] lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetuer adipiscing elit proin risus praesent lectus vestibulum quam sapien varius ut blandit non interdum in ante vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae duis faucibus accumsan odio curabitur convallis duis consequat dui nec nisi volutpat eleifend donec ut dolor morbi vel lectus in quam fringilla rhoncus mauris enim leo rhoncus sed vestibulum sit amet cursus id turpis integer aliquet massa id lobortis convallis tortor risus dapibus augue vel accumsan tellus nisi eu orci mauris lacinia sapien quis libero nullam sit amet turpis elementum ligula vehicula consequat morbi a ipsum integer a nibh in quis justo maecenas rhoncus aliquam lacus morbi quis tortor id nulla ultrices aliquet maecenas leo odio condimentum id luctus nec molestie sed justo pellentesque viverra pede ac diam cras pellentesque volutpat dui maecenas tristique est et tempus semper est quam pharetra magna ac consequat metus sapien ut nunc vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae mauris viverra diam vitae quam suspendisse potenti nullam porttitor lacus at turpis donec posuere metus vitae ipsum aliquam non mauris morbi non lectus aliquam sit amet diam in magna bibendum imperdiet nullam orci pede venenatis non sodales sed tincidunt eu felis fusce posuere felis sed lacus morbi sem mauris laoreet ut rhoncus aliquet pulvinar sed nisl nunc rhoncus dui vel sem sed sagittis nam congue risus semper porta volutpat quam pede lobortis ligula sit amet eleifend pede libero quis orci nullam molestie nibh in lectus pellentesque at nulla suspendisse potenti cras in purus eu magna vulputate luctus cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes nascetur ridiculus mus vivamus vestibulum sagittis sapien cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes nascetur ridiculus mus etiam vel augue vestibulum rutrum rutrum neque aenean auctor gravida sem praesent id massa id nisl venenatis lacinia aenean sit amet justo morbi ut odio cras mi pede malesuada in imperdiet et commodo vulputate justo in blandit ultrices enim lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetuer adipiscing elit proin interdum mauris non ligula pellentesque ultrices phasellus id sapien in sapien iaculis congue vivamus metus arcu adipiscing molestie hendrerit at vulputate vitae nisl aenean lectus pellentesque eget nunc donec quis orci eget orci vehicula condimentum curabitur in libero ut massa volutpat convallis morbi odio odio elementum eu interdum eu tincidunt in leo maecenas pulvinar lobortis est phasellus sit amet erat nulla tempus vivamus in felis eu sapien cursus vestibulum proin eu mi nulla ac enim in tempor turpis nec euismod scelerisque quam turpis adipiscing lorem vitae mattis nibh ligula nec sem duis aliquam convallis nunc proin at turpis a pede posuere nonummy integer non velit donec diam neque vestibulum eget vulputate ut ultrices vel augue vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae donec pharetra magna vestibulum aliquet ultrices erat tortor sollicitudin mi sit amet lobortis sapien sapien non mi integer ac neque duis bibendum morbi non quam nec dui luctus rutrum nulla tellus in sagittis dui vel nisl duis ac nibh fusce lacus purus aliquet at feugiat non pretium quis lectus suspendisse potenti in eleifend quam a odio in hac habitasse platea dictumst maecenas ut massa quis augue luctus tincidunt nulla mollis molestie lorem quisque ut erat curabitur gravida nisi at nibh in hac habitasse platea dictumst aliquam augue quam sollicitudin vitae consectetuer eget rutrum at lorem integer tincidunt ante vel ipsum praesent blandit lacinia erat vestibulum sed magna at nunc commodo placerat praesent blandit nam nulla integer pede justo lacinia eget tincidunt eget tempus vel pede morbi porttitor lorem id ligula suspendisse ornare consequat lectus in est risus auctor sed tristique in tempus sit amet sem fusce consequat nulla nisl nunc nisl duis bibendum felis sed interdum venenatis turpis enim blandit mi in porttitor pede justo eu massa donec dapibus duis at velit eu est congue elementum in hac habitasse platea dictumst morbi vestibulum velit id pretium iaculis diam erat fermentum justo nec condimentum neque sapien placerat ante nulla justo aliquam quis turpis eget elit sodales scelerisque mauris sit amet eros suspendisse accumsan tortor quis turpis sed ante vivamus tortor duis mattis egestas metus aenean fermentum donec ut mauris eget massa tempor convallis nulla neque libero convallis eget eleifend luctus ultricies eu nibh quisque id justo sit amet sapien dignissim vestibulum vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae nulla dapibus dolor vel est donec odio justo sollicitudin ut suscipit a feugiat et eros vestibulum ac est lacinia nisi venenatis tristique fusce congue diam id ornare imperdiet sapien urna pretium nisl ut volutpat sapien arcu sed augue aliquam erat volutpat in congue etiam justo etiam pretium iaculis justo in hac habitasse platea dictumst etiam faucibus cursus urna ut tellus nulla ut erat id mauris vulputate elementum nullam varius nulla facilisi cras non velit nec nisi vulputate nonummy maecenas tincidunt lacus at velit vivamus vel nulla eget eros elementum pellentesque quisque porta volutpat erat quisque erat eros viverra eget congue eget semper rutrum nulla nunc purus phasellus in felis donec semper sapien a libero nam dui proin leo odio porttitor id consequat in consequat ut nulla sed accumsan felis ut at dolor quis odio consequat varius integer ac leo pellentesque ultrices mattis odio donec vitae nisi nam ultrices libero non mattis pulvinar nulla pede ullamcorper augue a suscipit nulla elit ac nulla sed vel enim sit amet nunc viverra dapibus nulla suscipit ligula in lacus curabitur at ipsum ac tellus semper interdum mauris ullamcorper purus sit amet nulla quisque arcu libero rutrum ac lobortis vel dapibus at diam nam tristique tortor eu pede

Previous Article

ProCon

Provides the pros and cons of controversial issues shaping our society. Entries are supported with background information that delves into the issue, with pro and con arguments, verified facts and additional reading.

Topic page
Violence in video games

Video games invaded the North American market in the mid-1980s. Very soon, the marketers of these games started including violence in them. Soon after

Full text Article
Dangerous Liaisons: Media Gaming and Violence
Introduction The video gaming industry is a globally dominating enterprise. Sales of video games and accessories worldwide reached nearly $50 bil Full text Article
Violent Video Games: Effects on Youth and Public Policy Implications
Years of research documents how witnessing violence and aggression leads to a range of negative outcomes for children. These outcomes result both fr

10891 words from Sage Publications

Full text Article
Learning Processes and Violent Video Games
ABSTRACT Though video games can produce desirable learning outcomes, such as improved performance in school subjects, they also can produce undesirab

8619 words from IGI Global

Full text Article
Learning Processes and Violent Video Games
ABSTRACT Though video games can produce desirable learning outcomes, such as improved performance in school subjects, they also can produce...

8488 words from IGI Global

Full text Article
Video Game Violence Research
In August 2013, an 8-year-old boy shot his grandmother shortly after reportedly playing the video game Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA). GTA is a violent s

5224 words from Springer Publishing Company

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Video Games and Violence | ProCon - Credo Reference

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Email Save Save Remove Remove Background of the Issue As many as 97% of US kids age 12-17 play video games, contributing to the $21.53 billion domestic video game industry.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Neuroethics Viewpoint

Author:
Philip M. Boffey
Published:
November 1, 2019

A long-standing debate over whether violence depicted in video games can trigger real-world violence has taken on renewed vigor in the wake of mass shootings in recent years. The gunman who killed 22 people and injured 24 others at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on August 3 made a fleeting reference to video game soldiers, indicating that he was familiar with video violence, and many politicians were quick to blame video games for this and other mass shootings. Yet it seems clear that the El Paso gunman was primarily motivated by ethnic hatred. His manifesto said the attack was "a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas."

The main reason to worry about video games is a slew of studies claiming to find a link between violence in video games and real-world aggression, but countervailing studies have found no persuasive link. The main reason to be skeptical of a causal link is that video games have spread widely around the world without driving other countries to the levels of violence in this country.

Then there is the question of what can be done to sanitize video violence without violating First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech, which the Supreme Court has applied to works of art, films, and video games that many might find repugnant. A Supreme Court decision in 2011 struck down a California law that sought to ban the sale or rental of violent video games to minors on the grounds that its vague and ill-defined language violated the First Amendment rights of the entertainment merchants.

I have no personal experience with violent video games but the amount of violence depicted in some current video games is astounding. The gore was graphically described by Justice Samuel Alito in a concurring opinion to the 2011 Supreme Court decision. In obvious disgust, he wrote that victims are killed with every imaginable implement, including machine guns, clubs, hammers, and chainsaws, among others. Victims are dismembered, decapitated, disemboweled, set on fire, and chopped into little pieces. They cry out in agony and beg for mercy. Blood gushes, splatters, and pools. Severed body parts and gobs of human remains are graphically shown.

Some games exploit antisocial themes, he continued. There are games in which a player can re-enact the killings at Columbine High School and Virginia Tech. The goal of one game is to rape a mother and her daughter, of another game to rape Native-American women. There is an ethnic cleansing game in which players can choose to gun down African-Americans, Latinos, or Jews.

Fortunately, there is no hard evidence yet that such games lead to mass murders or grisly killings. Indeed, most correlation studies show at most a small effect.

The late Justice Antonio Scalia, writing for the majority in the 2011 Supreme Court decision, scoffed at the notion that violent video games cause real-world violence. Most of the research studies suffer from admitted flaws in methodology, he wrote. "They show at best some correlation between exposure to violent entertainment and minuscule real-world effects, such as children feeling more aggressive or making louder noises in the few minutes after playing a violent game than after playing a nonviolent game."

Professional societies have struggled with the issue and waged battles within their ranks without reaching a clear conclusion.

In 2007, the American Medical Association's (AMA) Council on Science and Public Health issued a report likening excessive use of video games to a gambling addiction, although it acknowledged there was insufficient research to be sure it was an addiction. The council urged the AMA to contact the American Psychiatric Association (APA) about including internet and video game addiction in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a text used by psychiatrists around the world. But when the recommendations were put to a vote at the AMA's annual meeting, the delegates backed away and simply called for more research and a review of a video game ratings system that was set up when in the wake of Senate hearings in 1993 to help parents decide whether to let their children play a video game.

The APA was also split internally. The association's official position, expressed in a resolution adopted in August 2015, is that the link between violent video game exposure and aggressive behavior is "one of the most studied and best established." However, that aggressiveness included insults, threats, hitting, pushing, hair pulling, biting, and other forms of verbal and physical aggression. There was insufficient research on whether violent video games cause lethal violence. Studies have also shown that video game use is associated with a decrease in empathy and other socially desirable behavior.

A component of the association, the APA's division for media psychology and technology, was much more dismissive of any causal link. In a policy statement on June 22, 2017, it found "scant evidence" of any causal connection between playing violent video games and actually committing violent activities" and "little evidence" that playing such games "produces violent criminal behavior."

The warring positions on the issue were judged closer to agreement than most think in a recent analysis. A paper published in Perspectives on Psychological Science on June 12 used what it called "novel analyses" to determine whether conflicting results of meta-analyses were an artifact of reporting practices that masked an underlying consensus. The paper found that "all of the meta/analyses do in fact point to the conclusion that, in the vast majority of settings, violent video games do increase aggressive behavior but that these effects are almost always quite small."

That judgement was consistent with views expressed in separate articles by Benedict Carey and Kevin Draper in the New York TImes on August 5, just after the mass murders in El Paso and Dayton Ohio.

One respected organization, the National Center for Health Research, a non-profit non-partisan organization that critiques medical research, leans in the direction of worrying about triggering lethal assaults. It published an article on "Violent Video Games and Aggression" which found that: "Very few studies have looked at whether playing violent video games increases the chance of later delinquency, criminal behavior, or lethal violence. Such studies are difficult to conduct and require very large numbers of children. It makes sense that since playing violent video games tends to increase the level of aggressive behavior it would also result in more lethal violence or other criminal behaviors, but there is no clear evidence to support that assumption."

That paper and many others stress that video game exposure is only one of many risk factors for aggressive behavior and violence. Various scholars point to such factors as racism and ethnic hatred, certain psychiatric disorders, adverse social environments, and easy access to guns and other lethal weapons, which may be the most critical factor of all.

Focusing on violent video games as the cause of mass shootings almost certainly distracts legislators and government officials from the pressing need to deal with more fundamental causes. It is a moral imperative for federal and state legislators, government officials, and all others concerned with lethal violence to confront the underlying problems and not take symbolic refuge in blaming violent video games.

-
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not imply endorsement by The Dana Foundation.
Phil Boffey is former deputy editor of the New York Times Editorial Board and editorial page writer, primarily focusing on the impacts of science and health on society. He was also editor of Science Times and a member of two teams that won Pulitzer Prizes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Do Violent Video Games Lead to Violence?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Neuroethics Viewpoint Author: Philip M. Boffey Published: November 1, 2019 A long-standing debate over whether violence depicted in video games can trigger real-world violence has taken on renewed vigor in the wake of mass shootings in recent years.