Killings, thefts, fights, and even murder.  Is this something you think your teens should be exploring? These are the themes of many of the video games your teen is playing.  The gaming industry is a $21.53 industry. As many of 97% of kids between the ages of 12-17 play some sort of video games. Many studies have been done in  recent years to determine if gaming is causing an unhealthy lifestyle. Video game advocates claim that this research is not accurate. I would like to take a deeper look into the idea of “ Does gaming go too far?”

Graphics of games have evolved over the years. They continue to get better and better with the addition of 3-D.  It is almost as if you are living the game.The big question is does it desensitize us?  Video games have been blamed for school shootings, and increasing bullying against fellow students  and violence toward women.

Violent video games make killing people fun and entertaining which  may lead kids to imitate the actions. By the age of seven, children are able to tell the difference between reality and pretend. They have watched TV, and movies such as Harry Potter, Tom and Jerry and  Superman. Exposure to fantasy is an important part of being a kid. According to Bruce Bartholow,( a professor of psychology, university of Missouri 2016) “ more  than any other form of media, video games encourage participation in violent acts.”  Studies have shown that players have a more accurate aim than those who do not play.  The US Marine Corps licensed “ Doom II” in 1996 to create a training game called” Marine Doom.” The US Army released a game called ‘America's Army’ in 2002 as a training video. Dave Grossman, a retired Lieutenant Colonel and West point psychology professor stated “through interactive point-and -shoot video games, modern nations are indiscriminately introducing the their children the same weapon of technology that major armies are using.”

An estimated four out of five households with a male child own a gaming system. Boys play an average of 9 hrs. per week but only a small percentage of them show violence . Patrick M Markey, Phd director of the interpersonal research laboratory at Villanova University 2015) stated,”90% of  young males play video games.”  Findings showed that a young man who committed a violent crime also played a popular video game(Journal of American Medical Association ,2014).The study concluded that violent video games ”Increase aggressive thoughts ,angry feelings, aggressive behaviors, and decrease empathic feelings and prosocial behaviors”.

We have looked into the idea of how bad gaming is for you, but there is an upside to it too. Here are some good points about gaming. They can release stress and anger,  making people less depressed and hostile, (Bartlett, Branch, Rodeheffer, & Harris, 2009).  They're good for your brain.  By that I mean it helps with reaction times and hand and eye coordination,Violent video games show kids the consequences of violence and stealing. In the game Grand Theft Auto you go on a killing spree but the cops come after you and try to stop you, This shows kids that there are consequence to your action.. One study (PLOS ONE, 2014) stated “three experimental studies have failed to  find a detrimental effect on prosocial behaviors.”  I would also like to add that in the supreme court case Brown v. ESA  June 27, 2011, the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 opinion striking down the California law as unconstitutional on the basis of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The majority opinion was authored by Justice Antonin Scalia and joined by Justices Ginsburg, Kennedy, Sotomayor, and Kagan. It states  that "video games qualify for First Amendment protection"

Now that I have talked about all the good and bad points of video games, I’m going to state my own opinion on it. I think these parents should stop complaining about violent games. Parents keep complaining about how games are going to be the downfall of this country and how their kids are going to turn into murderers. I say if you don’t like your kid playing violent video games don’t buy them for your kids. 

As the video game industry continues to progress, so will the argument of how they affect the behavior and brain development of our youth.  Desensitizing, causing aggression or improving skills will be on many professional and parental radars.  As in most things, parents should be the deciding factor in their children’s activities.