Jane Sclafani: Final Paper

Jane Sclafani
Professor Williams
Digital Media     
26 March 2014

Violent Media's Effect on Violence in America      

           Many concerned citizens would agree that media in the United States, specifically violent video games, and the amount of violence that is exposed to our youth, has become a bigger problem than any of us expected. These games may have begun as an escape, but their aggressive nature has had a negative impact on youth in America. Having once been a society traumatized by witnessing real violence, we have become almost immune to the shock of massacres that seem to take place every day. Because of the way our youth are being drawn into these games, and the negative impact they seem to have on our society, it is time that we take into consideration the effects these video games have on influencing the mentally unstable youth in the United States over the last 20 years.

            Gamers may argue that War Zone, Call of Duty, Mindcraft, Black Ops, and other mindless games serve as a stress reliever and an outlet for aggression. I understand that these games can help us take on the role of someone else and distract us from whatever may be going on in our lives. Video games like these may also be able to connect kids with their friends and allow them to interact online. However, while these games do much of the time have this affect, a lot of the time they only encourage violent behavior at a young age (Premier Online Debate). Why should we support the violence in which we see our youth participating? Why should it matter that it is only digital violence? Could these "games" not lead to something more?

Many observers today don't realize the effects that violent video games have on America's youth. Playing these games is viewed as just as acceptable as painting a picture.

Violent video games, when played enough, tend to get the best of some and almost become a part of their everyday lives.

            Today, video games aren’t quite used for the same purpose. What was once meant to provide a temporary fix for boredom or stress. has become a go-to pastime and even an addiction or way of life for some.  What happened to fresh air? What happened to playing in the backyard, riding bikes, and playing tag? My own seven-year-old brother would rather stare at an iPhone than play outside. These games have singlehandedly consumed approximately 97% of our nation’s youth, and could very likely be connected to the amount of senseless acts of violence we've witnessed over the last 20 years.

The young minds of America tend to get so engrossed in these games that it seems as though nothing else matters. This boy in particular really shows how easy it is to 'get into' a game.

This image implies that the toys and games that were once popular (like the BopIt above) have become obsolete in comparison to digital weapons.

            While violent video games aren’t the only reason our generation flourishes in the art of butchery, it is obvious that it is a factor. A child will ask for the new version of the most violent video game out there, leading them to then beg for a Nerf gun, then a BB gun, more video games, and eventually, a real gun of their own once they have grown bored of childish games. Although this obviously isn’t the case for everyone, we have seen it happen enough times. The young men who opened fire at Columbine High School back in 1999 were known for becoming consumed with violent video games, and later tried to live out their twisted digital fantasy along with other perpetrators such as Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech. shooter; Kip Kinkel, the Thurston High School shooter; Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter, and many others within the past two decades (Benedict) (The Inquisitor News).

            Having gone to school with Adam Lanza for my first few months of high school, I specifically remember passing “that kid” in the hallway always on his old fashioned Nintendo DS, phone, or anything else to distract him from the real world. He was one of the few people in the AV club, and was never seen spending any time outside. He later became known as the Sandy Hook School Shooter. This event obviously shocked the town, but his behavior, unfortunately, did not. In the days following the tragedy, I heard teachers recalling what he was like in class and neighbors thinking back to how he connected with the rest of the neighborhood. My brother, 20 at the time, even chimed in about what he was like in their math class just two years before the shooting. He was never one to speak up, carry on a decent conversation, or really interact with anyone in any way. The most he ever connected to anything was when his eyes were locked on the screen of a video game. When the first 45 pages of the police report were released a few months ago, it explained that he had placed tarp over his windows to keep the light out, and kept stacks of violent video games and remote controls in his room, amongst other things. The amount of time he spent playing video games like Black Ops should’ve been worrisome on its own.

This boy is demonstrating how easy it is to be taken out of the reality of everyday life. He ignores his friends and the rest of the world becomes a blur when he is playing a violent video game.

Video games tend to draw us in and block out the real world. Kids who play these games regularly (it is estimated that those who do play, play for about 14 hours a week) lose sight of the world going on around them.

            16-year-old Evan Ramsey’s case also proved interesting. In 1997, he shot four people in his school in Alaska, killing two of them. He was imitating the things he saw his character do in the game “Doom --” a game in which you have to shoot the enemy multiple times before he dies. Ramsey was “surprised to find the rule did not apply in real life” (Layton 2). Obviously psychopathy and other psychological problems (specifically in the pre-frontal cortex) are at work here and in most all of these cases, but the exposure to such violence definitely encourages this kind of behavior (Layton).

            On a larger scale, this intimate relationship to bloodshed has desensitized the nation to the worst degree. Every news broadcast on shootings, bombings, effects of war, and other types of violence seem to get pushed to the back burner. It becomes background noise, something we don’t really care about because it has all become so repetitive, so routine. While we are aware of these attacks going on and are temporarily heart-broken for the victims, we pay very little mind to it. Another bombing? Oh. A shooting, again? Aw, that sucks. We never let is get to us, never believe it could happen to us, never let that fact that these crimes mirror the most popular video games of the time shake our confidence that our youth will naturally make the right choices in deciding not to take part in real violence.

            When does it become too much? When do we draw the line between virtual violence and real violence?

This "techno soldier" may be taking the game a little too seriously and bringing the elements of the game into the real world.

This picture helps illustrate the fact that instead of playing outside today, kids have taken to video games.

            Video games that influence this kind of behavior came out in the mid-1970s, however as we well know, they did not become popular until the early 1990s. A recently-created graph shows that the number of mass shootings as well as the number of casualties per shooting has increased dramatically since 1990; this is no coincidence (School Shootings Chart Over Time). This graph reflects the impacts these video games have on their audience and is a clear sign that nothing good can come out of these games.

            Defenders of these games may say that not everyone who plays violent video games is subject to applying those skills to real life. While I know that this is true, it doesn’t mean that none are subject to it. There are bad seeds, misunderstood kids, mentally unstable teens, and while they may seem healthy and happy, they are not. Unfortunately, we often discover these instabilities after the trigger has been pulled or the bomb has been set off, and by then it is too late.

       Works Cited

Carey, Benedict. "Shooting in the Dark." www.nytimes.com. N.p.,   n.d. Web. 23 Mar.

            2014.

"MinnPost." MinnPost. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.

"School Shootings Chart over Time." School Shootings Chart over Time. N.p., n.d. Web.                                                    20 Mar. 2014.

"Should Violent Video Games Be Banned?" The Premier Online Debate Website. N.p.,      n.d. Web.   20 Mar. 2014.

"Ten Deadliest School Massacres In United States History." The Inquisitr News. N.p.,     n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.

Bushman, Brad, and The Opinions Expressed in This Commentary Are Solely Those of Brad   Bushman. "Do Violent Video Games Play a Role in Shootings?" CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.