Russell Marion

Ms. Ingram
UWRT 1103
November 19, 2015
The reality of video game violence
Video games is one source of entertainment that is becoming more popular each year as
children keep asking for the new and cool games. Whos to buy them? Parents. The adults. Well
for you parents who will be buying video games in the coming future, its important for you to
know about this controversial topic that has been circulating the parent blogs and news for many
years. It is whether or not violent video games have a negative effect on a users behavior and
cognition. If so, can those negative effects provoke real life acts of aggression? In this paper, I
will show through studies that even though one does not directly cause the other, there is a
correlation between video games violence and an escalation in aggressive behavior.
Video games were first introduced in the mid 1970s and have been growing in popularity
since their invention. It has been reported that more than 90% of U.S. children ages 2 through
17 play video games, so there is no doubt that video games have had an impact on children in
this country (Gentile and Walsh). The amount of time children play each week has increased
from about 4 hours per week in the mid-1980 to more than 9 hours per week, with girls playing
about 5.5 hours per week and boys playing 13 hours per week which shows that kids are
playing these games longer so it cant be ignored that video games are important to them
(Anderson et al; Gentile et al). This increase in use among children shows just how video games
are becoming more and more influential and suggests the use of video games will not be going
away anytime soon. So, its important for parents to understand the level of influence that video

games are starting to have over their children and just how many children are being exposed to
video games across the United States.
A large majority of children play video games, so what is on these games becomes an
even more important question for parents to ask. The first court case involving video game
violence appeared in 1976. Suddath, a reporter for the Time Inc, indicates that these cases were
over Death Race, which is a game that involves a car running over stick figures and then in
1993 over Mortal Kombat with its fatality moves and Night Trap in which a male protagonist
protects a houseful of scantily clad women from vampires which caused the Senate to propose
video-game regulations (Suddath). These games are designed for the gamer to inflict as much
damage they can on their enemy and get the highest scores they can. Due to those cases, the
video game industry founded the Entertainment Software Rating Board whose purpose is to
provide concise and objective information about the content in video games and apps so
consumers, especially parents, can make informed choices (ESRB.org). The ESRB ratings
range from C for early childhood to E for everyone, E +10 for ages 10 and up, T for ages 13 and
up, M for ages 18 and older, and finally A for adults only. In each category, the amount and
degree of violence gradual increases to fit the correct age group. Though some games are rated
for everyone, they can still have some version of violence though it is of less degree than Mature
games for ages eighteen and up. This rating system is important for parents so you can make
informed choices when buying a game for your children. The system was created off this
notion that to experience more violence the gamer must be of age and mature enough to act
accordingly to certain situations. The percentage of kids who play video games and the addition
of the ESRB clearly suggests that violent video games have some degree of influence on
children. To what degree that influence affects their behavior must be looked into further.

Many games involve some sort of violence whether it be throwing a banana at an

opponent in Mario Kart or shooting the head off zombies in Call of Duty, there are various
degrees of violence as categorized by the ESRB. One statistic shows that as many as 89% of
video games contain some violent content and approximately half of video games include
serious violent actions toward other game characters which shows how common violent content
is in gaming (Children Now et al, Dietz et al). These percentages of violence in video games
means players are exposed to more violent actions and therefore become increasingly
desensitized to the violence each time they play. Whether their violent actions are rewarded or
punished by the game is another important issue to look at when determining the effects of video
game violence. A study done by Nicholas L. Carnagey and Craig A. Anderson looks at how
video games affect human behavior and cognition. In the experiments, male and female
participants played the same racing game but in three different modes. The first mode rewarded
the player for each kill or damage inflicted on another racer, the second mode punished the
player each time they killed a pedestrian or hurt a fellow racer and then the third mode was a
nonviolent version where the player couldnt do any acts of violence. The results in each
experiment shows that playing a violent game, when it rewards violence, can increase aggressive
cognition and behavior. Its also important to note that each time the player is rewarded for
violence; they receive positive reinforcement for that action. When a player is constantly
awarded for doing a violent act, they are not going to see that action in a negative way but
instead will begin to accept the violence. When a player plays a game where violence is
punished, the player is more inclined not to be violent but each time they are punished they can
become angrier because they lose points. This is why it doesnt matter if a game rewards or
punishes violence, it increases a persons aggression relative to playing a nonviolent game when

aggression indication levels do not rise, which shows that whenever there is a violent element in
the game then aggressive behavior and cognition will increase (Anderson and Carnagey).
Whenever someone plays a nonviolent game, they dont experience an increase in aggressive
behavior or thought. This experiment also shows that nonviolent games and a game that punishes
violence are similar in that they don't create any more or less aggressive thought or behavior. So,
when a player is playing games that are non violent or punish violence, they do not increase
aggressive thinking or behavior but those actions increase hostile emotion because they are being
punished for their violent act. When playing these games, its important for the player to feel
they have mastered it more than anything, so when a player feels the game has beaten them then
they can end up feeling aggressive. For example, I have personally felt this in my gaming
experience where there are times when the game beats me and I feel like throwing the controller
across the room. This whole experiment shows that there is a direct relationship between playing
violent video games and an increase in aggressive behavior and cognition. This is important
information for parents to think about when their children play video games.
Another experiment that was held where some students played a nonviolent game and
then others played Mortal Kombat and then were told to put hot sauce on someones food. This
experiment explores not just if violence in video games increases aggressive thought and
cognition but also tests how long that aggression increase from the video games affects the
gamer. The results were similar to Anderson and Carangeys experiments and found that the
people who played Mortal Kombat gave their fellow students significantly bigger portions of
the hot sauce than those who played the other nonviolent games(Carey). This experiment does
show that people tend to be harsher after playing a violent video game compared to those who
play a non violent game. Aggressive behavior can also change depending on the player's

experience in that specific interaction with the game. If a player loses or feels frustrated with
their gameplay, it can also increase a players aggressive thoughts and cognition more so than if
the player never becomes agitated from the game. How long the hostile attitude affects the
individual depends on that individual and their personality. Though a study found that over time
digital warriors get into increasing numbers of scrapes with peers like fights in the
schoolyard, which shows that the more a player is exposed to violent video games, the more
likely it is they will act out aggressively(Carey). This agrees with studies mentioned earlier that
prove how an increase of violent video game exposure can increase that persons aggressive
cognition and behavior. Since more exposure to violent video games increases a persons
aggression, this aggression must have some affect on their real life actions. Its important for
parents to know that video games are a risk factor to real life violence.
Another reason this subject is controversial is due to the reports that have said video
games were important motivating factors for school shootings. One example of this is the
Columbine shooting in 1999 where the shooter said to have named his gun after a character
from the computer game Doom (Kleinman). This is one case where a video game had some
effect on the shooters thoughts and was one factor in tempting the shooter to commit the crime.
Its important to know that video games are not the sole reason behind such acts but in fact ,
there are many factors, including feeling socially isolated, being bullied, and so on, said Craig
A. Anderson, a psychologist at Iowa State University. But if you look at the literature, I think
its clear that violent media is one factor; its not the largest factor, but its also not the smallest
(Kleinman). This final quote by Anderson is another important piece to this puzzle because it
keeps things in perspective with regards to the effects of video game violence and different
factors that are just as important. These studies show that video game violence can have a direct

effect on a persons outward actions, the amount of exposure they have and the degree of
violence affects their aggressive behavior. This should be thought about each time parents buy a
game for their child.
For parents, the content that is exposed to your children at young ages should be closely
monitored. Especially when buying games, its always important to see what kind of games the
child wants, what the content of the game is, and then how much time you allow your child to
play the game. You should also remember that playing a nonviolent video game will not increase
your child's chances of becoming more aggressive. Each of these components will affect the
aggressive behavior and cognition of the child. Some children have been exposed to violent
video games since they can remember whether it be a violent movie or video game. I personally
have been exposed to violent war movies like Patton and the Gladiator since I can remember. I
can recall playing video games such as 007 Goldeneye or Mario Kart against my brothers at a
young age. Whether it be violence in a race of Mario Kart or a shooter game like James Bond I
have been exposed. Personally, I have never thought whether these games have increased my
chances of having a more aggressive personality or made me a ruder person until this research.
Clearly, video game violence has a real affect on people and increases aggressive behavior and
cognition. As shown through the experiment with the hot sauce, violent gameplay will cause
people to act more aggressive. Experiments have also shown that rewards and punishments can
affect a gamer in different ways. The effect of these games solely depends on whether the gamer
chooses to engage in non aggressive gameplay or aggressive gameplay which will increase ones
chances to act aggressive in real life situations. Real life situations such as school shootings have
been affected by video game violence, but it's important to note that violence from video games
is one factor that can contribute to such an act. Other factors such as self image, social standing,

or being bullied along with many other factors do play a role in situations such as the one at
Columbine. Though video game violence is one factor, it is not the largest or the smallest factor
in determining the cause of such an event. Yes, video games can provoke real life actions so this
conclusion shouldnt go unnoticed. Its important for parents to monitor the content their children
are exposed because it directly affects their social interactions, and mental health.

Works Cited
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