Media has developed significantly over the years, and with this increase, comes

the increase in those who see it. Because of this, media has been blamed by a
large amount of the population over the years, because of its influence over
viewers. Gaming is a large part of media life in the modern day with 37% of the
population aged between 16 and 49 describing themselves as active gamers
and roughly 5 million video games across the world, 4% of which are for adults
only, 18 years or older. So what content labels a game as adults 18? PEGI is the
Pan-European Game Information that rates games on their standard of violence,
language, fear, sex, drugs and other aspects. The definition of a 18 rated game
or adult game is when the level of violence reaches a stage where it becomes
a depiction of gross violence. Gross violence is classed as the depictions of
violence that would make the viewer feel a sense of revulsion. This means that
are 200, 000 adult rated games have created.
PEGIs rating system was created to help European parents make informed
decisions on buying computer games. Although it is illegal for those under 18
to buy 18 rated games, it is not illegal for them to play it. A study commissioned
by the UK games industry found that parents let children play games for adults,
even though they knew they were 18-rated. Many believe these games, and
those who play it are influenced by video games, with multiple media outlets
crediting mass murders to violent or sexual video media such as movies and
video games. One of the largest mass murders happened in 1999. On the 20 th
April 1999, two teenage boys open fired on the Columbine High School in
Littleton, Colorado, killing 13 people and wounding more than 20 others. There
have been multiple theories as to the cause of this massacre, yet the most
popular was not because of the relation of being bullied, or access to weaponry
or psychological issues, but rather violent video games and music. In 2001,
relatives of people killed in the Columbine massacre sought damages from
computer game makers, claiming their products helped bring about the shooting.
Multiple other shooting happen since this senseless event that have been
credited due to violent games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto. For
example, both these video games have been blamed for the crimes of various
people. In 2003, two brothers William and Joshua Buckner, 16 and 14 years old,
opened fire on vehicles on the Interstate 40 highway in Tennessee killing one
person and injuring another severely. The teenagers told the police that they
were bored, and decided to mimic their favourite videogame, Grand Theft Auto
which named after the car crime, and features guns, violence and sexual
content. More recently in 2011, Anders Behring Breivik shot 68 people dead at a
youth camp of the Norwegian Labor party and another nine in a bombing of
government buildings. According to the judgment rendered against him, he liked
playing violent games, and actually used the video game Call of Duty to train
for his shooting massacre.
Gaming has long been as topic of controversy and is often the cause of moral
panic within the society. Media could equally be blamed for bother areas on how
they present Gaming and violence, blaming the games rather than the people,
these ideas encourage the question: is media to blame? There are multiple
theories that revolve around this question, but the basic idea is whether
audiences are either passive or active in media effects. The hypodermic needle
theory is the idea that the audience is passive, that the ideas are injected into
the mind of those who watch it, and mirror it in their own lives. This is the idea
that if you see violence you will become violent. The other main theory is the
uses and gratification theory. This dictates that the audience is active in the
effect media has on them, that they have a choice. People watch and use media
for multiple purposes, to entertain, to find characters to they can relate too and
even to socially interact. Gaming has become an important part of social
interaction. With the development of gaming intercoms and other technology,
gaming has become a social activity, rather than an independent. 78% of teens
have said they feel more connected to those they already know; 52 percent also
report feeling closer to friends whom they only know online. This is why it is more
important than ever that children and teenagers are not subjected to images of
gross Violence.
Over 97% of teens play video games and 60% spend an average of 20 hours a
week watching TV. It has become a key and critical part to teenage life, finding
guidance, similarities and social connections in it. Although I personally believe
that the audience is active in the way they connect to media, it is important that
teenagers and children are protected from aspects of violence and other areas of
life as they undergo both physical and social development, and remember that
media, is not always to blame.