Sean+H’s+OpEd+Article


 * Do Violent Video Games Lead To Violence?**
 * No**

Video games of every genre are a complete and total fictional fantasy. The same goes for violent video games. For years developers have been trying to get their games to be as realistic to the real thing as they can get. And though, as hard as they have tried they have yet to make a game that is a 100% match to the real world. A game that will: capture the cold, understated reality of violence, replicate exactly what a speeding bit of metal can do to a human body, or replicate the pitch perfect scream of a wounded person, or maybe even the the brutal truth about what it could possibly mean, if anything, to end a life. I have no doubt that in the future there will be a game like that. Although i'm not sure if I would enjoy playing that though, or anyone for that matter, unless you already have something mentally wrong with you. And I'm not even sure if gamers would even want games to be that realistic. The whole point of a video game is to be a fictional fantasy that you control.



All those people who go on those mass shootings already had some sort of mental issue going on. You cannot use fictional and very unrealistic video games as a scapegoat for why these people did what they did. There are other factors that you may have overlooked while focusing on video games being the cause like I don't know uhhh....... maybe things like domestic violence, bullying/alienation, parental non involvement, THE COMMUNITY OR SOCIETY YOU LIVE IN OR ARE PLAYING WITH! The fact is that violence has been occurring and influencing people of all ages in life long before video games came around. There are more things in life that promote or influence violence in children and young adults than just video games.



Do you want to know why your child or brother or sister or friend started speaking in a more aggressive tone? He/she might have overheard mommy and daddy fighting, or heard it in a conversation at school, or most likely someone bought him/her a violent video game with online multi-player capabilities and he/she picked up the language from some immature douche bag or already messed up kid. The community is the problem, not the video game.

So if you think that your child or sibling or relative or whatever is going to become a genocidal maniac who shoots up schools because he/she played a violent video game allow me to remind you that on the lower left hand corner of every video game is a RATING and the reasons for that rating. Just like movies and T.V. shows ratings are there so parents know to keep there children from watching or playing them. So if your kid or sibling is acting or speaking in an aggressively it is because the parent agreed to buy that game for the kid in the first place. Violent games like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto or God of War have a rating of M, meaning for mature players ages 17 and older. This prevents people under 17 from buying the game directly but in the fine print it says that only with parental consent can a person under the age of 17 purchase the game despite the rating. In fact back in November when the newest Call of Duty came out ( title up above) I was waiting in line to purchase my own copy of the game and while in line I gave a look of disappointment to a mother who walked by me as she left the store with their two children no older than six or seven years game in hand not even saying thank you or anything, just trying to read whats on the back cover. The only thing that ticks me off more than that is actually running into kids that so obviously sound really young as they talk and talk and talk talk through their crappy microphone set and order everyone around as if they think they are experts of the game. And then there's the ones who talk all kinds of crap, sometimes at the top of their lungs screaming it to everyone because they get killed or we don't do what they yell us to do or we do not exceed their expectations of winning. These ratings are also seen on every T.V. show and movie. It is because of lazy, non-involved parents that kids are playing these games in the first place. So if you honestly believe that a fictional, non realistic violent video game will influence your you or your child or anybody to become a violent evil person please remember:

1) It is a video game, an unrealistic interpretation of something. 2) There is a label with an official rating on the game, which is there so underage kids can't buy it themselves and need a parental approval to purchase it. Because it's up to parent in the end makes the decision if they want their child to play that game.