The Controversy Of Violent Video Games

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Pages: 7

Are video games hindering and halting the progression of young minds and making them think of violent acts, that they shall reproduce in the near future? For the generation of people who have no idea what a video game is, it is a piece of plastic that can let the person playing it play games like tennis or soccer on a television. It can also allow the person playing to improve his skill, to have fun, to explore new lands and experience a multitude of different activities. Unfortunately, there is a lot of controversy that says the bad imagery, and actions portrayed in video games can make players become a negative influence on society. On the other hand, there have been plenty of people trying to prove, with tons of research, that video games …show more content…
Many news stations and websites often commit the fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc. A fallacy is a false belief, and post hoc ergo propter hoc is the fallacy of believing that something happened because something happened before it. Plenty of stories on these news sites claim that mass killings lead straight back to the murderer's hobbies which included playing video games. “... a man had been attacked and robbed of the game, his watch and phone- although the headlines only concentrated on the game itself” (Etchells). They also think “It is freud’s principle in practice. Ring the bell, a reward is gained. Why stop ringing the bell” (Rogers). They think that because they kill people in a violent video game and get a reward, they could get a reward for killing people in real life. People are smarter than to go on mass killing sprees due to video games and people interpret things differently. The people who kill others were already psychopaths to begin with and a hobby of theirs was playing video games. “... it is a leap to assume that someone who commutes every day has become an inherently more hostile person” (Bennett). Video games can help people by distracting them from great pains. Plenty of doctors stated “ we have found it is effective in distracting patients from pain, to help them learn how to incorporate and restore function in their life…” (Wolfson). They allow people to reconstruct their lives in a positive way as well. Video games also allow the increase in brain responsivity and other skills. “Dr. Adam Gazzaley is harnessing the concept of ‘neuroplasticity’( the brain’s ability change in response to behavior, environment, and a number of other stimuli) in concert with video games to promote brain performance” (Dafnis). Video games can add so much to a person’s life. It can help them learn new things, experience new techniques of different subjects and even make players feel more healthy.