Video Games and Violence

80 Pages·2013·4.89 MB·English

by  Andrea C. Nakaya

®
About the Author
Andrea C. Nakaya, a native of New Zealand, holds a BA in English and
an MA in communications from San Diego State University. She has
written and edited numerous books on current issues. She currently lives
in Encinitas, California, with her husband and their two children, Natalie
and Shane.
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Picture Credits:
Thinkstock Images: 9
Maury Aaseng: 15, 22, 29, 35, 42, 48, 56, 61
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Nakaya, Andrea C., 1976-
Thinking critically : video games and violence / by Andrea C. Nakaya.
pages cm. -- (Thinking critically)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Audience: Grade 9 to 12.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60152-591-8 (e-book)
1. Internet and children--Juvenile literature. 2. Video games--Juvenile literature. 3. Children
and violence--Juvenile literature. 4. Internet--Safety measures--Juvenile literature. I. Title.
HQ784.I58N35 2014
004.67'80835--dc23
2013026248
Contents
Foreword 4
Overview: Video Games and Violence 6
Chapter One: Does Video Game Violence
Cause Violent Behavior?
Th e Debate at a Glance 12
Video Game Violence Causes Violent Behavior 13
Video Game Violence Does Not Cause Violent Behavior 19
Chapter Two: How Does Video Game
Violence Aff ect Youths?
Th e Debate at a Glance 25
Video Game Violence Harms Youths 26
Video Game Violence Does Not Harm Youths 32
Chapter Th ree: Are Violent Video Games a
Cause of Mass Shootings?
Th e Debate at a Glance 38
Violent Video Games Are a Cause of Mass Shootings 39
Violent Games Are Not to Blame for Mass Shootings 45
Chapter Four: How Should Video Game
Violence Be Regulated?
Th e Debate at a Glance 51
Video Game Violence Should Be Strictly Regulated 52
Strict Regulation of Violence in Video Games Is Not Needed 58
Source Notes 64
Video Games and Violence Facts 70
Related Organizations and Websites 73
For Further Research 76
Index 78
Foreword
“Literacy is the most basic currency of the knowledge economy we’re liv-
ing in today.” Barack Obama (at the time a senator from Illinois) spoke
these words during a 2005 speech before the American Library Associa-
tion. One question raised by this statement is: What does it mean to be
a literate person in the twenty-fi rst century?
E.D. Hirsch Jr., author of Cultural Literacy: What Every American
Needs to Know, answers the question this way: “To be culturally literate
is to possess the basic information needed to thrive in the modern world.
Th e breadth of the information is great, extending over the major do-
mains of human activity from sports to science.”
But literacy in the twenty-fi rst century goes beyond the accumula-
tion of knowledge gained through study and experience and expanded
over time. Now more than ever literacy requires the ability to sift through
and evaluate vast amounts of information and, as the authors of the
Common Core State Standards state, to “demonstrate the cogent reason-
ing and use of evidence that is essential to both private deliberation and
responsible citizenship in a democratic republic.”
Th e Th inking Critically series challenges students to become dis-
cerning readers, to think independently, and to engage and develop
their skills as critical thinkers. Th rough a narrative-driven, pro/con for-
mat, the series introduces students to the complex issues that dominate
public discourse—topics such as gun control and violence, social net-
working, and medical marijuana. All chapters revolve around a single,
pointed question such as Can Stronger Gun Control Measures Pre-
vent Mass Shootings?, or Does Social Networking Benefi t Society?, or
Should Medical Marijuana Be Legalized? Th is inquiry-based approach
introduces student researchers to core issues and concerns on a given
topic. Each chapter includes one part that argues the affi rmative and
one part that argues the negative—all written by a single author. With
the single-author format the predominant arguments for and against an
4
issue can be synthesized into clear, accessible discussions supported by
details and evidence including relevant facts, direct quotes, current ex-
amples, and statistical illustrations. All volumes include focus questions
to guide students as they read each pro/con discussion, a list of key facts,
and an annotated list of related organizations and websites for conduct-
ing further research.
Th e authors of the Common Core State Standards have set out the
particular qualities that a literate person in the twenty-fi rst century must
have. Th ese include the ability to think independently, establish a base of
knowledge across a wide range of subjects, engage in open-minded but
discerning reading and listening, know how to use and evaluate evidence,
and appreciate and understand diverse perspectives. Th e new Th inking
Critically series supports these goals by providing a solid introduction to
the study of pro/con issues.
5
Overview
Video Games and Violence
In July 2011 Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik set off a series of bombs
in downtown Oslo, killing eight people. He then drove to nearby Utoya
Island with a bag full of weapons and proceeded to calmly and systemati-
cally shoot sixty-nine people dead and wound hundreds of others. Most
of the victims were youths who were attending a summer camp there.
At his trial Breivik testifi ed without emotion about how he shot as many
people as he could, fi ring more bullets at those who tried to play dead or
were injured and could not escape. He claimed that his goal was to kill
all six hundred campers on the island.
At the trial Breivik also revealed that he played the video game Call of
Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as part of his training for the shooting. In addi-
tion, he said that at one time prior to the shooting he spent up to sixteen
hours a day playing World of Warcraft, another violent game. Th ese rev-
elations immediately sparked renewed debate about the eff ects of video
game violence, a topic that provokes intense disagreement in the United
States and around the world. Critics say that violent acts such as Breivik’s
are often precipitated by violent game play, while others argue that claims
such as this are not backed by evidence. While not everybody plays violent
video games for sixteen hours a day as Breivik did, these games are a popu-
lar form of entertainment for people of all ages. Yet, as the Breivik case
illustrates, there is continuing disagreement over how they impact society.
Increasingly Realistic Violence
Society’s perception of video game violence has changed dramatically in the
past fi fty years. As technology improved, games became increasingly violent
6
and realistic. Spacewar!, one of the fi rst video games that involve players
attempting to destroy something, was created in 1961 and consists of two
starships that try to shoot each other. Th e ships can fi re torpedoes, increase
or decrease their speed, and turn. Th e graphics are simple lines. In com-
parison, today’s violent games are far more realistic. For example, writer and
editor Dan Nosowitz writes about a demonstration he attended for Sniper
Elite V2, a game that came out in 2012. Nosowitz says the game designers
conducted extensive research to make the game feel realistic to players. He
says, “Th ey consulted medical experts, ex-military snipers, photography of
real-life gunshot victims and x-rays of bone fractures.” He describes the re-
sult in one part of the game when the player fi res at a Nazi sniper:
Th e camera rotated back behind the bullet to follow it as it got clos-
er and closer to the enemy. Th en it reached the enemy’s face. Sud-
denly the Nazi’s skin peeled back, like a Venetian blind rolling up,
snapping backwards over his skull. I saw the bare, perfectly clean
bone, the teeth, grinning and eerie, the spinal column beneath with
its visible path of nerves. Th e bullet splattered through the cornea,
shattered the bones of the eye-socket and cheek, broke through the
blood vessels at the back of the eye, burst backwards through the
brain cavity and punched a hole in the back of the skull.1
Research shows that a large number of people play violent video
games such as this one. While the Entertainment Consumers Associa-
tion reports that the majority of video games have no violence in them,
statistics indicate that those games that are violent account for a signifi -
cant percentage of game sales. According to the Entertainment Software
Association (ESA), in 2011 seven of the ten top-selling video games con-
tained signifi cant amounts of violence, including Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare 3 and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.
Youths and Violent Games
Research also indicates that many youths play violent video games. For ex-
ample, in 2012 the American Psychological Association (APA) published
7
the results of a four-year study involving more than fi ve thousand US teen-
agers. Th irty-two percent said they had played Spiderman II, 12 percent
had played Manhunt, and 58 percent had played Grand Th eft Auto III.
All three of these games are violent. For example, in a review of Manhunt
the website Gamespot says, “Th e game itself unfl inchingly depicts intense
graphic violence, the likes of which you might expect from a slasher mov-
ie.”2 ESA data reveal that most violent play occurs with parents’ knowl-
edge: the organization reports that parents are present 90 percent of the
time when games are purchased or rented and that 91 percent of parents
say they pay attention to the content of the games their children play.
Conflicting Research
How video game violence aff ects people is an extremely controversial
topic. Some people maintain that it is harmful, while others insist that it
is not. Hundreds of studies have been conducted in an attempt to answer
the question, yet even the studies have proved to be controversial. Critics
disagree about the validity of study designs and off er diff ering interpreta-
tions of the results. As National Public
“[Creators of the violent Radio science correspondent Shankar
game Sniper Elite V2] Vedantam says, “Th e irony is that sci-
consulted medical entists who think the games are harm-
experts, ex-military ful, and those who think they’re not,
snipers, photography of are both looking at the same evidence.
real-life gunshot victims Th ey just see two diff erent things.”3
and x-rays of bone Assessing the eff ect of violence is
fractures.”1 diffi cult. While video games might im-
pact how people think and act, numer-
—Dan Nosowitz, a writer and editor. ous other factors—including personal-
ity traits and family infl uences—also
infl uence thoughts and behavior. Iowa State University developmental
psychologist Doug Gentile compares the eff ects of game violence with
the eff ects of smoking. Cigarette smoke has an impact on the individual
smoker, but the eff ect is not always noticeable. He says, “Two-thirds of
smokers don’t get lung cancer because they have enough protective fac-
8
The effects of violent video games, especially on young players, are
uncertain. Some researchers warn that such games, played often and over
an extended period of time, can lead to aggressive or violent thoughts
and behavior while others say that links drawn between video games and
violence or aggression are not scientifically valid.
tors. But if you open them up and look at their lungs, you’ll see that it
was still infl uencing them all along.”4
Some people contend that video game violence actually has bene-
fi ts for players. Th ey maintain that by engaging in violent play, people
release frustrations in a harmless way, reducing the likelihood that
they will commit violence in the real world. It is also argued that ex-
posure to game violence can be benefi cial to youths because it helps
them learn to deal with violence or fears that they might experience
in the real world.
Regulating Game Violence
For as long as there has been violence in video games, there have been
people trying to regulate it, particularly to keep children and teens from
being exposed to it. Th e fi rst widespread public protest over video game
9
violence occurred in 1976 with the release of Death Race, in which cars
run over stick-fi gure characters to win points. Hitting a stick fi gure
causes it to scream. Due to public outrage Death Race was pulled off
the market after selling only a small number of games. In 1993 Senator
Joseph Lieberman proposed federal regulation in response to the violent
games Mortal Kombat and Night Trap. Mortal Kombat is a fi ghting game,
well known for a move called “Fatality,” whereby a player can use a vari-
ety of violent moves to kill an opponent
who has already been defeated. Night
“The irony is that
Trap is a horror adventure game where
scientists who think the
the player fi ghts vampiric creatures. In
games are harmful, and
response to proposed regulation, the
those who think they’re
video game industry instituted its own
not, are both looking at
regulation system in 1994, which is still
the same evidence. They
used today.
just see two different
Th e ratings system is overseen by the
things.”3
Entertainment Software Rating Board
—Shankar Vedantam, science correspondent (ESRB), which assigns ratings and en-
for National Public Radio.
forces industry-adopted guidelines for
advertising games. Th e ratings divide
video games into six categories: Early Childhood (C), Everyone (E), Ev-
eryone 10+ (E 10+), Teen (T) for ages 13 and up, Mature (M) for ages
17 and up, and Adult (A) for ages 18 and up. In addition to these rat-
ings, video game labels contain descriptions that explain in more detail
why a game has been given a particular rating. For instance, some games
might carry this explanation: “Blood and Gore—Depictions of blood or
the mutilation of body parts.” Others might have this description: “Vio-
lent References—References to violent acts.” Digitally distributed games
are not subject to the same requirements or enforcement as packaged or
boxed games; however, the ESRB strongly encourages their makers to fol-
low its guidelines.
Despite the video game industry’s self-regulation, there are repeated
eff orts to institute government regulation. Th e most recent attempt—to
ban the sale of extremely violent games to children in California—was
declared unconstitutional in 2011 by the US Supreme Court.
10