SLAS Times Q2 2019-2020 SLAS Times: Fall 2019 | Page 42

Governments Still Blame Video Games for Violence
by Nikita Kirzyk
S
ince video games became
popular in the ‘80s, they have
been blamed by parents and
governments for everything from
mass shootings to psychological
degradation and brain damage.
Government organizations, such
as the AAP (American Academy
of Pediatrics), advise parents to
restrain their children from ac-
cessing video games, since they
believe they could cause violence.
More and more independent re-
searchers, however, have stepped
into the debate and are arguing
that games are not harmful or
damaging. the data drawn from his study, De-
Camp figured out that violence in
games did not encourage violence
in real life. His colleague, Christo-
pher Ferguson, a professor in psy-
chology, supports DeCamp’s view
and claims that violence in games
reduces violence in real life “...by
keeping young males busy with
things they like, you keep them of
the streets and out of trouble.”
Whitney DeCamp, a professor
of sociology, analyzed Delaware
School Survey data for 2008, which
included responses from more
than 6,000 8th graders. Based on The AAP still claims that exposing
children to virtual violence can af-
fect them mentally and provoke
towards aggressive and violent
actions in future. But the issue is
Furthermore, the Supreme Court’s
case, Brown v. Entertainment
Merchants Association, had ruled
out that the idea that video games
are to blame for real life violence.
that according to AAP itself the
“real-world study that links virtual
violence with real-world violence
has not been conducted.” Further-
more, according to the APA (Amer-
ican Psychological Association),
more than 90% of American chil-
dren play video games, thus if the
AAP’s claims are true, then the US
crime rate should have skyrocket-
ed by now.
Despite AAP data lacking any real
world proof, the government still
blames games for numerous mass
shootings. In doing so, the govern-
ment misleads and misinforms
the public. Students, rather than
the government agencies, should
communicate more with parents
in order to create healthy family
policies related to video games.