Violence in Video Games

Violence in video games is a very controversial subject in the media today. This has came to the fore through acts of violence committed under the "influence" of video games. The most common criticism that is heard today is that video games increase violent tendencies among the youth.

This topic has been studied by many colleges and groups including: The Harvard Medical School, The British Medical Journal and The Journal of Adolescent Health. These examinations have yielded proof that games have no conclusive link with the increased violence of youths.

But lets think of it logically video games are only one facet of violent media which the youth are subjected to on a daily occurrence. There is streaming television footage of various wars, violent television shows, violent music and violent movies. Lets not all forget these children's biggest influence, their parents. Its a parents choice whether or not to let their kids use this material. Can we please stop using video games as a scapegoat for acts of murder?

The top 10 selling worldwide video games last year amounted to 38.59 million units sold. That's not even counting the hundreds of other game titles released last year. The amount of murders "related" to video games last year was less than 25. Now, is it more realistic that these murders were influenced by video games? Or is it more reasonable to say that they were sporadic acts of violence? That's for you to decide.