How do video games cause violence?
I wouldn’t say that they CAUSE violence, but they make violence more familiar, and with no real consequence. In the game, you don’t really hear the screams or cries, or look anyone in the eye. You don’t see their blood and guts sprayed around, or smell the blood. In the game, when you return to a hallway a moment later, the body is gone, there is no evidence. In the game, you never have to confront the victims family, hide from the police, or risk the safety of your own family. When you begin to believe that violence has no real consequences, you become immune, and don’t do anything to stop it.
The cartoon character in the video game doesn’t break out of the TV, handhelp, or PC and shoot people in real life. The people playing the game CAUSE the violence – they have a disconnect from reality. If children aren’t taught that the games they’re playing are GAMES then some people think that they become desensitized to the pretend violence depicted within some games. Parents are ultimately responsible for paying attention to what their children play and teaching them MORAL VALUES including that is not ok to hurt other people, no matter what the cartoon characters in video games do. The games have ratings on them for a reason, just like movies and if people ignore the ratings and the content is not suitable for a child then the parent is responsible for child’s actions.
The generally accepted idea is that by experiencing the “detailed” blood and gore of such horrific video games as Reader Rabbit, impressionable children become dulled towards violence in real-life and are influenced to go out and shoot someone. Most would say that the above is bull, myself included.
