In recent years, there has been
more of a concern with violent behavior in children and adolescents. Although
the rate of serious violent crime committed by juveniles has declined, there
have been more school shootings and murders brought to our attention in the
media. Because of this, the public has
tried to find a cause for these shootings, putting blame on gun control laws
when in fact, they need to blame the person with their mental health and gaming
habits.
Adam Lanza, the shooter in the
Sandy Hook tragedy, blacked out his room so that when he played Call of Duty:
Black Ops 2 on a regular basis, he would feel more involved in the game while
trying to get a high body count. Adam Lanza constantly sought out
higher-sensation experiences with violence until the real thing was the only
way to satisfy his needs. Yes, very little is understood about this phenomenon
of school shootings and what causes them to happen. Psychology, sociology and neurology all
contribute to the homicidal mindset and help us come to understand these
tragedies. When looking into shooter’s lives, we can see that they were in fact
playing these violent games.
I am aware that there are a large number
of children who play different types of violent games and go on leading
perfectly normal lives. Some use it as a
stress reliever and enjoy it as their leisure activity. When children play positive, uplifting
games, their behavior improves.
Although there is not a direct
correlation between violent videogame play and committing the actual violent
crimes, it is clear that a child can become more aggressive through this source
of media. When adolescents play violent video games, especially at a
young age, they are receiving a form of operant conditioning.
Recent studies have shown that the
relationship between violent videogames and aggression is stronger for
individuals who are characteristically aggressive to begin with. The type of aggression that is being
triggered is that of physical aggression, which is more common in boys than
girls. That being said, boys
are also more prone to increase their aggression by playing video games than by
watching TV.
In relation to the negative effects violent videogames has on behavior,
those who play may struggle with maintaining normative feelings and
capabilities. Adolescents seeking higher-sensation experiences are more likely
to play violent video games that contain specific acts of violence (e.g.,
weapon use). Research suggests that
sensation seeking may also be related to risky behavior at a very young age.
Who are we conditioning our children to become?
