Video Games and Juvenile Aggression

Abstract 

Ever since the advent of deadly Columbine rampage that involved two students attacking their school, there has been social uproar on the impact that movies, television, and video games have on the juvenile offenders. After the ordeal, the narrative that the two young men were inclined to violent games besides metal music and Goth subculture filled the air. This bears the question of whether the video games that most children play can lead to aggression and delinquency. Almost two decades later, the exposure to such activities is not declining as more youths are even playing the games now more than never. Some media reports have attributed the rising crime rates among the juveniles to the video games while other scientific researchers have shown little connection between the two. 

Introduction 

In the United States, approximately ninety percent of children play video games which in turn ninety percent of the games contain mature content that mostly constitutes violence and shooting. The number is increasing, and this has caused a spiraling body of research that has been moving back and forth on the topic. The magnitude of media reporting on the effects of video games made the legislators become worried and try to tame it by proposing everything from the restriction of the age of the buyer to taxing violent video games. The worry came from the fact that the electronic entertainment devices are filled with virtual reality that could be translated to real life ( Markey et al., 2015) . It even drew the attention of President Obama in 2013 when he called for concentration of more research on the video games and how they influence the children who play them. Despite there being studies that do not link the violent media and acts of aggression, there is an ever-growing body of argument that supports the notion that these games can make the youth act violently in their real-world interactions. 

The current situation in schools has seen several cases of bullying and physical violence as in the instance of Kentucky shooting which claimed the lives of two. This means there is an immediate connection to some form of motivation for the kids to carry out such acts ( Markey et al., 2015) . The topic is important to me as I was a victim of bullying in junior school as several students were extremely volatile and could engage in physical aggression. The research on whether the video games act as a motivation factor to the perpetrators of such crimes is also crucial in the prevention of future occurrences and taming the culture which is on the rise. 

The mass shooting is on the increase in the streets, and it has also crept into our schools, where there should be access to knowledge that helps us escape such ignorance and hatred. What is striking is that the perpetrators are teenagers who are as young as 15 years old ( Markey et al., 2015) . This paper seeks to critically analyze some of the sources that support and refute the connection between the two variables. This topic is essential to study the rise of juvenile aggression, especially in schools. The understanding of the relationship between violent video games is impressive in my research as it would help me further my knowledge of the trends in the aggression exhibited by the juveniles. If at all there is a connection between the rate of crime and these games, then there should be a remedy to mediate between the two variables. Thus, this research would help in the recommendation of such measures. 

Literature Review 

The media has been a point of discussion for criminologists, sociologists, and psychologists as it has been considered play an essential role in behavior and crime. The media is deemed to be responsible for the pervasiveness and incitement towards criminal and other antisocial behavior. Of importance were television, news, film, and internet which are considered as significant contributors to the social problems. However, with the advent of juvenile shooting and violent behavior, other forms of media have been included in the mix of culprits. This is the video games which most of the youth in the United States. The factor of video games gained popularity in the early 2000s as it became one of the media’s impacts on aggressive behavior ( Prokarym, 2013) . Its research led to the development of General Aggression Model (GAM) which describes the role of the media in its tendency to influence the aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior of the people playing. 

Methodology 

A Google search was conducted to obtain relevant materials that conform to the topic of juvenile justice and video games. The resources were scanned for currency and relevancy before selection. The selected articles were not more than ten years old and contained media reports and research study reports. 

Results 

A CNN feature by Susan Scutti revealed how President Donald Trump feels about the connection between video games and the levels of juvenile crime ( Scutti, 2018) . In the article, the author narrates how Trump notates that for the schools to be safe, what children watch and play should be addressed. The president reiterated that he has heard people claiming that the high levels of violence in the video games are influencing the line of thought of our youths. Trump states this citing other media such as movies that involve killing and are exposed to the children despite the ones of sexual content being censored. The report, however, indicates that a survivor of a mass shooting in a school refuted the claims by the president and said that he (the survivor) does not dream of killing his peers despite being an active player of first-person shooter games since childhood. 

But, the article gives another connection between violence and the video games by citing the example of an 18-year old shooter who claimed the lives of nine people in Munich, Germany in 2016 as being an ardent fan of first-person assaulter video games ( Scutti, 2018) . The feature suggests that the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have warned of a connection between violent video games and the example they set for children. There is, however, some research that refutes this claim and notating that the matter should not be approached with isolation. 

This feature shows that there is still disharmony between the various parties on this issue. The scholarly materials in this article are evidenced to carry out empirical research to figure out the exact interaction between acts of violence and the exposure to the violent video games. While the parents would want to hear from the point of view that the form of entertainment causes their children to become more aggressive, it is imperative to analyze their kids before the exposure to the games ( Elson & Ferguson, 2014) . A sociological study reported that the individuals who are playing violent games are predisposed to acts of aggression before even they get exposed to the technology. Scutti says that the survey conducted on 6,567 eighth-graders gave an inverse proportion between the two variables. The researcher concluded that no matter how bloody a video game was, it did not influence or predict a violent behavior on the players. 

This view has been supported by various scholars with others claiming that the games could help reduce social injustice and violence rather than heightening it. They say that when the young males are occupied by the things they like, they have less time left for them to be on the street and engage in trouble. What the article misses is the information on the methodology used to obtain the results. It is evident that the researchers employed the models of personal reporting which cannot be relied upon to give an inference. A person can provide false accounts or inaccurate anecdotes. Therefore, the whole study cannot be the final word on the topic thus giving the controversy it has. 

Discussion 

What this article by Scutti is trying to convey is that people have been quick to point out the fact that playing video games has a direct connection to the level of aggression and violence that the juveniles exhibit. She has articulated backing with evidence the standpoint of various parties in the society and how they feel they are correct. This article is one of the many representations of the topic regarding video games and juvenile aggression as controversial issues grappling the society with opinions divided ( Elson & Ferguson, 2014) . Scutti has refrained from merely reporting a straight cause-effect format but respected the views of every party in the divide. 

The article however mostly inclines towards the opinion that the two variables are not proportional. It gives the parents the conclusion that the parents are responsible for making sure their children are playing safe games by monitoring what they get access to. It is like the buck stops with the parents who most of the time become divided also based on what games to prohibit. A significant problem facing the topic in the article is the lack of methodologies to measure the exact relation between the juvenile crimes and video games. 

It is therefore difficult to infer through the line of direct cause-effect ( Grodzinski, 2011) . The rationale for this is that crime is caused by some factors and violent video games take only a small fraction. It is not correct to point out explicitly that the Kentucky mass shooter came to the scene strictly as a result of playing video games. The same can be said of the other juvenile criminals. Sometimes, it is right to say that the games are just a sheer coincidence. In other words, it is concurrence that the perpetrators of juvenile violence happen to play the video games. 

Many factors are more connected to crime than the issue in contention, and they include traits, mental capacity, and state, neighborhood, peer influence, and family history ( Mears et al., 2017) . These can be directly linked to the rate of juvenile crimes, and the result can show some linear proportionality. In fact, when talking about the causes of violent behavior, video games rarely come to the mind. It has gained relevance through the media creating spotlight on its importance. The other factors can be studied with objective methods while the video games cannot be exposed to scientific approaches to research. 

The confusion that occurs when debating the issue of video games can be encountered as there is a grim picture of how the virtual influences can regulate real-life feelings, behavior, and thoughts. The studies that report a positive correlation between violent games and violence need to create a more nuanced picture of the tipping point. However, it should be considered that despite not being a direct contributor to violent behavior, video games can become risk factors and can become subtle causes of other social problems such as bullying in schools ( Mears et al., 2017) . It can be controlled when there is a feeling that there is a danger in the society that has a connection to the media. 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, the media agitated the need for studies on the influence of video games to juvenile violence after rising in shooting in schools. But, it still forms part of a social controversy as most parties do not agree unanimously that it causes the violent behavior. This makes the parents more confused on whether to prohibit the games or ignore the control as it is not significant. However, there should be control as video games can lead to other social problems such as bullying in schools. 

References 

Elson, M., & Ferguson, C. J. (2014). Twenty-five years of research on violence in digital games and aggression: Empirical evidence, perspectives, and a debate gone astray:  European Psychologist ,  19 (1), 33. 

Grodzinski, A. (2011, August 24). Do Video Games Influence Violent Behavior? Retrieved March 8, 2018, from http://yvpc.sph.umich.edu/video-games-influence-violent-behavior/ 

Markey, P. M., Markey, C. N., & French, J. E. (2015). Violent video games and real-world violence: Rhetoric versus data:  Psychology of Popular Media Culture ,  4 (4), 277. 

Mears, D. P., Moon, M. M., & Thielo, A. J. (2017). Columbine Revisited: Myths and Realities About the Bullying–School Shootings Connection.  Victims & Offenders ,  12 (6), 939-955. 

Prokarym, M. (2013). The Effect of Video Games On Aggressive Behavior In Undergraduate Students. 

Scutti, S. (2018, February 22). Do video games lead to violence? Retrieved March 8, 2018, from https://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/25/health/video-games-and-violence/index.html