Video Games And Violence

Media’s Effects on Children Today
Video games have become a part of our culture in America as well as around the world.   There are a large variety of video games to be played such as sports, non-violent, and violent games.   The most dominant genre of video games that out-sells all others is the violent video game.   It is hard to explain why they outsell all the other genres, but one reason may be because they allow users to turn their aggression into something simple which may result in less anger for that person.   Video games have more recently started to be used as recruitment tools for branches of the United States Military with games such as “America’s Army.”   One of the most popular video games of all time was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.   Despite being one of the most violent and gruesome video games to ever be made, it sold a record number of units.
  Video games primarily focus on the main character as a male, while female characters are usually in the background.   The government has had limited success in regulating content in video games as it is viewed as a form of censorship.   Many people counter with the argument that violent crime has actually reduced in the United States while video game sales have increased, therefore arguing there is no correlation.   By raising children in a society where killing people on the television is ok, it can cause many problems in the long run.   When you shoot someone in a video game, they magically come back to life unharmed, however when you shoot someone in real life, they are gone forever.
There have been countless studies and research done to determine whether or not violence in video games causes aggressive / violent behavior in adolescents.   It is widely disputed as to whether or not violent video games lead to aggressive behavior.   Many studies have yielded mixed results (Anderson 4).   There is no consensus as to whether or not violent video games truly lead to violent behavior in the real world.   One...