A Guest's Opinion

A good friend of mine Jin Kim who shared his opinion about violent video games. His knowledge about video game content tells us a little bit more about violent video games and aggression. The following explains his side of violent video games:

A Dead Argument

In Ronnie's blog he talks about how violent video games might be a negative influence, especially to the younger audience, and that is understandable. Many parents and guardians are scared that violent video games can cause their children to become violent in return. I am here to say that this worry should never happen in the first place. 

Why's That?

First off there is no real proof that violent video games cause violence. There are a lot of studies out there that say either that violent video games negatively influence children, and there are others that say the exact opposite. The only thing that people can say for certain is that they are not certain if violent video games influence anybody.

The main problem with this argument is the question of how children are obtaining these violent video games. How are kids below seventeen obtaining games that require an I.D. to buy?

An article on Parenting.com talks about ten games that should not be bought for kids (Sapieha & Tahnk, n.d.) . The problem with this list is that nine of these games are M for mature and the other one is T for teen. The ESRB rates that M games are appropriate for anybody seventeen and up while T games are okay for those thirteen and up (ESRB rating guide, n.d.). So, if the majority of these games are appropriate for those seventeen and up, why are they on a list of games to not purchase for your kids? These games should not even be on a list, much less considered for it. 

So who is the real culprit of this situation? Is it the parents that buy violent games for their children? Is it the game industry for not better informing people? Is it the government for not putting up better regulations for purchasing games? Maybe there is more to blame than just the violent video game. 

References

ESRB rating guide. (n.d.). Entertainment Software Rating Board. Retrieved from <http://www.esrb.org/ratings

          /ratings_guide.jsp>

Sapieha, C. & Tahnk, J.L. (n.d.). 10 violent video games to avoid. Parenting.com. Retrieved from 

          <http://www.parenting.com/gallery/violent-video-games?pnid=501499#comments>