Do Video Games Make Children Violent?

We all know what games I am talking about. They make news headlines with tedious frequency, and some games are so controversial that they become banned in some countries. These are the new 'video nasties'.

Not seen in My Horse and Me 2

As a game player myself, I have first-hand knowledge of what these games are about. I have witnessed the realism and violence in these games. I have also read the reports in the news, the accusations that have been directed at the developers, and the arguments that they have created.

The most popular debate that is currently going on is whether violent video games make children aggressive. It's a question that I liken to whether a pride of lions would shoot their prey if they were equipped with an arsenal of rifles. Of course, that is highly unlikely; the point I am making is that it simply shouldn't happen. We should only be able to hypothesise because lions don't have guns. Sure, there might be some irresponsible and naive gamekeeper somewhere in Africa that thinks it doesn't matter if he furnishes his animals with semi-automatic weapons, but that isn't the gun's fault. That's just down to human error, a fundamental flaw that we all bear.

PEGI rating: 18+

Violent video games are not meant for children, and that is the bottom line. Children are only playing them because their parents don't know or don't care, or both. The age restriction on games is not determined by a panel of mindless chimpanzees spinning a wheel to get the magic number - it is a thorough process. Pan European Game Information (PEGI - pegi.eu) rate all console and PC games, and state that only 4% of games are 18+. This is clearly visible on the front of every game case, helping people decide whether a game is suitable for the intended audience. There is also an option on video games consoles to moderate gaming so that children cannot play a game that is for an adult audience, among other restrictions. These safeguards have been put in place to minimise the amount of violence a child observes, but if they are not used and taken advantage of, then who do we blame?

Health and safety in the workplace is there to stop people cracking their heads open when they cut corners or do things they really shouldn't be doing. If somebody does balance precariously on the back of an office chair while being lifted on a forklift truck, and they fall and hurt themselves, we do not start shouting at the office chair manufacturer, or the forklift truck provider. Blame goes to the responsible party, as it should, and in the case of children playing violent video games the responsibility is with the parents or guardians.

Controversial 'No Russian' Level

Last year, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 made waves with 'No Russian', a level that puts the player in control of an undercover operative infiltrating a Russian military gang. The level is set in a Russian airport, where the gang move throughout killing innocent people, then continue the rampage when heavily armed enforcers show up. In itself, it is not a great argument for violence in video games. The controversy caused masses of people to demand that the level was withdrawn, and I can only assume that the majority of these people knew nothing about it. The level itself is part of the game's storyline, and only aids the narrative to create an immersive world that can teach us a lesson. That lesson is not 'shoot people in public places', but for those jumping on the hate-wagon it doesn't matter. It also doesn't matter that players have the option of skipping the level at the start, and any point during the level. It is also possible to complete the level without shooting any innocent bystanders directly, and there are no definitive instructions that the player should shoot the civilians. None of this matters though. And apparently neither does the PEGI rating of 18+.

The bad press has created somewhat of a social stigma for gamers. Non-gamers look at us in the same way as non-smokers react to smokers. 'You do realise that it is going to make you aggressive?' or 'Why would anyone choose to play something that makes them killers?'. The fact that it is the biggest entertainment industry should account for something. I am just one gamer, and I have never thought about acting out a scene from Grand Theft Auto IV. If these video games make us all so violent, shouldn't we be seeing it everywhere we go? Millions of people play the games in question, yet I haven't seen millions of reports of fights, stabbings, car-jackings, etc. The few that do get violent after playing games might not be all that affected by the game itself. It could be argued that they are already violent, and only play the game as an outlet for their aggression.

It has been proven that people who play violent video games are desensitised to real-life violence. However, this could be true of the audience to many things - horror movies, sports, the news - there are so many ways to witness violence and the atrocities that go on. Video games seem to be the current scapegoat, and until we can all show a bit of responsibility I think it is going to stay that way.

So, do video games make children violent? Maybe. Should they be playing 18+ rated games? Nope.