Research Paper on Video Game Violence Essay Example

and Expression).

Therefore making any attempts to ban violence in video games unconstitutional. According to researchers Kutner and Olson, the complete banning of violence in video games would result in an increase in violent behavior in children. Research shows that boys who don’t play video games at all were the most likely to engage in bullying and other antisocial behaviors. That may be because video games are such an important part of socializing for that age, Kutner and Olson say, that these boys are, by definition, “abnormal” (Zipp).

However, Kutner and Olson are careful to point out that their study does not prove causality: It may be that more aggressive children are drawn to more violent video games and not that the games themselves are to blame. Researchers just don’t know yet (Zipp). Kutner and Olson also say that playing games with your child is an excellent idea, for many reasons. For one, 12-year-olds love being able to trounce their parents at something. For another, parent and child will be able to have meaningful conversation while playing whether about videogames or not. Children at that age find it much easier to talk to parents if they aren’t facing them. ) And if a parent finds something that concerns them in a game, a child may listen more thoughtfully than if the parent just issues a blanket refusal to allow future playing, Olson says. ” But for those parents who simply won’t let their children have video games at home, Olson says “total denial doesn’t work,” there’s a good chance the child will just find somewhere else to play them. ” Here again Kutner points out there is

no proof of causality (Zipp).

One of the major factors keeping violence in video games is the fact that it would be considered unconstitutional. States however continuously try to make laws that restrict violent video games from their minors, only to have them later repealed or deemed unconstitutional in court (Koffler). A three-judge panel of the 8th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Minnesota may not enforce a law restricting the sale or rental of “adults only” or “mature” video games to its minors (Browning). Chief U. S. District Judge James Rosenbaum ruled in June 2006 that violent video games were protected speech, even for children.

He found the state proved to fail its claim that playing violent video games caused lasting harm to the psychological well-being of minors. Rosenbaum also faulted the state for failing to address other forms of violence in the media. And he held that the state’s dependence on a voluntary rating board to determine which games should be restricted was unconstitutional because it did not permit immediate judicial supervision of the ratings (Browning). I think most of the time, “The parents are the problem, not the kids.

Parents will rent inappropriate games without knowing what’s in them because they want to please their kids; they want to shut them up. That’s no reason for the government to regulate the games. Video games fall under the First Amendment; they’re a form of art. Indeed, a good deal of the Bible portrays scenes of violence, and one would be hard-pressed to hold up as a proper role model the regicidal Macbeth”. So should violence in video games be banned? Perhaps as soon as

a correlation between violent behaviors in children and violent video games can be found. Most experts believe that more years of research are needed to fully understand the effects that video games have on children.