There are hundreds of studies on this topic, majority of them claiming that playing violent video games leads to aggression. "Okay," you might say. "They're scientific studies, so you can't possibly argue that they're incorrect or biased."
But let's take a closer look at one of these studies. I'll use this article by researchers at University Pierre Mendès-France, Ohio Statue University, and VU University in the Netherlands.
Let's start with the very first sentence of the article.
"It is well known that violent video games increase aggression..."
Obviously, this is very scientific and helps establish credibility because well known facts are always accurate. Everyone knows that the direction that toilets flush depends on the hemisphere, cracking your knuckles leads to arthritis, Twinkies have an indefinite shelf life, and the average person swallows 8 spiders per year.
In all seriousness though, this immediately set off alarm bells. You can already tell that the study is only looking for data to prove what they think instead of looking at the results as a whole to determine if there actually is a link. It's confirmation bias, pure and simple. It seems like people are using video games as a scapegoat to distract us from the real causes of violence.
What do you think about the issue of violence in video games?
I agree with you Leah in that the way many people automatically assume that something like a video game is the cause for war and violence is very biased and that is mostly just an assumption without definitive facts. Though video games may be one contributing factor to the increase in violent acts among teens, it is certainly not the only reason. What do you think are some of the other reasons for teenage violence?
ReplyDeleteI think that people who don't come from good homes, are victims of bullying, or have serious mental health issues are more likely to be violent. Not everyone in those circumstances will be a shooter, but they are definitely significant contributors to violent behavior. The problem is that the great majority of studies about the effect of video games on violence don't take into account all of these extra variables when trying to find a connection.
DeletePeople once thought aggression came from an imbalance of the humors, so I tell you that this, too, shall pass. Is society just unwilling to accept responsibility for creating a culture that rewards violence? Possibly. I think it's important to figure out why we have to blame something.
ReplyDeleteHi, Leah! I am one of John O'Connor's students at Northwestern. This is a really great observation about the way writers use the "bandwagon effect" ("Everybody knows that..." "It's obvious that...") to try to sell people on their opinions. I took a class once where we read about a study that confirmed that violent videogames do, indeed, increase aggression in small children, but only temporarily. I think you're right to suggest that continuing violence in children is usually due to other causes. I wonder how the findings in these studies would differ if they studied children who play only scrolling games like Mario, versus first-person-shooter games like CoD and Halo.
ReplyDeleteHi, Leah! I am one of John O'Connor's students at Northwestern. This is a really great observation about the way writers use the "bandwagon effect" ("Everybody knows that..." "It's obvious that...") to try to sell people on their opinions. I took a class once where we read about a study that confirmed that violent videogames do, indeed, increase aggression in small children, but only temporarily. I think you're right to suggest that continuing violence in children is usually due to other causes. I wonder how the findings in these studies would differ if they studied children who play only scrolling games like Mario, versus first-person-shooter games like CoD and Halo.
ReplyDeleteHi, Leah! I am one of John O'Connor's students at Northwestern. This is a really great observation about the way writers use the "bandwagon effect" ("Everybody knows that..." "It's obvious that...") to try to sell people on their opinions. I took a class once where we read about a study that confirmed that violent videogames do, indeed, increase aggression in small children, but only temporarily. I think you're right to suggest that continuing violence in children is usually due to other causes. I wonder how the findings in these studies would differ if they studied children who play only scrolling games like Mario, versus first-person-shooter games like CoD and Halo.
ReplyDeleteHi, Leah! I am one of John O'Connor's students at Northwestern. This is a really great observation about the way writers use the "bandwagon effect" ("Everybody knows that..." "It's obvious that...") to try to sell people on their opinions. I took a class once where we read about a study that confirmed that violent videogames do, indeed, increase aggression in small children, but only temporarily. I think you're right to suggest that continuing violence in children is usually due to other causes. I wonder how the findings in these studies would differ if they studied children who play only scrolling games like Mario, versus first-person-shooter games like CoD and Halo.
ReplyDeleteI feel like video games themselves do not solely promote violence or make you violent. I think that people are more complicated than that.
ReplyDeleteLeah,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you are sharing your important voice in class discussion more. Now, let's work on blogging regularly.
This post has potential, but might be pushed further by exploring the scientific fallacy of correlation vs. causation. Why nothing visual here? Why no consideration of the consequences of the "scapegoating" you are seeing?