Do video games cause violence?

Do video games cause violence? I ask myself this question when I watch my nephew play with his violent video games. As my seven years old nephew's angry tantrums turns violent, the answer to my question holds true.

My nephew, since the age of three, was very talkative. His first words were mine, mine and his vocabulary has grown since. He now speaks constantly, he can't stay quiet even for just a minute and if he did he would probably die from holding his words in. He would say silly little things that will make you laugh and realize just how precious this little boy is. He would just keep blabbering on about the same thing nonstop, made him really annoying and cute at the same time.

One day, his father and I got to talking about the present he bought for him. When I realized what the present was, I was taken aback. It was Mortal Kombat for PS4, rated M+. Does he not know that his son is only six years old? I asked him this question and his reply was the game was more for him than his son. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing as it made no sense at all. I didn’t want to be rude and question how they are raising their child.

On his son's seventh birthday, he received his present and straightaway played it in his PS4. He played this game constantly, after school, before school, it's all he did. I watched him play as he mimics the sounds and movements the characters made. He would shout something like “finish him”, “I will kill you”, “die” that doesn’t sound really healthy coming from the mouth of a seven year old.

Any gamer would know how violent the Mortal Kombat game series is. Blood fest and violence is the game’s core. It’s one of the reasons that people buy and play this game. I don’t understand how a parent can let his child play this brutal game of blood and guts, it’s just disturbing.

Every now and then, he would get in trouble from hitting his older sister. Once I overheard him mumbling to himself that he will kill his sister. This has really upset me and reminded him that he shouldn’t say things like that. He just ignored what I said and angrily shouted how much he hated me. He now hits everyone in the family, the parents, grandmother, aunties, sister and me. He has total disrespect to his elders. The sad thing is that, the parents are not doing much to discipline the child. Makes things worst when you let a child get away with murder, metaphorically speaking. I do so hope that he would grow out of it and just be good, not asking a lot. I don’t want to see this innocent child be a menace to society in his adult life.

Video games and violence studies

Do video games cause violence? These question have been raised by concerned parents, as many more realistic and violent games gets published. In August 13, 2015, the American Psychological Association confirmed that there is a link to increased aggressiveness playing violent video games. Although there aren’t enough evidence to link video games and criminal violence. An excerpt from APA, “The research demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behavior, aggressive cognitions and aggressive affect, and decreases in prosocial behavior, empathy and sensitivity to aggression,” says the report of the APA Task Force on Violent Media.”

Four months prior, Oxford University published reports contradicting APA’s findings. “The researchers from the University of Oxford found that the time spent playing games could be linked with problem behaviour and this was the significant factor rather than the types of games played.”

One man's perspective

My own perspective to the question, do video games cause violence? These contradicting studies doesn’t really help much. I will just draw my own conclusions from experience. Do video games cause violence? I believe so, I’ve seen it first-hand the effects of violent video games in one child. Although it’s a very minor percentage of the worldwide population. I asked myself a lot of questions before drawing my conclusion. The major question that really cemented my answer was, monkey see, monkey do? Funny how this applies to even a grown adult like me. Once I was watching Tomb Raider and in one of the scenes, she rode a motorbike like a boss. Changing lanes, turning corners at a very fast pace. These hyped me up and wanted to go for a ride on my bike. So I did and next thing you know, I was in the gutter with my motorbike on top of me. I’m alright by the way, if you were curious. If this could happen to a person with an adult brain, how would a developing young mind perceive the violence he sees?

Ask yourself the same question. Do video games cause violence in young minds? Will my child copy what he sees on television? Will my child be desensitized after watching violent acts? I would like you to draw your own conclusion to the matter regardless of any research.

Reference links: Do video games cause violence?

APA - Review Confirms Link Between Playing Violent Video Games and Aggression

University of Oxford - Research Poor behaviour linked to time spent gaming not types of games