Do Video Games Encourage Violent Behavior?

After reading Issue five of Hanson’s Taking Sides, both Craig Anderson and Henry Jenkins presented excellent examples either answering yes or no to the question, do video games encourage violent behavior. Craig Anderson’s main point was that video games make young people more aggressive and violent than other media outlets. Henry Jenkins’s focused on specific examples arguing that video games do NOT encourage violent behavior. While reading the introduction I found a few interesting facts. First, I came across a long lasting controversy of how some parents and critics believe that because some video games, such as, “Grand Theft Auto” contain nudity, which encourage behavior that is unsuitable for young people. Second, I found it interesting that Jenkins believed that the “fantasies of children’s culture are an important arena to understand how we as a culture are constructing our future.” I thought this was interesting because it shows that violence is obviously a big issue in our communities and by not informing children about this issue, they won’t have the correct knowledge about violence in the future. After reading both sides of this question and using my own personal thoughts on whether video games encourage violent behavior or not, I would have to agree more with Jenkins facts and examples. I believe that Jenkins had more specific and factual examples and research, but I found two interesting ideas that Anderson brought up. First, Anderson mentioned that some video games “Reward” players for killing subjects such as police, prostitutes, etc, using many weapons such as guns, knives, swords, baseball bats, etc. Having been raised with being familiar with video games, I always thought that video games revolved around killing a certain opponent, every man for themselves, using the best weapons, etc. Although some children may play video games involving killing and brutal weapons, they won’t all if any at all become extremely violent in the future, because I as well as my two siblings grew up playing video games and we are no where near violent. Second, Anderson had an idea that violent video games are connected to the increased aggressive behavior, thoughts, and affects people have after playing them. I would have to partly agree with this idea because video games in general give one the freedom and space to do whatever they want, and I believe that its that persons mental stability whether or not they can control themselves by keeping the violent actions and thoughts they have in the video game and not bring it into their own lives. As I said before, Jenkins had many interesting and factual examples supporting the idea that video games do not encourage violent behavior. His first idea was introduced as a research that involved people serving time for violent crimes and how they consumed fewer media before committing their crimes. This research obviously supports Jenkins opinion because its shows those prisoners aren’t very familiar with media sources because they don’t use them. Second, Jenkins used statistics from a 2001 U.S. Surgeon General’s report research and found that school crimes centered on mental stability and their home life, not media exposure. I thought this was interesting because school is a young person’s main community for the beginning of their life and knowing that the child’s home life and mental stability is their main resource for why they act or don’t act violent makes sense. Third, Jenkins used an example involving the Federal Trade Commission and how they researched found that 83 percent of people who purchases video games are parents or parents who are with their children. This showed me that either parents (adults) or parents (adults) with their children enjoy playing video games or support their children playing those games. Fourth, Jenkins brought up a very interesting opinion on females who play video games. Jenkins mentioned that female characters are usually portrayed as “powerful and independent” individuals, which can build their self confidence and their challenges in their lives. Fifth, Jenkins wrote about past research that proved that video games can enhance learning abilities, and I remembered from issue 18, “Are people better informed in the information society,” Linda Jackson did a research and found that video games improve visual intelligence skills. Sixth, Jenkins added Federal Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner’s opinion on this issue and he believed that violence will always be a huge issue in our communities, but leaving children unequipped about this issue by not having violence in video games or even movies will miss guide them for future purposes. Lastly, Jenkins made an excellent point of how video games are a great way to socialize, from playing video games with family and friends in your own living room to playing video games with friends and even strangers around the world via internet. In conclusion, do video games encourage violent behavior? No because their will always be other influences such as movies or other media outlets, school, home lifestyle, and people that would affect ones violent behavior more than a video game that is basically used for entertainment.