Video games do NOT lead to violence. Period.

I've read in a few posts lately (I just came back to ATS lately, took a hiatus), and saw more than a few people who are STILL pushing the old, tired scapegoat of "Violent video games" being a contributing factor to a rise in violence.

This, is empirically, statistically, and demonstrably false. It has been proven, time and time again, that this is not the case.

Every bit of information, every source, that will tell you otherwise; is completely and utterly either circumstantial or based on a specific happenstance.

When violent video games came out on to the market, there has been a steady decline in violent crime since. That's a BASIC fact. That alone defeats the entire argument, but don't just take it from me. Here are some links.

No Evidence to Support Link Between Violent Video Games and Behavior - ScienceDaily

The findings suggest that there is no link between these kinds of realism in games and the kind of effects that video games are commonly thought to have on their players.

It's Time to End the Debate About Video Games and Violence - The Conversation.com

A key element of that problem is the willingness of professional guild organizations such as the APA to promote false beliefs about violent video games. (I’m a fellow of the APA.) These groups mainly exist to promote a profession among news media, the public and policymakers, influencing licensing and insurance laws. They also make it easier to get grants and newspaper headlines. Psychologists and psychology researchers like myself pay them yearly dues to increase the public profile of psychology. But there is a risk the general public may mistake promotional positions for objective science. In 2005 the APA released its first policy statement linking violent video games to aggression. However, my recent analysis of internal APA documents with criminologist Allen Copenhaver found that the APA ignored inconsistencies and methodological problems in the research data. The APA updated its statement in 2015, but that sparked controversy immediately: More than 230 scholars wrote to the group asking it to stop releasing policy statements altogether. I and others objected to perceived conflicts of interest and lack of transparency tainting the process.

originally posted by: Iconic
When violent video games came out on to the market, there has been a steady decline in violent crime since.

Don't stop there. While American gun sales were booming, firearm crime in the US dropped tremendously. Over the same period movies and music got more violent, yet violence itself was declining. Yet you take America's murder capitals and can see they are, not coincidentally, also among the most stringent firearm restrictive communities in the country.

Bottom line, people are the problem. Not entertainment, not tools, it's environment and people.

a reply to: Iconic

Did you read the last couple paragraphs of your link?

"Further study is now needed into other aspects of realism to see if this has the same result. What happens when we consider the realism of by-standing characters in the game, for example, and the inclusion of extreme content, such as torture? "We also only tested these theories on adults, so more work is needed to understand whether a different effect is evident in children players."

You added the term period to your title, It’s not so period. Better do testing on the ones that are playing those games, kids.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

Yes, completely. I live in NH, where we have constitutional carry, and the most unrestricted laws on firearms in the country, and we have the absolute lowest violent crime to boot. Meanwhile the opposite rings true as well, in places like California, New York, etc.

"According to the FBI, there has been an overall fall in the violent crimes that have been reported in recent years. Violent crimes include murder and rape as well as robbery and aggravated assaults. Property crime figures also show that there was a 7.5 percent fall in the most recent report."

I think that there will always be a subset of our population with a predisposition to snapping. Most people will not, but some will. What puts them over the edge? Bullying for one, being the victim of a violent crime but...some if it is desensitizing to violence as well. That's where the video games come in. I don't let any of my son's play GTA and I never will. I don't let them play call of Duty either. I believe there is a link. It's also a lack of empathy that these games bring on.

originally posted by: whywhynot
a reply to: Iconic

Did you read the last couple paragraphs of your link?

"Further study is now needed into other aspects of realism to see if this has the same result. What happens when we consider the realism of by-standing characters in the game, for example, and the inclusion of extreme content, such as torture? "We also only tested these theories on adults, so more work is needed to understand whether a different effect is evident in children players."

You added the term period to your title, It’s not so period. Better do testing on the ones that are playing those games, kids.

Yes, I did. Did you read the rest of the articles? It kind of disproves what you're going at, once you use some critical thought.

What's the percentage of games you've played that employ torture or rape? There's one part in the newest GTA where "Trevor" tortures a man. That's about 2 minutes of gameplay VS. the average of hundreds of hours of gameplay per individual game.

So, that 2 minutes is enough to advocate violent behavior? Get serious.

originally posted by: amazing
I think that there will always be a subset of our population with a predisposition to snapping. Most people will not, but some will. What puts them over the edge?

This here, is what I meant by purely circumstantial. The guy who shot up the movie theater, he liked to drink Mountain Dew. So did the Florida shooter; as did McVeigh. Did Mountain Dew contribute to those crimes? No. It did not. It was purely coincidental, circumstantial, that they enjoyed the pop.

It's also purely coincidental, circumstantial, that some shooters play violent games.

How many hours of GTA do somali warlords play before they raid a village?

I use to play frogger all the time and i never wanted to leap in and out of traffic..

Why is it only violent video games make you want to do whats in the game?

Some games you can fly it doesnt make you think you can really fly.

a reply to: Iconic

Yes I did read the entire article and yes I do employ critical thought and have probably for longer than you have lived.

Probably not much rape and torture, although it makes me wonder how they think they can move on to that if it doesn’t exist, but a large number of the video games use extereme violence, constant killing and mayhem to keep their users engaged.

The article specifically states that only adults were tested and without extremes such as rape and torture.

I’m simply saying that the study will not be complete until it is tested on the age group that actually plays it the most with the actual games that they play.

It’s not a period face it, it a work in progress.

originally posted by: Iconic
a reply to: burdman30ott6

Yes, completely. I live in NH, where we have constitutional carry, and the most unrestricted laws on firearms in the country,

Alaska here. I think we're a bit less restricted. If the feds allow it, Alaska owns it.

Maybe its about numbing us to the violence. Enough to make it a normal part of everyday life.

a reply to: Iconic
Tell that to the person I just hit with car on GTA5 LOL

The point is, violent crime has been in decline since before the advent of violent video games.

If violent video games prime the people playing the games, why havent we seen anything indicating a raise in the crime rate? Hundreds of millions of kids play these games. If there was a link, there would be an OBVIOUS uptick in violent crime. But there is a decrease.

Hell, its almost as if the games act more like a stress release than anything else.

Back in the day, kids were not allowed to watch certain movies or play certain games because of the violence. Society has weakened, letting children do what ever as a babysitter.

Oh, Johnny is playing his game or watching a movie and out of my hair.

Yeah, that's what happened.

I hear Stalin and Pol Pot were near the top of the Call of Duty leader boards back when they started their genocides of millions of people, same as the Zodiac killer, he played Battlefield for hours a day which honed his killing abilities.

Those who say video games don't cause violence are kidding themselves. The violence throughout history goes to prove video games are the problem.

originally posted by: 3NL1GHT3N3D1
I hear Stalin and Pol Pot were near the top of the Call of Duty leader boards back when they started their genocides of millions of people, same as the Zodiac killer, he played Battlefield for hours a day which honed his killing abilities.

Those who say video games don't cause violence are kidding themselves. The violence throughout history goes to prove video games are the problem.

lol

originally posted by: burdman30ott6

originally posted by: Iconic
a reply to: burdman30ott6

Yes, completely. I live in NH, where we have constitutional carry, and the most unrestricted laws on firearms in the country,

Alaska here. I think we're a bit less restricted. If the feds allow it, Alaska owns it.

Technically NH is 15th in best states for gun owners.

Alaska being second.

In my state (Montana) it is open carry pretty much anywhere, concealed carry with no permit outside of city limits. Most of us just have whatever we have on our dashes.

It is reported that our violence rates are high overall, but the majority of that if you take the time to look is drugs in the oilfield and reservations.

I don't know anyone in our town that takes their keys out of their car or truck, for instance. I don't know anyone who locks their home when they leave it.

Maybe a small town problem, but I'm OK with it.

As far as violent video games being part of the rise in violence, of course it is. Just common sense.

Many perpetrators of mass shootings played violent video games. The teenage shooters in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre of 13 students played violent combat games. Many mass shootings have been carried out by avid video game players: James Holmes in the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting (2012); Jared Lee Loughner in the Arizona shooting that injured Rep. Gabby Giffords and killed six others (2011); and Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway (2011) and admitted to using the game Modern Warfare 2 for training. An FBI school shooter threat assessment stated that a student who makes threats of violence should be considered more credible if he or she also spends "inordinate amounts of time playing video games with violent themes."

I will leave you that quote that you can do what you will with.

Or this one...

Playing violent video games causes more aggression, bullying, and fighting. 60% of middle school boys and 40% of middle school girls who played at least one Mature-rated (M-rated) game hit or beat up someone, compared with 39% of boys and 14% of girls who did not play M-rated games. A 2014 peer-reviewed study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that habitual violent video game playing had a causal link with increased, long-term, aggressive behavior. Several peer-reviewed studies have shown that children who play M-rated games are more likely to bully and cyberbully their peers, get into physical fights, be hostile, argue with teachers, and show aggression towards their peers throughout the school year.

Possibly this one....

There is broad consensus among medical associations, pediatricians, parents, and researchers that violent video games increase aggressive behavior. A 2014 study published in Psychology of Popular Media Culture found that 90% of pediatricians and 67% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior among children. More than 98% of pediatricians in the United States say that too much exposure to violent media heightens childhood aggression. In addition, 66% of researchers agreed or strongly agreed. Since only 17% of researchers disagreed or strongly disagreed, and 17% were undecided, the study concluded "That means that among researchers who have an opinion, eight out of 10 agree that violent games increase aggression." A joint statement by six leading national medical associations, including the American Medical Association and American Psychological Association, stated: "Well over 1,000 studies - including reports from the Surgeon General's office, the National Institute of Mental Health, and numerous studies conducted by leading figures within our medical and public health organizations - our own members - point overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children."

Or this?

The American Psychological Association (APA) lists violent video games as a risk factor for aggressive behavior. In its Aug. 2015 resolution on violent video games, the APA wrote: "WHEREAS many factors are known to be risk factors for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition and aggressive affect, and reduced prosocial behavior, empathy and moral engagement, and violent video game use is one such risk factor." Dr. Craig Anderson, PhD, Director of the Center for the Study of Violence at Iowa State University, wrote: "Playing a violent video game isn't going to take a healthy kid who has few other risk factors and turn him into a school shooter, but it is a risk factor that does drive the odds for aggression up significantly."

Of course, peer-reviewed studies by actual medical associations, pediatricians, parents, and researchers probably doesn't matter to someone who posted on ATS because here if you post an OP, the science is settled.

originally posted by: Iconic
The point is, violent crime has been in decline since before the advent of violent video games.

If violent video games prime the people playing the games, why havent we seen anything indicating a raise in the crime rate? Hundreds of millions of kids play these games. If there was a link, there would be an OBVIOUS uptick in violent crime. But there is a decrease.

Hell, its almost as if the games act more like a stress release than anything else.

Possibly because although the body count is going down in broader terms, it is certainly going up in schools. Unless you would care to post a study indicating that school shootings are on a down trend since all the horrible ones in the 1940's.

a reply to: Iconic

It's the Fluoride in the water stupid.

a reply to: Lumenari

Dam good post. S&F