Do Violent Video Games Make A Person Violent? Violent video games have been evolving for years. The first violent video game to ever be released was Death Race made in 1976 (Suddath). This game brought a controversy that would follow all video games for years to come. Although many people say that violent video games cause a person to become violent, many people will argue that violent video games do not cause a person to be violent. Both sides of the “violent-video-game” argument, examples to both points being made, and who should not play violent video games will be analyzed or examined in order to determine the effects of gaming. First, many people believe that violent video games do not cause violence. People believe that violence in video games is the cause of violence, but most video games depict and reflect the real world (Rynne). The world is full of violence, and it was full of violence long before video games started to make their way to popularity. People will counter this point and say that violent video games bring stabbing, shooting, running people over, drugs, alcohol, theft, etc… into people’s lives, but if a person turns the television to a news station, he/she will see all of the same things. War games depict wars in other countries, Grand Theft Auto reflects how people in bad neighborhoods can act, and medieval games give people and understanding about the past. People will say that because of these games mass murders will evolve; for example, Sandy Hook elementary shooting, the movie theater shooting, and the Columbine are main examples people will use. Statistics prove that 97% of teenagers play video games and 66% of those games are action games, while the other 31% have little to no violence and are usually child friendly (“Violent Video Games and Young People”; Mashburn). In those 97% of homes that have teenagers, the likelihood of finding a mass murderer is slim to none. Even though games can be child friendly, it does not mean these games are completely violence free. People who argue that violent video games are bad, often bring up the fact that violent video games give gamers the option on killing people, how to kill a person, when to kill a person, or an explanation on why killing a person is a good thing. People consider violent video games as when a person is allowed to kill a human, but what about when a person is able to kill, maim, hurt, or dismember animals, such as the children’s game called Mindcraft? Kailey Rynne states:
These games have nothing in common except that they all require the player to mash a combination of buttons in order to attack something. I think there should be a dialogue about violence in video games, but I hope we can all agree that slapping the “violent” label on any game that involves killing or maiming is not the way to go.
And of course it’s only killing and maiming human beings that makes a game violent. Massacring space aliens, orcs, Pokemon, robots, zombies – that’s all perfectly fine. Natural, even. Many games give gamers the opportunity to have freewill. “Free roam capability games” allow people to commit crime, run from the police to escape consequences of their actions, and, in the new Grand Theft Auto game, go into strip clubs to degrade women. People say that games like these have too much freewill. If there is freewill in a game, then why should a person have to be 17 in order to obtain a rated M game? Many teenagers, 14 and up, have games like Grand Theft Auto and Splinter Cell. These two types of games include free will. Splinter cell allows a person to either kill someone, or knock them out quietly. Grand Theft Auto allows a person to live a careless life or a careful, considerate life; yet again, there is a counter argument for this. Many say that parents are horrible people and have horrible decision/parental ideas if they buy their small children violent video games, but, as previously stated, games like Grand Theft Auto allow a person to make the decision to have a careful, considerate, thoughtful life. For example, a four year old boy played his father’s Grand Theft Auto game, but refused to steal cars, run over pedestrians, hit other cars while driving, or start fights with police; he was disgusted by the idea of this. Instead, he used a cop car to stop crime, and ambulance to pick up injured people, used fire trucks to put out fires, and used the game in the nicest way possible (Orona). People who play violent video games are playing them, as of 2008’s estimate, for an average of 13.2 hours per week (Layton). Yes, a person might play video games that long, but these people that they are statistically observing could be a sixteen year old who needs a release when he gets home from school, a person who has no job, a person who gets home from a stressful day at work, or just a gamer. All of these people could be playing violent video games to relax, and all of these people know that the video games are not real. People who are playing this much have realized the difference between fiction and non-fiction. A study was done that proves people will always blame violence on something. In the 1950’s, people blamed comic books for children acting badly, then in the 60’s it was rock ‘n’ roll that caused a drug problem, then heavy metal music caused suicides in the 80’s, and now this (Layton). A person who is labeling video games as evil needs to take a step back and look at the world, because violence is not always an act of evil. “Yes, gangsters, serial killers, and alien bounty hunters from another galaxy all have violent occupations, but so do police officers, soldiers, and corrections officers – the real-world heroes who deal with violence every day to keep the rest of us safe” (Rynne). This is very true. Many people forgot to acknowledge the violent occupations that people have. People only think about how violent video games can affect people’s decision making and their desensitization of acts of violence or guns, and not how they are depicting the real world. Some think that when parents start their children off young with violence, they will not have a sense of real world to virtual world, will not have decision making skills, know the difference of right and wrong, or know that there are consequences to their actions. Growing up, many people learn the difference between right and wrong. Many learn to distinguish between real world and virtual worlds. When children are young and they see a movie that gives them nightmares, what is the first thing their parents say? “It’s just a movie.” How many times when a person is a child do they hear those words come from their parent’s mouths? If children can distinguish between movies and the real world, then who’s to say children cannot distinguish between video games and the real world? Many people, there are a few who cannot, can realize their consequences they will suffer if they bring their virtual life style to the real world. Next, there are some beliefs that some types of people should not be playing violent video games. Here are some suggestions on who should be monitored while playing violent video games, due to their mental status. People with antisocial personality disorder, Aspergers syndrome, paranoid personality disorder (sociopathy), or borderline personality disorder, should all be monitored while playing. Antisocial personality disorder is a disorder that causes people to disregard “people’s rights, often crossing the line and violating those rights. It usually begins in childhood or as a teen and continues into their adult lives” (Borderline Personality Disorder). People with this problem frequently lack empathy and tend to be contempt with the rights and sufferings of other people. These types of individuals “may be irresponsible and exploitative in their sexual relationships” (Borderline Personality Disorder). A person with this problem should not be allowed to play violent video games due to their lack of empathy, concern, or responsibility for other people’s lives in the real world. People like this often do not show concern for bringing violent video games into the real world. An example of an extreme type of sociopath would be the two Columbine students who opened fire in their local highschool in 1999 (Layton). Aspergers syndrome is a type of autism. These children do not pick up on social cues, dislike any changes in routines, lack empathy, do not understand joking manners, have formal speech, and talk a lot about their favorite subject. These types of children, due to the lack of empathy, should not be playing violent video games. “Like many teens, they can spend hours playing violent video games, but a boy with Aspergers may become more fixated upon and have less perspective about the games” (Hutten). Children with Aspergers syndrome can become so fixated with a particular subject that they will not want to talk about, act upon, or indulge in anything else, which causes these children to have a want to act like the characters in a game. The shooting at Sandy Hook elementary, caused by Adam Lanza, caught news report speculation, and is still undecided whether Adam Lanza had Aspergers syndrome. Not all Aspergers children will act out if they play violent video games. Jeff White, a 26-year-old who was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome at the age of ten, states:
If you want to say mass shootings are a result of untreated mental illness, you're still off, because there are a good many people who have untreated mental illness and get by without doing something violent…
Maybe I'm idealistic and naive. But too often, we read all the media reports we can about a tragedy like Sandy Hook, stay up to date on all the developments, and then try to play armchair judge about what caused it and what happened. Real life doesn't work that way. We cannot stereotype based on a handful of vague factors and then say "you're at risk for shooting people." Paranoid personality disorder is a serious disorder as well. These types of people doubt the loyalty of others, believe others are deceiving them, are unforgiving, and have recurrent suspicions that their spouses or lovers are being unfaithful, cannot see the role in their problems, have difficulty relaxing, and are hostile and argumentative. These types of people shouldn’t be given the control of a video game for too long either. The violence that is witnessed through violent video games would not be good for a person who is suffering from this. Borderline personality disorder is also a serious disorder. Symptoms of this are recurrent suicidal behavior, emotional instability, feelings of emptiness, intense anger, stress-related paranoid thoughts, and unstable relationships. These types of people should be watched or monitored while they play video games so that they do not act out in the rage and anger they are viewing on the television, computer screen, or hand held game. People with different diseases, such as Aspergers syndrome, should be monitored while playing, yes, but not completely disclosed from playing violent video games. Jeff White makes another very accurate statement:
So, let's make an effort this time around not to go murmuring to ourselves, "Better watch out for those schizophrenics and gamers, they might shoot you." Let's get stereotypes out of our analysis of mass murders, and let's try to focus on what we can do: Stop bullying, support people that ask for help, and care about the people we come in contact with. Let's take the time to treat people the way we'd have them treat us, instead of trampling on them in our efforts to get ahead. Chances are, if someone's having a bad day, and you give them respect, they'll remember it. And if they're having a really bad day, you might just give them a ray of hope in their otherwise dark lives. OK, you're not preventing murder every time you treat someone with kindness, but maybe you're giving someone the strength and compassion they need to go to their dead-end job or fulfill obligations to their family. In conclusion, people can say that violent video games can cause violence, but video games just depict and represent how the world is. Many people can view violent video games as evil and say that they should be banned, but violent video games are something that have come into this world, and they will continue to be a part of it for years to come. Yes, people can blame video games for all of our world’s problems, just like they have blamed many other things in the past. Although a few types of people need to be monitored while playing, not all people will act upon what they see. Not all people will be desensitized by the violence that is portrayed through video games. If people cannot accept the fact that the world is a violent place, then there seems to lay the problem, their comprehension skills. When a child gets into trouble, he/she look for a scapegoat; when the world gets into trouble, people look for a scapegoat, violent video games. Although there are some people who are suggested not to play, different server cases where a person has acted out upon the violence portrayed in a video game, and how many argue whether violent video games are creating violence in people, one needs to sit back and realize that violence is created by people, not video games.

Works Cited
"Borderline Personality Disorder | Psych Central." Psych Central.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. <http://psychcentral.com/lib/symptoms-of-borderline-personality-disorder/0001063>.
Hutten, Mark. "My Aspergers Child: Aspergers and Violence." My Aspergers Child: Aspergers and Violence. N.p., 11 Feb. 2012. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. <http://www.myaspergerschild.com/2010/06/aspergers-and-violence.html>.
Layton, Julie. "Do violent video games lead to real violence?." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. <http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/video-game-violence.htm>.
Mashburn, Miles. "Violent Video Games Aren't So Bad." : Counterargument: The Columbine killers played violent video games; therefore, video games cause crime?. N.p., 23 Oct. 2011. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. <http://violentvideogamez.blogspot.com/2011/10/counterargument-columbine-killers_23.html>.
Orona, Matthew. "GamesBeat." VentureBeat. N.p., 5 June 2010. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. <http://venturebeat.com/2010/06/05/my-four-year-old-son-plays-grand-theft-auto/>.
Rynne, Kailey. "Coffee And Dragons." Coffee And Dragons. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. <http://coffeeanddragons.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/in-defense-of-violence-in-video-games/>.
White, Jeff. "I have Aspergers, I play violent video games -- and I'm not going to shoot you." CNN. Cable News Network, 16 Dec. 2013. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/13/opinion/aspergers-video-games-sandy-hook-irpt/>.
"Roam." The Free Dictionary. Farlex, n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/roam>.
Violent Video Games and Young People. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. <http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Mental_Health_Letter/2010/October/violent-video-games-and-young-people>.

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[ 1 ]. These types of games allow a gamer to move about without purpose or plan. They allow a person to wander aimlessly through the game’s map. However, a gamer can do the solo missions that the game provides also, but most of the game is made up of wandering aimlessly; which is why they are known as Free “Roam” capability games.