Video games are currently in the eye of a
storm. With an increasing amount of emphasis on graphics and special effects, video
games are also increasingly becoming violent. Several parents and proponents of
anti-violence are up in arms against violent video games and are wasting no
time in pinning the increasing surge in real time violence on violent video
games. Accordingly, video game and portable gaming consoles enthusiasts are vehemently denying any role of these games
in increasing violent tendencies.
There is no doubt that in video games,
violence has been on the rise. Better effects translate into more and gory
pictures of blood spurts and head shots, coupled with detailed gunshot effects.
In fact, Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, two of the most popular games among
even amateur gamers, have been voted among the most violent games around, with
special emphasis on their sexist violence and crimes against women. The reality
is that the trend may be overwhelmingly in favour of violent video games, with most
games available on portable gaming
consoles being non-violent, yet the top selling 70 to 90% of video games being
violent.
However, is it fair to pin all the blame
on video games? More than violent games, there are several other influential
factors that affect a person’s personality. For starters, the atmosphere at
home and in general surroundings, like school and peers, plays a huge and
influential role in personality development in kids. Hence, if a child sees
violence in his vicinity, either among his parents or in the neighbourhood,
then he will undoubtedly think that being violent in real life is acceptable.
Also, as a rational and ever growing
society of civilised people, where several poverty stricken areas, that
register the highest level of crime do not even have access to video games or
expensive handheld gaming devices of
any sort, is it really fair to put the blame on video games? Violence is
circumstantial and someone who has violent tendencies, irrespective of his or
her exposure to violent video games will showcase violent tendencies.
Besides, buying a handheld gaming device
is itself the parent’s prerogative, hence, if parents do feel that games are
becoming too violent, then they can always not buy such handheld gaming devices for their kids in the first place. Hence,
parents, who are the main customers if not the end consumers are actually to
blame and if they find games to be too violent, they can always shield their
kids from such devices and games, rather than caving in and giving in to their
kids’ demands. There are also many games that are actually educational and
focus on enlightening and challenging the mind, so parents can always stress on
such games instead.
Hence, blaming violence on video games is
really an ineffective argument. Rather, it makes sense to address the root
cause of violence, which always boils down to lack of education and poverty.
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