THE VIDEO GAME BLAME

Mass shootings have haunted America for the past 50 years and this seems to solely be an American problem. In the media and among politicians the blame is being shifted on video games. This paper examines why this is happening and the evidence behind mass shootings and dismantles the idea that videogames are a gateway to mass shootings. It exposes the intent of those that say so by using statistics against their arguments, utilizing Rawl’s theory to defend those that aren’t getting the same treatment, and using a Christian perspective to judge those in power who shift blame in order to ignore the root causes of the problems . The FBI defines mass shootings as when 3 or 4 people are killed in a populated area in a premeditated way. Using this 513 people died in these incidents in 2020. and there have been 67 mass shootings this year. To put in perspective as of February 14, 2023, there have been more mass shootings than days. Do you see the problem here ? The causes of this type of violence in America mainly stem from our ineffective gun laws. Many forms of research also point to the media blaming video games more often when it comes to white criminals compared to black criminals. This statement is used as a racial undertone in order to defend those that do not fit the stereotypical violent person. These major issues all play into the main problem which is gun violence, so why are video games being blamed for these issues? I'll start off with an example An instance of this was in response to the El Paso shooting Donald Trump and Kevin McCarthy who are both avid gun enthusiasts condemned games for influencing this violence. “We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace”. They both think games are the forefront of our violent culture that's causing these mass shootings but research stemming back from 2018 to currently says otherwise. The FBI defines mass shootings as when 3 or 4 people are killed in a populated area in a premeditated way. Using this 513 people died in these incidents in 2020. and there have been 67 mass shootings this year. To put in perspective as of February 14, 2023, there have been more mass shootings than days. The causes of this type of violence in America mainly stem from our ineffective gun laws. Many forms of research also point to the media blaming video games more often when it comes to white criminals compared to black criminals. This statement is used as a racial undertone in order to defend those that do not fit the stereotypical violent person. These major issues all play into the main problem which is gun violence, so why are video games being blamed for these issues? An instance of this was in response to the El Paso shooting Donald Trump and Kevin McCarthy who are both avid gun enthusiasts condemned games for influencing this violence. “We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace”. Both of these people think games are the forefront of our violent culture that's causing these mass shootings but research stemming back from 2018 to currently says otherwise. In 2018 scientists from the University of New York conducted “studies that were tested on 3,000 individuals, the team demonstrated that video game concepts do not 'prime' players to behave in certain ways and that increasing the realism of violent video games does not necessarily increase aggression in game players”. In 2019 Andrew Przybylski, a Professor of Human Behavior, and Netta Weinstein Professor at the University of Reading, and a clinical psychologist both conducted a study in particular on the connection between violent games and aggression in British adolescents. They found “there was no evidence for a critical tipping point relating violent game engagement to aggressive behavior:” The APA’s own Media Psychology and Technology Division which usually concentrates on the negative impacts that media has on society “concluded there is no actionable evidence that aggressive behavior results from youth gaming”. Michael Ward, Ph.D., of The University of Texas at Arlington had a “ sample of adolescents in grades 7-12 in the United States between April and December 1995. Over 15,000 participants were followed into young adulthood with four waves of in-home interviews, with the last interview conducted in 2008, when participants were 24-32 years old”. In his studies, he found “Estimates that better establish causality find no effect or a small negative effect". It is important to show the effects that games have on aggression relating to youth and adults because if games cannot be thoroughly connected to aggression then the argument that games make people violent and commit these crimes fall apart.