Video Games Don't Murder, Irresponsible Parents Do

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Video Games Don’t Murder, Irresponsible Parents Do

        In a city where you murder or are murdered, and kill everyone you meet in a bloody and brutal way by using weapons like a gun or a power saw, it is the only thing you can do to survive and escape. You may wonder if there is such a horrifying city in this world. Actually, it can exist in everyone’s home, in your own television, and the joypad you are holding becomes the deadly weapon. “Impossible is nothing” (an Adidas’ slogan) can also apply to the video games industry, as the above city is created in the world of “Manhunt” – one of the many highly controversial, but mega-selling and visually stunning, violent video games released in Western countries. The influence of video games on teenage violent behavior has long been called into question. Some complain that video games are the main culprit as there are more and more video game-related crimes in U.S and U.K. For example, a 17-year-old game player who was addicted to playing “Manhunt” stabbed another boy to death with a knife and claw hammer last month in UK. But is it really true that the games industry should be held solely responsible? Actually, it is parents who should take the blame for such tragedies and violent acts instead of the video games industry in Western countries like U.S and U.K.

        Mostly, parents find it convincing that playing violent video games will inspire teenagers to have violent behaviors, and thus blaming the games industry. They believe that teenagers will “assume the identity of the characters” and imitate their behaviors when they play video games (Kane). In the case of “Manhunt”, the murder victim’s mother said, "When one looks at what Warren did to Stephan and looks at the brutality and viciousness of the game, one can see links" (Thorsen, “Manhunt”). Yet, this may not be the case. Scientists nowadays are still doing research to find if there is any direct link between on-screen violence and the violent behaviors of teenagers, and the latest result is surprising for the parents. The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers' Association in England, in response to the “Manhunt Murder”, stated that "despite many research projects into the effects of screen violence, some of which have been undertaken by eminent academics in their field, no link with violent behavior has been found” (“Police”). Therefore, parents should not use the violent games as an excuse to blame the industry and ignore their own responsibility. In addition, according to a comprehensive research conducted by the Surgeon General in 2001, it pointed out that “violent behavior seldom results from a single cause” and media violence “is best viewed as one of the many potential factors that help to shape behavior"(Walker). Besides, the effects of media violence "seem to be strongest on youths who are predisposed to be aggressive for some reason..." (Walker). As children’s characters and personalities depend largely on the home education and the ways they were brought up, it is the responsibility of parents to cultivate in their children a proper attitude since they were young, so as to eliminate the potential to develop aggressive characters, which in turn lower the possibility of teenage violent tragedy. Otherwise, parents should be the first to take the blame if they fail to do so.

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        Though the harmful effects of playing violent video games on the behavior of teenagers has yet to be proved by the professionals, it is still advisable to keep minors away from violent video games as prevention is better than cure. Since teenagers are not mature enough to resist the temptation and discipline themselves, this leads to their higher risk of developing an addiction, which is to play the games consistently and uncontrollably and even lose the ability to distinguish between the virtual world and the reality in some extreme cases. Therefore, parental guidance is the most crucial factor, it is ...

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