I know that at least half of this class has at least played one violent video game, like shooting games. Yet have you ever thought of harming innocent people afterwards? Think about this, if you were attacked by somebody who just played Grand Theft Auto; would you be mad at the person who attacked you, or the game the person just played? You would be mad at the person that attacked you. You see, the problem is that videogames are constantly being blamed for the crimes people commit, and I do not think that is right. There is little to no correlation between video games, and crime rate. News outlets tend to demonize video games to the public. Video games do not choose your actions, you do. A lot of people say, since certain videos games have been released, crime has gone up; but those statements are certainly not true.
There is little to no correlation between crime rate, and video games. Over the past couple ofyears crime rate has gone down, while the sales of video games have gone up. In the US the total sale of video games has gone up by two-hundred four percent since 1994, and violent crimes have gone down by thirty-seven percent. Many news outlets complain that crime rate is associated with video game sales, but looking at the statistics, you can see that is not true at all. The sales of video games have little to no effect on crime rate, and the little effect that it does have is usually positive. When sales and guides Google searches for video games were high, crime rate tended to go down. ‘Various measurements of video game use are related to decreases in violent crimes such as homicide’. A quote by Patrick Markey, co-author of the study of Violent Video Games and Real-World Violence; Rhetoric Versus Data. Kids usually play those types of games, and they do not usually commit crimes. About ninety percent of Canadian kids are gamers, but only thirteen percent of them make up the total crime rate in Canada. Compared to the amount of kids that play videos games to the amount that commit crimes, show that videos games have little effect on the kids that play. In fact, most people that say violent video games have an effect on crimes, usually do not look at the statistics, but they do look at the news.
Lots of people, especially news outlets tend to demonize video games. Video games are constantly being blamed for crimes, even though that is not the case. They tend to jump to conclusions. In 2004, a young man named Stefan Pakeerah was murdered with a hammer by Warren Leblanc, in Leicester, England. Without much research the media quickly concluded that the crime was committed because of a game named Manhunt; so, it was labelled The Manhunt Murder. Yet when the police investigated, they figured out that Stefan was killed because both boys were involved in a gang, and Stefan was in debt. Media outlets, lead others to believe that video games are the cause of violence. In 2014, a fourteen-year-old boy robbed a bank in Liverpool, England. During the interviews with the police, there was no mention of video games, but news outlets like BBC and Daily Mail made it look like it was inspired by something. Conveniently GTA V was released a week before the crime, so maybe they thought that would be a good headline. Media has a huge influence on us, so I do not think it is hard to believe that most ignorant people will believe what they hear. There was this movement on social media called Bald For Bieber, so many people believed it and it gain such a large following. Many people were shaving their heads in support but guess what; it was all a big hoax. People believed it because it was trending on social media. People believe a lot of things, even the most ridiculous things, but some of those people are mentally impaired, and cannot make smart decisions.
Video games are not responsible for the actions of a person. Some people have had a troubled past that makes them the way that they are today, like Evan Ramsey. He was abused, bullied and just had a terrible childhood, but the video game he played was still blamed for him shooting and killing two people. Even the most likely cause of this accident; his father, who was not there during most of his childhood said, that the video game he was playing had more of an effect on him than his childhood, but that does not even make any sense. Most of the people that committed crimes would have most likely done it anyways. The Man Hunt murder would’ve happened anyways; even if the killer didn’t play that game. They were both into gang activities, so it was going to happen sooner or later, he did not need that video game to help him commit the crime, he was going to do it anyways. There is always some sort of warning before you play the game. I know from personal experiences that violent video games warn the player that it contains graphic images; there are even ratings on the cover. The game gave a fair warning on what it contains, so it shouldn’t be held accountable for some halfwit who does not understand the consequences.
In conclusion video games are treated as if they became real and committed the crimes themselves; instead of the actual person. So many people are getting away with a slap on the wrist, by just blaming video games; even some lawyers do that. Like I said before there is no correlation between video games and crime rate, News outlets tend to demonize video games, and videogames are not responsible for people’s actions. I have played a few violent video games, in fact I even play the game Man Hunt, the one that was blamed for the brutal murder of a young man, but I haven’t committed a horrible crime. There is no one to blame for your actions then yourself. Blaming video games show how immature people are, and how they don’t take responsibility for their wrongdoing. I find it ridiculous that people must blame a game for their crimes.
