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Ian Walker
Aughenbaugh
English 12
15 April 2016
Violent Video Games Are a Media Scapegoat
Video games are often blamed for violence.Representative Director of Nintendo, Shigeru
Miyamoto had this to say about the topic of video games harming the youthVideo games are
bad for you? Thats what they said about rock-n-roll,. From 1996 to 2007, total violent crime
offenses did not even come close to the number of violent video game sales. Violent crimes
numbers did not even break two million while video game sales reached upwards to nine billion
dollars (Entertainment software association). Crime rates lowered in 1994 despite two of the
most violent games were released. Doom (1993) and Mortal Kombat (1992) had been under the
most fire. Video games are an easy way out when tragedy strikes.
Video games were not majorly blamed for violence until the late 90s when it was found
that the two shooters of the Columbine incident (Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold) had a history of
playing violent video games such as Doom, Mortal Kombat, and Duke Nukem (1991). Looking
back at evidence most mass shooters have played violent video games. Adam Lanza, the shooter
in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in NewTown, was found to have an obsession
with violent video games, he played Call of Duty and that was the go-ahead to blame violent
games for another mass shooting (Lanza's Violent Video Game Play Overblown: Sandy Hook
Shooter Was More Obsessed With Dance Dance Revolution).
What activists, politicians, and reporters did not realize is that he played other games, more so
than Call of Duty, however who would believe Dance Dance Revolution caused a mass shooting

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when one can so easily blame games centered around guns and killing? Video games are an easy
way out when tragedy strikes.
Critics treat violent video games almost like an illegal substance when going through
criminals belongings. They see a violent game in the shooter's collection and immediately the
case is closed; the media claims that it was violent video games that made him do it. They do not
even stop to think about how much or even if they played it, the media just need to know they
own it (Lanza's Violent Video Game Play Overblown: Sandy Hook Shooter Was More Obsessed
With Dance Dance Revolution). Video games do not make people act differently no matter
how hard the media tries to make them seem that way. When tragedy strikes such as mass
shooting, other forms of entertainment are rarely blamed. Alternative musician Marilyn Manson
was under siege when Columbine happened, Eric and Dylan wore black all of the time so of
course the media decided to pick Manson to be the one to blame, after all he is the poster boy for
all things dark and all things America should fear. When a tragedy happens it's a scramble to
pick an icon to dump all the blame on. Eric and Dylan listened to music that was almost unheard
of in the area, KMFDM and Rammstein just to name a few. The media decided to pick Marilyn
Manson because he's similar (Manson). However for the most part videogames have been the
frontman for the majority of blame. Violent games have been under fire from politicians and
activists alike, deeming them as unconstitutional and training for shooters. The only
evidence they seem to need is that the killers played violent video games. People do not take into
account that millions if not billions of people have played at least one video game in their
lifetime, and at some point or another it was a violent one. Video games are a universal thing, not
some evil thing that only evil people enjoy. If every person that has played a violent video game

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became a killer, the human race would have been extinct years ago. It is easier to blame video
games rather than confront the real issues like mental illness, bullying, or gun control.
A video game does not make a person load bullets into a gun, walk into a school and
butcher fellow classmates. Video games and other entertainment should be seen as mere
entertainment, not some mind controlling evil device that makes normal, ordinary children
become cold blooded killers. During his Planet Corduroy stand-up act, british comedian Marcus
Brigstocke made this joke about the influence of computer games, If Pac-Man had affected us
as kids, we'd all be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive
electronic music. This may seem like just a simple joke but it's entirely true, if kids were as
easily influenced by video games that simple punchline would be a reality.
Video games have even been found to have a sort of calming effect. Children who play
games for less than an hour a day may be more hyperactive and have harder time focusing on
academics but are less likely to be aggressive than those who do not. Researchers looked at 217
children and examined both video game playing habits and the childs personalities. They found
that 16% of the boys played video games more than three hours a day, compared to the three
percent of girls who did. The kinds of games the children played appeared to have no effect on
the children's behavior (Violent Video Games Dont Influence Kids Behavior: Study).
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold of Columbine played violent video games as an escape
and a way to blow off steam and express rage. Angry children use violent video games to release
frustration, killing virtual monsters and in some cases people is a whole lot better than actually
releasing the frustration on the real world. Children and adults alike use video games as a means
of escape, a safe haven from the hardships of the real world. The real world is far worse than
anything Hollywood or a game developer can conjure up because it is real. It is impossible to

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escape it, it is no simple matter of just turning off the TV or closing your eyes until the scary part
is over. Dylan and Eric and so many others used video games to escape bullying and other home
issues. Video games do not cause these issues but in a small way temporary help it or make it
more bearable. Instead of looking at games as the cause of tragedy, how about looking at the
things they were trying to escape from as the contributors, researchers should focus on other
causes like mental and access to guns (Violent Video Games Do Not Cause Violence).
This is not saying the killers are at all in the right but blaming something like video
games or entertainment isn't the way to go. A friend of Eric and Dylan, Brooks Brown said in his
book No Easy Answer: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine about the topic of video games, I
won't dispute the ideas that some of the elements of their plan were derived from games, what I
disagree with is the notion that video game caused the shootings. (Page 37). Something had to
of be wrong in these children's lives and a video game with shooting in it wasn't it. They may
take inspiration from a game but video games were not the thing that made these kids want to kill
people. They may have used games as inspiration to a plan but video games did not make then
create the plan in the first place.
No one wants to look into the lives of these children, look at the real causes, hear what
they needed to say, they choose to blame video games and entertainment. When asked what he
would say to the Columbine killers in the Bowling for Columbine (2002) documentary, rock
superstar Marilyn Manson responded, I would not say a single word to them I would listen to
what they have to say, and that's what no one did. Those two children were bullied and
terrorized for years, and adults did nothing to help them, even punishing them in some instances.
This created a hatred for adult figures and their school in general which drove them to do what

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they did. Video games did not make them want to walk into that school with trench coats full of
guns and kill thirteen people and injure twenty-one others; bullying and being neglected did.
Politicians do not like video games and will continue to blame the until they are banned
or heavily regulated. Video games are the newest form of entertainment so that lands it a
majority of suspicion and scrutiny. Donald Trump had this to say about violent video games
when he posted this to his Twitter page in 2012, Video game violence & glorification must be
stopped-it is creating monsters! Politicians see the population as machines that are never
accountable for their actions, something else made them do it. Politicians choose to blame them
because it gives them emotional support from families, it scares parents of children who play
video games and it is electorally profitable. Bashing game designers is a cheap way of getting
votes from family-values voters (Violent Video Games Are Not to Blame For Violent
Behavior). Politicians are very out of touch with the realities of the entertainment choices
available to children. In a 1996 Study, 98.7% of children played video games and those most
likely included violent games (Video Games Have Become a Scapegoat For Violent Behavior).
Video games will keep the prohibitionists occupied until they discover the next dire threat to our
children. Hanna Rosin said this about how video games are the new thing to blame Every new
medium has, within a short time of its introduction, been condemned as a threat to young people.
Pulp novels would destroy their morals, TV would wreck their eyesight, video games would
make them violent..
Video games are an easy thing to shield the population from sensitive topics. The media
needs violent games and entertainment to blame because they cannot blame themselves, They
cannot take responsibility for a tragedy happening. They cannot blame the parents, the
classmates, the community, or illness, the things truly at fault. Video games are a way to cover up

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underlying issues, with other forms of violent entertainment people still choose to pile a lot of
the blame on video games. Studies prove video games do not create killers and may even help
people. Before blaming video games take a better look at the killer lives. Stop trying so hard to
get rid of video game and just embrace them a the newest form of entertainment, not a thing we
should fear.

Works Cited
Brown, Brooks and Merritt, Rob. No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine. New
York: Lantern Books, 2002. Print.

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Dotinga, Randy. Violent Video Games Dont Influence Kids Behavior: Study. Healthday,
2015. Web. 10 March 2016.
Ferguson, Christopher J. Video Games Have Become a Scapegoat for Violent Behavior. Media
Violence. Ed. David M. Haugen and Susan Musser. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009.
Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from Video Games: The Latest Scapegoat for Violence.
Chronicle of Higher Education 22 June 2007: B20. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 16
Mar. 2016.
Kain, Eric. Violent Video Games Do Not Cause Violence. Violent Video Games. Ed. Roman
Espejo. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2015. At Issue. Rpt. from The Truth About
Video Games and Gun Violence. Mother Jones (11 June 2013). Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.
Koffler, Daniel. Violent Video Games Are Not to Blame for Violent Behavior. Is Media
Violence a Problem? Ed. Stefan Kiesbye. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. At Issue. Rpt.
from Grand Theft Scapegoat: The Ridiculous Jihad Against Video Games. Reason (Oct.
2005). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 9 Mar. 2016.
Manson, Marilyn. Columbine: Whose Fault Is It? Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone, 2016. Web. 13
April
2016.