Question

Playing violent video games in childhood is associated with mass school shootings

Answer 1

The idea that playing violent video games as a child leads to mass school shootings is misleading, as no studies have found a direct link between the two. A CNN fact-check highlights how some have wrongly blamed violent video games for school shootings, often citing research that connects gaming to aggressive behavior but not specifically to these tragic events. Gun violence in the United States has gotten worse over recent years, but video games has not been the cause of this.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/05/politics/violent-video-game-shooting-fact-check/index.html

Answer 2

Hello! While the claim that violent video games are associated with mass shootings is a popular one, it is incorrect. There aren't many studies directly linking violence and video games, but there are a few studies that conclude that once difficulty and frustration are out of the equation, the effect of gameplay on aggression or violence is negligible or even non-existent. This study, linked below, focuses mainly on the two different games and their different spectrum of difficulties and argues that any difference in aggression might be caused by non-violent mechanics of some games, such as one game being more confusing or frustrating than actual violent content in a video game. I did my best to find any link, and I did come across this argument by the Umich Youth Prevention Center, for example, that the small statistical link between games and aggression is a serious enough "risk factor" to be treated like a public health issue. However, this line of reasoning misses the crucial point about methodology. It’s also important to note that in multiple studies like this one by the American Psychological Association, they state that there is not enough significant evidence that points to violence from video games. It also states that violence is a complex issue stemming from a myriad of true social issues that ultimately are being overlooked when policymakers bring up video games as a viable reason for violence. The APA's study concludes that there might be a small link between some games and an increase in pushing or yelling, but to link it to mass shootings feels misleading. The tightly controlled experiment written from Oxford directly contradicts the Umich Youth Prevention Center’s focus on the cumulative effect by showing that the pure violence in games has a minimal, short-term impact on aggressive behavior.

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-02-13-violent-video-games-found-not-be-associated-adolescent-aggression#:~:text=Violent%20video%20games%20found%20not,adolescent%20aggression%20%7C%20University%20of%20Oxford 

https://yvpc.sph.umich.edu/video-games-influence-violent-behavior/

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2020/03/violent-video-games-behavior#:~:text=Cautions%20against%20oversimplification%20of%20complex,major%20predictor%20of%20future%20violence.%E2%80%9D