The Frustrating, Enduring Debate over Video Games, Violence, and Guns
This article intrigued me because discussed a lot of elements of the video game debate: gun control, aggression, politics, war, and corporate responses to mass shootings. These topics don’t exist in a vacuum, and it does us no favors to try to declare one as the most important component of the debate. The main dilemma in this article was the question of which has the most influence—gun ownership or video games. And are either of these responsible for mass shootings?
Personally, I don’t think mass shootings are related to video games. I think they stem from the marriage of two issues discussed in the article. The first is the glorification of violence, which is front-and-center in all of our media (not only in video games, but also in books, movies, and television). This is then seen as an outlet for those experiencing the second issue discussed in the article: people who “have been fed that they’re losing ‘their’ country” (Romano, 2019).
I think that a lot of people, men and women, have unfounded fears that their countries are being “ruined” by an ‘other,’ whether those others are immigrants, women, or any other group. And I think that connects with our glorification of violence in a way that empowers the mentally ill to harm others. However, we can’t ban all guns, video games, or the online platforms where ideas are spread. We need to prepare kids to handle those things. Therefore, I think the best way to deal with video games and violence is to provide access to mental health education. Teach kids how to have healthy relationships with violence, video games, and people who are different from them.
Romano, Aja. (2019, August 26). “The frustrating, enduring debate over video games, violence, and guns.” Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/2019/8/26/20754659/video-games-and-violence-debate-moral-panic-history
This article intrigued me because discussed a lot of elements of the video game debate: gun control, aggression, politics, war, and corporate responses to mass shootings. These topics don’t exist in a vacuum, and it does us no favors to try to declare one as the most important component of the debate. The main dilemma in this article was the question of which has the most influence—gun ownership or video games. And are either of these responsible for mass shootings?
Personally, I don’t think mass shootings are related to video games. I think they stem from the marriage of two issues discussed in the article. The first is the glorification of violence, which is front-and-center in all of our media (not only in video games, but also in books, movies, and television). This is then seen as an outlet for those experiencing the second issue discussed in the article: people who “have been fed that they’re losing ‘their’ country” (Romano, 2019).
I think that a lot of people, men and women, have unfounded fears that their countries are being “ruined” by an ‘other,’ whether those others are immigrants, women, or any other group. And I think that connects with our glorification of violence in a way that empowers the mentally ill to harm others. However, we can’t ban all guns, video games, or the online platforms where ideas are spread. We need to prepare kids to handle those things. Therefore, I think the best way to deal with video games and violence is to provide access to mental health education. Teach kids how to have healthy relationships with violence, video games, and people who are different from them.
Romano, Aja. (2019, August 26). “The frustrating, enduring debate over video games, violence, and guns.” Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/2019/8/26/20754659/video-games-and-violence-debate-moral-panic-history