Violence In Video Games - Intro

When a horrible crime occurs, we want to know why. If it was related to drugs or gangs or an armed robbery, I think we find those as reasons behind each and every crime. We do not hate the crime less, but at least we think we know why it occurred. Consider the case of the two boys who walked into Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado and deliberately killed 12 students, a teacher and then themselves. It seems likely that what happened in most of the school killings was the result of a combination of events and personalities and opportunities came together to cause that crime. Whenever these crimes occur, people search for a reason. Some people say "it was the lack of religion in the schools and at home; it was a moral breakdown in the countries; it was the availability of guns; it was the culture". One answer that is often proposed is that the crimes are due to exposure to media violence. Children who watch television and go to the movies see thousands of murders and countless other acts of violence. Many people believe that, being exposed to all this violence causes children to be more aggressive and to commit crimes? That's an explanation people can accept and, sure enough, many people in Canada and the United States believe that media violence is a major cause of violent crime. Recently, attention has turned toward the violence in video games. Exposure to violent video games has a negative effect on a variety of measures. We do not hate the crime less, but at least we think we know why it occurred.

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