Violent Video Games Lead to Behavioral Problems

Violent Video Games Lead to Behavioral Problems

On 24 January 2011, a terrorist or a group of terrorists bombed the Moscow International Airport Domodedovo which killed thirty seven people and wounded almost two hundred. While law enforcement agencies were looking for the perpetrators, Russian state-supported English-language news media Russia Today pointed at an unlikely culprit: a video game. The video game criticized by Russia Today was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which, as the article suggested, could have inspired the terrorists that bombed the Domodedovo Airport. The article noted that a game segment called "No Russian" urges the players to take hostages and shoot at civilians in a fictitious Moscow airport, and that for Russians the scenes of the game became "a shocking reality" ("Moscow Airport Terror Mirrors Video Game"). Many people dismissed the claim by saying that terrorists did not need a video game to get inspired for their murderous acts. However, while Russia Today article might have exaggerated the effects of violent video games, it did have a point. There is solid evidence demonstrating that violent video games lead to aggressive behavior.

As Anderson and Dill explain, there have been many cases when obsessive players of violent video games turned their virtual fantasies into real-life scenarios. For example, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two youngsters who murdered thirteen children and wounding twenty three at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999, were enthusiastic players of a violent video game called Doom, a game that is licensed and used by the U.S. military to train soldiers for real-life battlefields. Harris also prepared a customized version of Doom where he and his peer imitated what would become a tragic reality for Columbine high school students in less than a year. The video game inspired and psychologically trained Harris and Klebold for carrying out the murder of children at school.

Mass media today influences the youth enormously. Children and youngsters watch more TV, films, and play video games than ever before. When video games emerged in late 1970s and early 1980s, they were not of violent nature. In the 1990s, violent video games became extremely popular and today over 80% of the video games contain violence (Anderson and Dill). The increasing level of violence in video games is the result of increasing demand. When players demand more and more simulation of violent behavior in their virtual fantasies, there must be a problem in their attitudes.