Com100

Video Games: Promoting Violence or Harmless Adult Entertainment?

Name

University

Video Games: Promoting Violence or Harmless Adult Entertainment?

Abstract

When Elvis Presley gyrated onstage in the late 1950s, parents, religious leaders and even the government thought it was vulgar and offensive, and would lead to teen promiscuity. Then the 1960s and 1970s came along and promoted drug use and sexual freedom which, again, upset parents, religious leaders and our government. Then in the 1980s, metal bands came along promoting sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, violent rebellious behavior, and what some believed was the worshiping of Satan. Every decade became worse than the last in the eyes of the parents of each generation, yet the people brought up in these eras are now the professional and productive members of society. They may have been influenced at the time by the “evils” of their generation, but they still became parents, teachers, police officers, military, executives and government officials. Now, these same people who just wanted to listen to Elvis, The Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix and Ozzy Osborne, have a problem with the new generation. Move over rock ‘n’ roll, the new generation has video games: violent, evil, sadistic, violence inducing video games.

Video Games: Promoting Violence or Harmless Adult Entertainment?

This paper will provide a look at some of the issues surrounding violent video games, producing the perception that video game violence somehow cause or promote violent behavior in kids, teens and the young adults who play them.

In April 1999, two high school students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, walked into Columbine High School and began shooting with the intent to kill hundreds of students, teachers, emergency workers and police officers. Although their original plan failed, they succeeded in killing twelve students and one faculty member, and wounding countless other students before taking their own lives. An investigation into the two...