Do Video Games Lead To More Crime
In march 2019, Navbharat Times, a popular Hindi-Language newspaper, Published an editorial showing how children could become ‘ Psychopaths ‘ due to PUBG. This trend of blaming video games for violence isn’t limited to India. But in other countries also. This isn’t a novice trend. the same argument has surfaced for the past 30 years. This sentiment became popular in the 1990s when first-person shooter games. These violent images of video games in India shouldn’t surprise us.
As the media have reported several violent incidents that occurred due to video games. What does the research say about the impact of violent video games? If instead of research we rely on news headlines, then we should ban cricket too. Many researchers have tried to answer this question. Can video games cause violent incidents? For this, there isn’t a 100% argument. But researchers suggest that there’s no link between video games and violence. According to American Psychological Association, we don’t have enough evidence to prove that violent video games cause violence. Many researchers say that the US gives more attention to the link between video games and violence.
Instead, they should pay attention to gun ownership. Though research shows that video games don’t cause violence at a broad level, they do affect an individual. During a study, the brain activities of gamers were observed. And no link was found between aggression and violent video games. For another study, participants were divided into three groups. the first group played GTAV daily for two months. the second one played sims 3. And the third one played no games at all. Researchers found no sign of aggression in gamers.
But a different study has shown that video games could increase aggression. Many would argue that if violent games create aggression and we should somehow distract people from playing them, then we could also create non-violent games. they can distract people too. But its night is not that addictive. Researchers suggest that many play violent video games Because they’re conscious of the fact that they can’t perpetuate violence or crime in society as that would be unacceptable. But it’s acceptable in video games.
Hence, banning video games might create the opposite effect and lead to more crimes. A question arises if video games aren’t responsible for violence, then which factors cause violence? There’s been a lot of discussion about this in Netflix series, movies, and research. This field is pretty complicated as many factors are involved. one such factor is the socio-economic factor. It shows your position in society. Research suggests that your area of residence impacts your likelihood of committing a crime.
Violence isn’t the only issue associated with video games. The more pressing issue is addiction. According to media headlines, many have died due to this. It’s not a secret that many smartphone apps especially social media apps are designed to make us addicted to them. Violent video games are designed similarly. Violent games aren’t the only games that are addictive. Many non-violent video games are addictive too. The game’s features aren’t the only factor that leads to addiction.
Our society is responsible too. the solutions to this problem are as complex as the problem itself. We’ve already discussed that there’s no strong link between video games and violence. Thus banning video gaming won’t solve the problem. To reduce violence, we much address the social factors that create it in the first place. And we should create an environment where people get a sense of self-respect, and easily find jobs too. And there should be less social bullying. So friends, What are you thinking about ” Do Video Games Lead To More Crime”?
