Literature Review

The subject of video games and if they are related to violence is very controversial and there are many different opinions. Many articles and studies have been completed to try and get closer to a conclusion about the subject. Anderson 2003 states that “playing violent video games have shown that aggressive emotions are increased compared to playing nonviolent video games.”, this increase in brain activity does increase a person’s levels of aggression but is it a contributing factor to extreme cases such as the Virginia Tech massacre? Other researchers claim that incidents such as these are caused by other issues in a person’s life such as coming from a violent home or having a mental condition.

The increase in video game activity among children and teenagers has risen immensely in the past 10 years as Anderson 2003 explains “By the early 1990s, home video game use had increased and arcade play had decreased. The average amount was still fairly low, averaging about two hours of home play per week for girls, and about four hours of home play per week for boys” to “In a recent survey of over 600 eighth and ninth grade students, children averaged 9 hours per week of video game play overall, with boys averaging 13 hours per week and girls averaging 5 hours per week”. Some people think that this increase of game time makes children and teenagers want to carry out violent actions in real life that are shown games, whereas other think that by playing these games that the need to be violent in real life is decreased.