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            In the past two decades, tragedies such as the Columbine High School shooting and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting have shocked the general public, causing people to ask the obvious question: why? Issues frequently brought to the spotlight following a shooting or similar tragedy are gun control and mental health. However, in recent years, the media seems to have shifted the spotlight to violent video games, claiming them to be a major contributing factor to youth aggression, the alleged root of recent tragedies; this is coupled with an increasing number of politicians calling for the regulation of the video game industry. But do violent video games actually cause our youth to commit these terrible tragedies? One must be weary of the attempts to place the blame upon video games, and similarly, the attempts to base policy off of this blame. Because if violent video games are to be blamed as the cause of the tragedies seen in the past two decades, a definitive link between them and aggressive behavior has to be established first, and researchers have yet to show this alleged link. Also, since video games have become more and more popular in the recent years, we should also be seeing a rise in violent crimes committed by youth; however, these two things seem to be going in opposite directions. Lastly, not all the committers of tragedies in the recent years have even had exposure to violent video games.

Research has yet to show a definitive link between violent video games and aggressive behavior. Attempts to establish a link “have generally been mixed, with some studies supporting a link between violent video games and minor acts of aggression and others finding no link, or even finding reduced aggression because of violent video game exposure”. One of the studies that claims to link games with aggression was conducted by Craig Anderson and Karen Dill in the year 2000; however, it was criticized on the grounds that the researchers’ data did not support their conclusions in a paper by Christopher J. Ferguson, an assistant professor of clinical and forensic psychology at the Texas A&M International University, and co-authors Stephanie M. Rueda and Amanda M. Cruz (“School Shooting/Violent Video Game Link”). According to Ferguson and his coauthors, the (generally weak) positive effects on aggressive thoughts and arousal levels do not establish a link as Anderson and Dill claim; this is because positive aggressive thoughts and arousal level don’t necessarily translate to increased aggressive behavior, especially if they have been measured immediately after the subjects finish playing the violent video game, in which the game would obviously still be fresh in their mind. As they put it in their paper, “the critical question is not whether individuals who play violent video games are merely aroused or thinking of aggressive concepts but whether their behavior is altered such that they are more likely to engage in violent acts” (Ferguson, Rueda, Cruz). When one asks this critical question, much of the research supporting a link between violent video games and aggressive behavior comes under scrutiny, and even more so when one realizes the research fails to take into account other external factors such as family violence/environment, negative life events, and bullying.

However, there is one particular study that does take into account these “third variables”. It also was the first study to “employ well-validated clinical measures of aggression and violence, and to control carefully for a number of other relevant factors that may influence youth violence”. Conducted by Christopher J. Ferguson in 2010, it attempted to investigate the possibility of a link between violent video games and aggressive behavior over time; Ferguson, however, found “no evidence to support a long-term relationship between video game violence use and subsequent aggression”. His 2010 study expanded upon a previous study he had done the year before, which found that those with “depressive symptoms were a stronger predictor of serious aggression and violence”, rather than those who were exposed to video game violence (“Video Games and Youth Violence”). So the media and politician’s claims that video games are the root of recent tragedies simply are not based upon fact.

Many Americans are under the impression that youth crime is on the rise in the light of recent tragedies and constant bombardment of examples via the news. Many are led to believe that this is due to the proliferation of violent video games, with games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto blowing away other forms of media in sales. However the two are actually going in opposite directions. Based upon statistics from Childstats.gov, “as video games have become more widespread over the past few decades, the incidence rate of criminal youth violence has declined sharply; it has not increased as feared” (“Video Games and Youth Violence”). In addition, “Government agencies, from the Virginia Tech Review Panel, to the United States Secret Service and United States Department of Education, to the UK’s Byron Report have a found (sic) little evidence of violent games sparking an increase in youth violence or school shootings specifically”, according to Christopher Ferguson (“School Shooting/Violent Video Game Link”). So, one must be careful in assuming a positive correlation exists because the media and politicians imply it does, especially when there is strong evidence to the contrary. Furthermore, it is important to remember that correlation does not imply causation, so even if violent video game sales were increasing with youth violence, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are causing it. Same applies for the current trend: youth violence is not necessary declining because of video game proliferation.

Furthermore, some of the tragedies that have occurred in the past decade involve criminals who have never had exposure to violent video games. For example, the man responsible behind the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, Seung-Hui Cho, was found by investigators to have had “little or no exposure to violent video games”; Sulejman Talovic, the man responsible for the Utah mall shootings the same year, “was found not to be in possession of computer or video games” as well. Steven Phillip Kazmierczak, the Northern Illinois University shooter, in addition, was found not to be an avid player of video games. (“School Shooting/Violent Video Game Link”). These three examples of criminals who had no experience with video games helps break the common misconception that video games are the root cause of a tragedy.

It is very important following a tragedy to be careful not to blame one specific thing such as a violent video game; it is very easy for one to do so and it gives the illusion that combating the said thing, in this case, video games, will prevent tragedies like Sandy Hook and Columbine from happening again. But this is simply not true. Video games are not the cause of these tragedies, because if violent video games were the cause, a proper link between them and aggressive behavior would have already been established. Similarly, video games cannot be blamed for a rise in youth crime if youth crime is not rising; also, not all shooters are those that are exposed to violent video games. So the next time you switch to a news channel and hear the usual-- violent video games being blamed as the cause of a tragedy-- take it with a grain of salt.

Works Cited

Ferguson, Christopher J. "The School Shooting/Violent Video Game Link: Causal Relationship Or Moral Panic?." Journal Of Investigative Psychology & Offender Profiling 5.1/2 (2008): 25-37. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Nov. 2013.

Ferguson, Christopher J., Stephanie Rueda, and Amanda Cruz. “Violent Video Games and Aggression: Causal Relationship or Byproduct of Family Violence and Intrinsic Violence Motivation?” Criminal Justice and Behavior 35.3 (2008): 311-332. Texas A&M International University. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.

Ferguson, Christopher J. "Video Games And Youth Violence: A Prospective Analysis In Adolescents." Journal Of Youth & Adolescence 40.4 (2011): 377-391. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Nov. 2013.