Video games linked to violence, US president tells industry

[Zibago]

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Video games linked to violence, US president tells industry
By Web Desk On Mar 9, 2018


WASHINGTON: Video games have been linked to real-world violence, US President Donald Trump told gaming industry leaders in a meeting Thursday after a school shooting last month reignited a national debate over guns.


The talks between Trump and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) trade group came less than a month after a teenage gunman shot dead 17 people with a semi-automatic rifle at his former Florida high school.

It was the latest mass shooting in a country with more than 30,000 gun-related deaths annually.

After the Florida slaughter Trump pointed to video games as a possible contributing factor in firearms violence.

Gaming industry figures trekked to Washington in hopes of persuading lawmakers that virtual violence does not trigger real world outbursts.


In the meeting, Trump “acknowledged some studies have indicated there is a correlation between video game violence and real violence,” a White House statement said.

“The conversation centered on whether violent video games, including games that graphically simulate killing, desensitize our community to violence.”

After the Florida shooting Trump said that he’s “hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts.”

The ESA disputes that.

“Video games are plainly not the issue: entertainment is distributed and consumed globally, but the US has an exponentially higher level of gun violence than any other nation,” it said ahead of the Washington talks, which the White House said also involved experts on violence.

Both the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have taken a stance in recent years against children and teens playing gruesome video games.

But a rising number of academics question the evidence of a link between gaming and aggression, and more than 200 scholars joined to speak out against an APA report affirming such a connection.

Market intelligence firm NewZoo says video games are a $100 billion a year global business.

 

[Dalit]

There are many factors, but I wouldn't be surprised if gaming is one of them. The Americans are fed a lot of violence through various means. From fast food to WWE and Hollywood. If this is the upbringing of your people you shouldn't be surprised at mass gun violence.

What people also tend to forget or ignore is that America has changed a lot after the economic crisis and the wars it is embroiled in. America is a very angry place where white folks truly believe that people of color are stealing their jobs i.e. bread and butter. People get shot for looking like Middle Eastern. Students are shooting at schools for extracting revenge. Public place aren't safe. White America labels the shooters as mentally ill when in reality this is a much wider and complex problem.

America has always been a country of extremes. If it leads in science and technology it also leads in vulgarity, gun violence and other crazy stuff. The US is the most gun obsessed country in the world. Even trying to reform gun laws gets US gun lobbies and American gun owners in a twist. Owning a gun in the US equals to being a patriot. Not owning a gun equals to being a softie liberal and a traitor.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Trump has been reading my posts finaly we agree on one thing

 

[Corona]

Video games make people violent....unfortunately for Trump, this ain't 1998, when you can accuse criminal with a computer of being influenced by games.
Video games are a billion dollar industry, and if US curbs its dominance on the market, Japanese and European game makers are primed to take over.

 

[Dalit]

Video games make people violent....unfortunately for Trump, this ain't 1998, when you can accuse criminal with a computer of being influenced by games.
Video games are a billion dollar industry, and if US curbs its dominance on the market, Japanese and European game makers are primed to take over.

We are not talking about the net worth of the gaming industry here. We are discussing the effects. There is no denying that certain games can have a detrimental effect on gamers who are prone to violent and extreme behavior.

 

[Torch_v2.0]

Don't blame video games for your mistakes

Male Hormone secretion in Boys(Juveniles) during Puberty, leads to tremendous change in their behaviors -
Aggressiveness, Moodiness, ADHD , Thinking about se* all the time , Sleeping a lot , Bumbping into stuffs , Masturbation & much more.

They have more power but no logic,
They behave like a wild animal at that stage of their life.
And giving them Firearms is like you're inviting a Terrorist Attack.

 

[Corona]

We are not talking about the net worth of the gaming industry here. We are discussing the effects. There is no denying that certain games can have a detrimental effect on gamers who are prone to violent and extreme behavior.

There will always be those outliers but then again, those are the kind of people who, if not through video games, will find another platform to destabilize themselves, like movies. A normal functioning person who can differentiate reality from make believe events will not be effected by games to the extent he becomes a murderer.
And again, for every shooter who is blamed on video games, look at the millions who played the same game and did not turn into a psycho.

 

[damm1t]

Hollywood movies, wrestling, TV series even daily life in the US cause violence. Ban everything

 

[Dalit]

There will always be those outliers but then again, those are the kind of people who, if not through video games, will find another platform to destabilize themselves, like movies. A normal functioning person who can differentiate reality from make believe events will not be effected by games to the extent he becomes a murderer.
And again, for every shooter who is blamed on video games, look at the millions who played the same game and did not turn into a psycho.

That is why I specifically pointed out that those who are more prone to violence are more likely to be affected. I also pointed out that gaming is just one aspect. Gun violence in the US is a complicated problem which has many root causes. Of course, nut jobs will always find various means to justify their crimes.

I agree that banning games is obviously not the solution here. However, some games shouldn't be allowed at a certain age.

America is a very unique case though. Let's face it. Americans aren't particularly fed well. Violence is everywhere. The gun culture is extreme.

 

[cloud4000]

Millions of people all over the world play the most violent video games but they don't engage in violence. I've seen politicians attack books, movies, music, television, and now video games as the main culprit of of violence. I guess wars, racism, crime, and poor governance has nothing to do with violence in this world. Okay.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

It's true. I never play video games.

 

[Wolfhunter]

American logic, video games are bad and evil but it’s okay to own a military machine gun.