There are ratings on the boxes you know. They may seem over the top for gamers, but that's even better for the parents who are buying them for their kids. I hope that parents look up why the game is rated what it is before purchasing it. (It's the same with movies, some "R" movies are worse than others, so the parents have to look each one up.)

Games are a hobby that a surprising number of people enjoy, probably because they take you through epic adventures that sadly, will only ever be fantasy. I'm sorry, but you probably aren't going to be dragonborn, a vault hunter, a god, or an assassin. The only difference between this and movies is that in a video game, you are experiencing everything the character is, because you control him.

Since you're killing people, it sounds like it would influence us to go and do something stupid in the real world. Violent video games are definitely a factor in violence among teens, but not a large one. Personal problems which lead to anger and depression, along with already playing video games causes them to do these things. If they didn't play video games, would they do it? I think so.

If anything it's society's fault, most of the games children play now are from watching older brothers/friends,youtubers playing them first. I wouldn't even know what Call of Duty was if it wasn't from my friends playing it. Or something like that. So society is harming the video game society?? What am I even saying someone please make me stop
But seriously think of how GTA 5 is very popular on youtube, most of the people that play it have an 8-12 year old fan base *cough* vannoss. So they see it on youtube, be like "Yo that game be lookin' totes sick breh" The parent looks on the back of it and sees the rating and be like "You sure you should be playin' this? looks pretty violent to me..." But the kids would always find a way to talk their parents into buying it (trust me kids do that for I am still technically a kid.) Soo it's half the parents fault and half society's fault. So I am technically saying that society is harming society, but if you think about it it's pretty much true. or I'm just crazy.

Then the parents should be less susceptible to their children's wants and needs. And learn good parenting methods. But while I do agree with your idea that society is what causes these video games to be spread to the younger children. It still remains the parent's responsibility to censor that sort of imagery from their children.

But back on topic. I do not believe Video Games are harming society. There are rare cases of which someone has become a much more violent person due to video games, and even that seems skeptical at some points. In fact, I often play video games to wind down and release some stress that builds up throughout that day, releasing it in a some what positive way.

And. If a parent is so worried that their children might be exposed to violence from video games. Then they should be much more aware of what their child is playing. And it's not that hard these days to be aware of what a video game is about when there's a label on the box stating that "Hey, this is a mature game"

Frankly I haven't had time to read everyone's posts yet, but of video games can cause problems in normal kids then it is video games fault as well as the parents. In the same way that smoking can be seen to harm society but young kids smoking can be seen as the parents fault.

Nevertheless I believe that someone needs to already have problems lending themselves to a violent disposition for video games to harm them especially. And this is a problem. Can we ever expect everyone to have a perfect mental clarity or moral compass, this is unrealistic. If so, video games are dangerous in this respect (if they can increase pre-existing violent tendencies).

Using yourself as an example is not helpful, the fact that you are able to (in theory) logically and maturely discuss this topic proves that you were never in danger of becoming extremely violent in the first place. If someone here with long a history of antisocial or violent behaviour wants to talk about how video games didn't effect them then I will take this as useful evidence.

Thanks for reading.

It depends mostly on the person. Someone who's in a stable mental state should be able to play the most gory games and still stay sane. More often than not, people who've become more violent playing violent games already had problems beforehand such as depression.

I honestly think it varies from person to person. There is a certain point in which video games,tv etc become unhealthy for you. Some people have addictive personalities and may become attached to videogames in a way. So while it is harming society it is also healthy to express your self through video games. It's a form of art/expression like music and art(painting,drawing, sculpting)

Too much of a good makes a bad thing. Video games are made purely for entertainment. It all comes down to the player to keep it the way it is, a game, or use it to drive himself batshit crazy.

The addictive nature of most videogames is one of the reasons they can be so dangerous.

ele Moderated Message:

Good introduction, pls insert the rest of the argument.

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Video games have a tendency to be played more rather than less. Too much of a good thing is bad but if that good thing lends itself to being overused then it lends itself to being bad rather than good. I am not saying that all video games will make you play on them for longer than is healthy, just that becoming addicted to something isn't only the fault of the addict, it is the fault of their addiction (that is, if it is a fault at all, which I am willing to let others decide).

I think videogames are something that are parental discretion. If you know your child is relatively more impressionable/gullible and have an addictive personality, then you should try to keep your child away from videogames. On the other hand if your kid is normal and able to handle things well (like movies/tv) then give them a test run with videogames. Pretty much my whole argument is that parents need to follow ESRB ratings if their child doesn't handle things that well but still wants to play videogames and the parent needs to make sure the kid has balance and doesn't just want to stay inside all day while his/her friends are outside playing. Then again that goes for any kid but it can be more flexible if you think your kid can handle it. To summarize it again it's all in the parents control and it's their responsibility to make the right choice about it and monitor how the child is affected by videogames.

Hopefully we are all part of the normal who can play videogames and realize they're fake and not meant to be recreated in any means other than cosplay.

You could say that it is the parent's/authority's responsibility to keep teenagers of meth but that doesn't mean that meth doesn't harm society. Your argument isn't persuading me.