I don't think that video games is making kids become more violent. When I play video games like COD I don't think after that I should pick up a gun and shoot people or go pick fights with people.

iv watched very explicit movies.
Iv read extremely dark books.
Iv heard exceptionaly violent music.
Iv played very violent games and acted deprave, massacuring people in very gory ways.
At no point have i thought, wow, what a sweet idea.
If kids take this seriously they obviously cant discern fantasy from reality.
And thats there parents fault.
Id happy open up on a bunch of civilians.
IN A GAME.
There is nothing on this planet that would persuade me to actualy do that.
Parents are lazy. They think its society that is responsible for there child. To an extent, that is a factor yes.
But just because for example, we band together for schooling, that dosen devolve responsibility. Its still your kid. You are the one who determines what they see and do.
If you do it right, come adulthood those things wont need enforced, it will be second nature

Yeah i think that is true in a way but some teens just use violence to let people know that you shouldn't mess with them.  I mean i faught a guy one time because i didn't like him and every since that day nobody has messed with me since. some teens do do stuff because they do it on video games though.

Wow, I'm surprised!  I was going to say ALMOST the exact same thing as Davideo: here!!!!

I have a very long opinionated thing to say on this, but I don't have any personal experiences to offer.  I was going to list the same causes as Davideo, actually, but in a SLIGHTLY different order:  Movies, music, and parents.

To sum up the majority of my opinion though, it's everything to do with desensitization. It's the same reason most kids don't see anything wrong with casual sex.

sfeviston : This is one where I don’t think there is necessarily a right or wrong answer. I do believe that video games can play a factor but there are other issues that one should consider such as environment and or other behavior that could also play a factor.

I hear stuff on the news from time to time about either a crime being inspired by a video game or some political argument to try to either outright ban violence in video games or at minimum severely sanction and regulate them.

As for me I think it really isn’t a simple answer and it is actually very complicated. It may be easy to blame video games but I think there is more to it than that. Either way it’s tragic when something serious happens no matter what you may blame it on. It should start with parenting as far as I’m concern. A parent needs to be aware of what’s out there as best as they can before their child has access to it. The problem with that of course is that there is so much out there in terms of technology that it is difficult to keep tabs on all of it.

I did some research on this subject. I found that there have been studies done on this very subject. For instance, the most widely used "positive" impact video games are said to have on children is that they may improve a player's manual dexterity and computer literacy. As for teenagers, violent themed video games seem to make adolescents more aggressive. This is mostly because when they are around the age of adolescents, most parents don't seem to put a time limit on how long their children play video games. Which is a really huge factor.

Studies also show that most parents don't know of the content that are actually in the video games there kids play. I know when I was growing up, not many of the video games had violence in them. It was all mostly adventure type of games. I honestly don't think that video games is the ONLY factor in why it may cause teens to become agressive or violent. You see it in television shows and movies as well. Even some music can have that kind of an affect on people.

And whenever anyone, but most especially growing adolescents spend a lot of time on something like violent video games, then it has a huge negative impact on their lives. It tends to make them be more aggressive, the are more prone to having confrontations with their teachers, the may engage in fights with their peers, and you may even see a decline in their school achievements.

I think it just depends on how long they are engaging in the activity or whether or not their parents monitor them or how much time they spend playing those kind of games.

SunflowerGaming : I couldn’t agree with you more. I actually think in some instances video games can serve educational purposes. But I do agree with you that it shouldn’t only be video games that should be looked at. I’m not sure what studies you’re referring to but it seems like every once and a while a new bunch of studies on this subject with varying results. Either way I don’t think something like this should be used in a political context. As in the only time you hear someone say either violence in video games should be banned or as I said severely regulated is either when something tragic happens or, during election season. Least that’s how it seems sometimes.

sfeviston : As much as I love video games, I do know that they are linked to teen violence. I actually wrote a paper on this just a few weeks ago. They produce chemicals in the brain that lower empathy, chemicals that are addictive, and also "trick" the brain. I don't say that they aren't enjoyable or that they serve medical purposes, but we do have to be careful.