I hate when people say things like this as if humanity is going down the toilet. The world nowadays doesn't consist only of fighting, not at all. Violence has been a huge part of society since the dawn of time, and it's definitly not getting worse, it's getting alot better.

Although a good black powder rifle can be a joy to fire as well sometimes.

Pikachu causes violence.

And almost every Mormon you meet can trace their llineage back to Brigham Young or Joseph Smith.. go figure.

A civil war, followed by a World War, followed by an even more disastrous second World War, followed by several small but incredibly deadly wars (vietnam, gulf), followed by a huge ammount of terrorist attacks as well as a now ongoing second Gulf war...

On top of that, you can't turn on the news one single day without hearing about at least 3 homicide's or rape attack's, as well as a few scares of a nuclear war (n korea, iraq, etc)

5 Huge hurricanes, a devastating tsunami, several killer earthquake's in the LA area alone, all within the last year; and cities full of fear from a terrorist attack at any moment.

Yeah..Things certainly are looking for the best..

[url]www.gamescreenshots.com[/url]

Some people, live in a nutshell.

The Relationship Between Violent Video Games and Violent Crime

On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dennis Klebold opened fire on their fellow schoolmates at 11:19 A.M. at Columbine High School. In the sixteen minutes following that, they fatally wounded twelve students and one teacher and wounded more than 20 others. The two teens were found dead, killed by each other’s hands. Parents of some of the victims initially blamed the sheriff’s office of Jefferson County, Colorado, for not responding quickly enough to the situation. When the sheriff’s department released a report clearing its name, the parents of the victims turned to another cause: video games. Bill Clinton, president at the time, charged the entertainment industry with intentionally marketing violent video games and other popular media to younger, more impressionable children. On June 1, 1999, he ordered the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to conduct a $1 million investigation of the way the entertainment industry solicits its products to people (CNN) . Though there exists an observable link between violent video games and aggressive behavior, video games themselves are not responsible for violent crimes.
This trend of blaming video games as a cause or accomplice to the perpetration of violent crimes continued on through to 2004: in the defense of Lee Boyd Malvo, accomplice to John Allen Muhammad, Malvo’s lawyers argued that Muhammad brainwashed Malvo through, among other things, video games in order to obtain Malvo’s assistance in murdering FBI analyst Linda Franklin (CNN). In addition to these instances, several studies have been conducted and publicized that supposedly prove the existence of a link between violent video games and violent crimes.
By 1975, 80 studies relevant to the study of the relationship between violent media and violent crimes had been published – in an overview of these studies, it had been determined that there existed a solid connection between violent media and increases in aggressive behavior (Calvert 104). Studies conducted in 2001 concluded that, when exposed to violent video games, there was an observable increase in aggressive behavior, thoughts, and affect, an increase in physiological arousal, and decrease in prosocial behavior; that is, those that viewed and interacted with violent media were more prone to aggressive reactions to stimuli and less prone to interacting with individuals who did not share their feelings of heightened aggression (Calvert 109). However, in children, these increases were only described as “small to moderate in size,” indicating, though they were more likely to act aggressively, the change in their behavior was, at most, “moderate” (Calvert 110). In addition, there has been some concern expressed with respect to the accuracy of these tests due to poor choices in example video games – for example, a “non-violent” game was chosen to be Sonic the Hedgehog, yet in this game, Sonic can die, and, though he “liberates” trapped animals within robotic constructs, he does this by severely damaging the robotic constructs to the point where the constructs lose all control over the animal trapped inside. Conversely, there has been some concern that the games typically described as violent were, in fact, not violent enough (Calvert 111).
In addition to these possible causes of error in experimental findings, the Washington State Department of Health published its own findings: with respect to preschool and elementary school children, there was an observable increase in violent behavior; however, no studies could prove a tangible link between violent behavior and violent acts, nor did they “assess whether there were any long-term effects.” Middle school and high school students’ results were so varied that the Department concluded that, at that time, no conclusive evidence could be garnered with respect to violent video games’ effects on adolescents. With respect to college students and young adults, the situation was similar to that of middle school and high school studies: out of four studies, two showed an increase in “hostile mood” after gameplay; out of four studies, only one showed a relation between playing violent video games and increased aggressive behavior (Department of Epidemiology).
However, despite these findings, there still exists a belief that the main attractant is violence in video games, and that the majority of its fans are teenage males. This, in the face of studies conducted by various government and private organizations, does not hold water. In 1999, the Australian government released a study of its own, titled “Computer Games and Australians Today,” concluding that the main appeal of video games was not violence, but the visual appeal and interaction with others found in multiplayer games – games that utilize the internet to allow gamers to interact and play with each other (ISDA).
In response to the 1999 Columbine shootings, Congress and President Clinton charged U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher with the job of summarizing the then-recent research on the causes and prevention of adolescent violence. His findings, released on January 17, 2001, concluded that there was no evidence to support an effect of long-term violence incited by violent media, outside of a slight increase in aggression. At the report’s press release, Satcher commented, “We clearly associate media violence to aggressive behavior. But the impact was very small compared to other things. Some may not be happy with that, but that’s where the science is.” In addition to this, the Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Program published findings that, between 1994 and 1999, violent crime perpetrated by fifteen- to thirty-nine-year-olds decreased dramatically; the largest decrease was found in the age groups of fifteen to seventeen – thirty-nine percent. Video game sales, during this time period, soared by 50 percent, increasing from $4.0 billion in 1994 to $6.1 billion in 1999 (ISDA).
A 2000 survey, conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, also disproved many myths associated with video gaming: the average gamer is 28 years of age, sixty-one percent of all gamers are over the age of 18, thirty-five percent are over 35, and forty-three percent of gamers are women (ISDA). The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, in September of 2000, released its findings that there did exist a relation in children between exposure to violent media and aggressive behavior; however, the FTC did find that, while researchers quarreled over whether or not the exposure was an actual cause of the increase in aggression, they did find that such exposure alone does not lead a viewer to commit violence, nor is it the only cause of youth violence (WomenGamers.com). Amidst and after these findings, the Justice Department released a report in 2003 stating the rate of violent crime had decreased from 50 victims per 1,000 residents twelve and older in 1993 to 25 per 1,000 in 2001 and to 23 per 1,000 in 2003. Property crimes, including burglaries and car thefts, were down from 319 in 1993 to 167 in 2001 to 159 in 2002. The Department called it the smallest rate of crime that had been recorded in 30 years (Join Together Online).
Columbine started a trend of blaming video games and other popular media as the reason behind teenage perpetrations of homicide. Over the past ten years, politicians have ridden on the coattails of scapegoating video games and movies as horrible, corrupting influences upon adolescents across the globe. However, more and more research is being conducted that disproves this claim; the very science that was used to try to prove the existence of a link between violent video games and violent crimes is, in fact, showing that there is no link between the two. As more and more research is conducted and published, the myth of such a relationship’s existence will slowly dissipate in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Word Count: 1,273

Calvert, Sandra L., Amy B. Jordan, and Rodney R. Cocking, eds.
Children in the Digital Age: Influences of Electronic Media on Development. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2002.

“At Malvo trial, cult expert explains how values can change.” CNN.com.
5 December 2003. 18 April 2004 <http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/12/05/sprj.dcsp.malvo.trial/index.html>.

“Clinton orders youth violence study.” CNN.com. 1 June 1999. 18 April 2004
<http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/06/01/clinton.safety/index.html>.

“Report: 12 killed at Columbine in first 16 minutes.” CNN.com. 15 May 2000.
18 April 2004 <http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/05/15/columbine.report.04/index.html>.

Interaction Digital Software Association.
Video Games & Youth Violence: Examining the Facts.
Washington, D.C.: ISDA, 2001

“Violent Crime Down in U.S.” Join Together Online. 25 September 2003.
15 April 2004 <http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/summaries/reader/0,2061,566383,00.html>

Does Media Cause Violent Behavior? A Look at the Research. WomenGamers.com. 15 April 2004 <http://www.womengamers.com/articles/gameviolence2.html>.

Washington State Department of Health: Office of Epidemiology.
Video Games and Real-Life Aggression: A Review of the Literature.
Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Health Office of Epidemiology, 2000.

You have no idea what your talking about. You haven't been alive long enough to know what you are talking about. Things like what you listed and worse have been going on FOREVER! It's nothing new! There have been wars constantly throughout the history of time. There have been murders, rapes, terrorist attacks etc. forvever! You're a victim of the sensentionalist media that tells you to run for the hills because the world is coming to an end. Get over it...the world is in more or less good state.

We're destroying the world, no matter how you look at it. And we're destroying eachother.

Some people, live in a nutshell.

I was watching the news this morning and they had a segment on how violence on TV causes violence in real life. What about all the violence that came before TV was even around? I guess the Spanish Inquisition came from a bad episode of Gilligan's Island.

Um..No.

We're destroying the world, no matter how you look at it. And we're destroying eachother.

I never said the world was in utter turmoil, nor did I say the world is coming to an end. You guys are reading too much into what I'm saying.

What I'm trying to say is, the world is a ****ed up place, and although you may think it's not THAT bad of a place, it certainly isn't getting better.

We're destroying the world

What I'm trying to say is, the world is a ****ed up place, and although you may think it's not THAT bad of a place, it certainly isn't getting better.