It’s time we answer one of, if not, the most important questions in our lifetime. No, the question isn’t where do we come from? Ask your parents for the answer to that one. The question is: do video games make people violent? And the answer is no. That’s right. I said it, and I’ll gladly prove this, in whatever way appeals to you the most.

So first of, let’s get the boring facts out of the way.

This question has been around since shortly after the inception of video games. And with it, there have been countless studies done on the violence in video games and the influence they have on the populace. A majority of these have concluded in practically the same thing: violent video games do affect people, making them more prone to aggressive behavior, but not anymore than watching a violent movie, listening to violent music, or even reading a violent book. In fact, some studies even showed that the latter were higher risk factors to violent tendencies.

“No single risk factor consistently leads a person to act aggressively or violently. Rather, it is the accumulation of risk factors that tends to lead to aggressive or violent behavior,” states the American Psychological Association, or APA.

But don’t just take my word for it. After all, I’m nowhere near as smart as the people conducting these researches. Read the APA’s findings yourself here, or search the web for more research that will ultimately tell you the same thing.

I don’t care about facts! It’s just logical that violent things will make people violent!

I hear you. So let me logic your logic so you can realize that your logic is illogical. There has been violence since before video games! Shocker, I know. What about all the violence that has been happening around the world recently? Don’t video games have anything to do with it? Short answer? Probably not. A quick google search away will even show you that almost all of the worst massacres in history happened before the inception of video games, carried out by either a government, or in the name of religion.

We’re talking about mass shootings though, aren’t they because of violent video games?

Short answer again? Probably not. Granted there isn’t enough evidence to prove this in either way. But again, don’t just take my word for it. America has had the most mass shooters on a global scale while being the number one country where her residents own the most guns. 57% of mass shootings used legally obtained weapons, but that number can be as high as 83%, as it is unknown how some of the weapons were obtained. Logically, the lack of mental health care in America, plus the high amount of weapons per capita, might be the real issue… logically.

To hell with logic! I don’t want kids playing violent video games. That’s how I feel and you can’t change my mind!

I agree with you. Actually, I doubt that there would be very many who would disagree with you. There are game ratings on every single video game for a reason. I urge you to make use of them, take the time to learn what each one means, and don’t buy kids mature or teen rated games.

These games were not made for kids.

Let’s put this ridiculous notion to rest, once and for all. Violent video games are not the issue, they’re just the latest fad to blame for violence in the world. Same thing has happened with books, music, movies and cartoons to name a few.

Perhaps we, as people, are simply violent.