What Politicians Get Wrong About Video Games and Violence | NYT

In the wake of the Parkland school shooting, President Trump has pointed to a common explanation for the violence: video games. But two decades after the Columbine shooting popularized this explanation for violent crime, research has rejected the hypothesis.

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Video games with a goal
to kill, often with a firearm,

like Call of Duty: WWII -

"I need morphine" -

Destiny 2

and Battlefield,

are among America's
most popular entertainment.

And politicians
have been quick to say

that the violence
on screen

contributes to
violence in real life,

such as mass school shootings.

"Congress should fund
research into the effects

that violent video games
have on young minds."

"Violent video games
have encouraged the killing

of innocent people for sport."

"I'm hearing more
and more people say

the level of violence
on video games

is really shaping
young people's thoughts."

There's just one problem with that.

Back in the 1990s,
people were worried

about games like Duke Nukem,
Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil.

Over the years, these
games have become

more lifelike, with
better graphics,

more detail
and more violence.

And some of the gunmen
who have terrorized schools

have been known to play
these kind of games.

The Columbine shooters played
the then-controversial game Doom,

even building their own
customized levels.

The Virginia Tech gunman
played similar video games.

And the neighbor
of Nikolas Cruz,

the accused Parkland
shooting suspect,

told The Miami Herald
that Cruz may have played

violent video games
for up to 15 hours a day.

While some studies may have
found correlations

between playing
violent video games

and violent behavior,

they have not been proven
to cause actual crime.

Some studies even
suggest the opposite.

"We find no evidence
of an increase in crime

associated with video games
and perhaps a decrease."

"Unexpectedly,

many of the results
were suggestive

of a decrease in violent
crime in response

to violent video games.

Some psychiatrists
warn of the dangers

of focusing solely on video games.

"To look at violent video games,

in my opinion,
is a red herring.

It's not going to lead to
anything helpful in regards

to gun violence."

The argument has even been
rejected by the Supreme Court.

In 2011, it ruled that California
cannot ban the sale

of violent video games
to children

on the grounds that they
cause real world violence.

But the narrative has an appeal.

It's a simple
explanation in a debate

that has become
increasingly caustic.