A Summary: 

Violent Video Games: The Effects on Youth, and Public Policy Implications

BY:  DOUGLAS A. GENTILE AND CRAIG A. ANDERSON

The article starts by pointing out how years of research has proven that violence at young ages brings negative outcomes later in life. The violence could be seen in real life or seeing it in the media. The authors point out that parents take measures to make sure their children do not witness physical violence at home, however less attention is payed to making sure they do not see violence through media. With such evidence on how violence affects adolescence, it is astounding to the author that parents are loose with what their children are viewing through television, or video games.

The article then goes on to cover a time line of video games, starting with Pong as the earliest and most docile video game. It wasn’t until the 90s that video games turned rapidly more violent. With each new game snowballing violence off the other, almost in competition. We look at video games today, where you are pretty limitless on what you are able to do in them. It is a substantial difference than Pong, and not necessary for the better.

There are multiple studies on how video games may make a person behave more violently than someone who does not play those types of games. There is no one answer.

The author stresses that there are no serious implications on how to stop companies from making such violent games. There is some controversy on whether or not it can be scientifically proven that violent video games are a direct correlation to violent adolescences. The article does imply that there should be public actions taken to set guidelines for such games.