Katie Caraotta

12/10/2014
Period 4
Allison

Argumentative Essay
Its my fault! Not my parents, not my brothers, not my friends, not my favorite bands, not
computer games, not the media. Its mine, said Eric Harris, one of the shooters of the
Columbine High School Massacre. People have mental issues that could cause them to do
violent acts. Family issues could also be to blame for these tragedies. Entertainment and media
have in the past made good scapegoats for negative behaviors among kids. You cant blame
video games for real violence.

When it comes to violent acts, we all wonder what really is the cause. One reason could
be mental illness. In Do Violent Video Games Lead to Real Violence? By Kim Hone- McMahan
it says When someone goes and shoots like that, theres mental illness and then theres evil.
Most people who have emotionally stable minds would not go shoot people, in most cases you
find that the attackers are mentally ill. For instance, Adam Lanza, the shooter of Sandy Hook
Elementary School and Eric Harris, the shooter of Columbine High School both were found
extremely mentally ill. People who do violent acts are sick and need to get help says a
sophomore from The University of Mount Union. Every person knows that committing violent
acts such as these shootings are wrong, of course unless they are sick emotionally. Julia Layton
says Researchers found the subjects most deeply affected by violent game play were those
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who exhibited personality traits indicative of psychoticism. People who go and copy what they
see in a video game, or who are negatively affected by it, show that it is most likely already a
problem. People who do violent acts most likely have a mental illness or deficiency.

Another cause of these terrible situations could be family issues. Information is more
conclusive that its family issues. Researchers have looked into the past of many people such
as Adam Lanza and many of them had family issues. One 2013 Study published in The Journal
of Youth and Adolescence found the behaviors of at risk to be unaffected by playing violent
violent video games. At risk meaning having Attention Deficit Disorder or Depression. Attention
Deficit Disorder (Aka: ADD) is caused by not getting enough attention, as the name states.
Depression is often caused by stressful life events. Both of these issues, if found are usually in
a persons life at home. According to helpguide.org, family issues cause stress, depression, and
other mental health issues. Anger and stress could very easily cause a person to do a violent
act. A persons family life could be very stressful and lead to a violent act.

Finally, kids blame their problems on other things or people, they dont like to take the
blame for what they do. According to Do Video Games Cause Real Violence? by Julia Layton,
Entertainment and media have always been good scapegoats for negative behaviors in young
people. Many times, kids blame video games or t.v. for their actions because they did what
they saw but they dont want to talk about the real problem. In the 1950s lots of people
blamed comic books for kids acting badly. Back then, that was a childs form of entertainment,
so they blamed it on that. In the 1960s rock n roll made kids do drugs In the 1980s heavy
metal made kids commit suicide. It makes sense why people would blame video games for
violence today, because violence is a big problem such as drugs or suicide and video games
are todays popular form of entertainment. This proves that you cant blame video games for
real life violence.
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You may wonder how video games dont contribute to real life violence when most
people who do crazy, violent acts play them. Adam Lanza of the Sandy Hook Elementary
School shooting reportedly played Call of Duty in his mothers basement. Also, Eric Harris and
Dylan Klebold Played many violent video games such as Doom. According to
electronics.howstuffworks.com , an estimated 97 percent of kids play video games, the most
popular ones containing violent content. It is also estimated that these kids play the video
games for an average of 13.2 hours each week (more if the child is a boy). Blaming the
shooters actions on video games is like blaming bread consumption because most likely the
shooters ate a bread product at least 24 hours prior to the attack. says a researcher. Yes, these
teens may have played lots of violent video games, but so does almost every teenage boy in
America.

Video games dont cause real violence. People have mental illnesses, family issues, and
they also blame the media for violent acts. Although video games are violent, you cant blame
real acts of violence on fantasy games.

Bibliography
Do Violent Video Games Lead to Real Violence? - HowStuffWorks." HowStuffWorks. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2015.

"Do Violent Video Games Lead to Real Violence?" Www.ohio.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2015.

"Dylan Klebold's Writing - Journals, Diaries and School Papers." Dylan Klebold's Writing Journals, Diaries and School Papers. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2015.

"Electronics - HowStuffWorks." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Jan. 2015.

"Eric Harris' Writing - Journals, Diaries and Webpages." Eric Harris' Writing - Journals, Diaries
and Webpages. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2015.