Chapter 1

I think there are alternative explanations to for the connection between violent video games and violent behaviour. It is important to know the details of how the connection was made. What methods were used, observational, random sampling, etc.? What were the ages, gender, backgrounds, of the people? How many hours were played? How was the game played? What exactly was the operational definition? Was this connection measured in some way, like a certain percentage of people who played violent video games engaged in violent behaviour? The media simply stating there is a connection between the two is misleading, very sensationalist.

Perhaps one explanation is not necessarily the content of the video game itself but the emotions it evokes. If the players were experiencing high levels of stress and frustration because they couldn't defeat a boss, beat a level, or kept getting eliminated over and over again, then I certainly believe players might get up and dispel that rage through violent behaviour. What exactly did they define as violent behaviour anyway?

I like to believe that humans as a whole are actually becoming less violent, it mentioned in this chapter that crime rates are actually falling, and I find that the more time that passes, the more kind, empathetic, and tolerant humans become. And if that last part isn't true, we are certainly past the times of stoning someone to death or attending public executions with the family or slaughtering our hosts for their land. My point is, there is less violence now than back then, and I don't think video games will cause any regression. So banning violent video games would be an overaction. Apologies for the tangent.