To start, there's little evidence of a link between video games and aggressive youth. While the video game industry was exploding between 1994 and 2000, juvenile violent crime arrests (ages 15-17) dropped by 44 percent and young adult violent crime arrests (ages 18-24) dropped by 24 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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To further explore the issue of censorship, we will look at a tragedy concerning video games:.
One of the most horrifying experiences in recent American history is the tragedy that occurred at Columbine High School in April of 1999. Allegedly Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, , the two kids that mercilessly killed innocent victims, played violent video games at one point in their lives. .
Immediately thereafter, video games were blamed for causing the two kids to become murderously inclined. But evidence suggests otherwise. The two murderers were building pipe bombs in their rooms and garages, and their parents were completely unaware. They also recorded videos for school projects that were full of violence and hatred; again, their parents had no idea. Eric Harris even cut off the barrel of a shotgun and left it in plain view on his dresser in his room. Clearly, these parents were not involved in their kids' lives. .
This tragedy might have been prevented simply by the parents being aware of what was going on in their kids' lives.
Video games don't need to be censored because of violence in society. The problem's a lack of parental involvement and a lack of informed decisions. Parents need to be more absorbed in their kids' lives, at least where video games are concerned.
It's a fact that 80% of video game purchases kids make are facilitated by their parents.
If video games get censored, what's next? Computer games are the next logical steps in censorship, followed by movies, literature, and any other kind of free speech. Would they go so far as to ban human thought? As one can see, video games are but a small piece of the pie.
