On Wednesday, February 17, it was reported that an armed gunman had opened fire in a school in Parkland, Florida. The event is the second most devastating school shooting since Sandy Hook. Once again, people are seeking out new gun laws, stricter regulatory rules, and ultimately who is to blame. It is a divisive question - as there is no basis in which we can justify passing blame to someone for these events, other than onto the person who committed the atrocity. However, some people are fast to blame other factors for these events; a classic scapegoat is the Video Game Industry, and it has once again been in the firing line of Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin.

Matt Bevin's claims

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin has taken to the center stage to voice his opinion on the matter involving the school shooting on Wednesday. He claims that violent Video Games are responsible for these heinous acts that keep occurring, as they make it fun and enjoyable for children, teenagers, and adults to commit crimes in the game.

Bevin's belief is shared by many political individuals who believe that the video game industry is responsible for the psychological brainwashing of easily influenced people. The appeal and attractiveness of violence in video games make it hard for society to clamp down on who plays the games. Impressionable minds such as children, or people with mental instabilities are able to buy the games easily and possibly become influenced by them to replicate what they are doing in the games in real life.

Donald Trump on violent video games

Amidst the recent Florida school shootings, the President Donald Trump has taken actions towards clamping down on video game media and their prevalence in society. He has met up with individuals from the video game industry to discuss their effects on the youth and mentally unstable, and hopefully, both parties will reach a reasonable conclusion and settle the dispute between the correlation of video games and violence in society.

The main reason why the solution has not been reached yet is due to the lack of feasible evidence that suggests that video games do make people violent. Scientifically, there is no correlation between the two, yet a common argument that people use against violent video games is that they provide training for people looking to commit crimes.

The verdict that will be reached may change the gaming landscape indefinitely. This has angered and agitated video gamers all around the world due to the possibility of strict limitations being put on video games without reasonable evidence to suggest that it would be fair.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED