Controversies of Violent Video Games

Are Violent Video Games a Prerequisite to Violence or an Instrument of Military Recruitment To Inflict Lawful Violence

Initially published by Illumination on Medium

The modern human seems to be fascinated with violence. Human Pandemonium has riddled every aspect of our lives, from screenplays to virtual games. Every once in a while, I ask myself why we enjoy watching horror movies and playing games in which we hunt imaginary enemies and imitate bloodshed?

War is sometimes inevitable, as historically, we have witnessed numerous fighting that led to human demise. In fact, during ancient times, males as young as ten were taught how to fight. Those days individuals had to prepare their minds for imminent wars. But how about today?

How do governments ensure recruiting the right people when needed without forcing them into academies? After all, violent acquaintance always makes the best soldier, like gang members of those who enjoy violent games.

Photo by Iewek Gnos on Unsplash

Not everyone is a natural-born killer. There is a set of prerequisites for someone to be able to kill other than self-defense. These are, devaluing life, a sense of grandiosity, vigilantism, martyrdom, and heroism.

The creation of a sense of heroism and national pride is what military recruiters convey to get the job done. Some administrations call it martyrdom; some died for a good cause, and others for national pride. While ancient military recruitment is outdated and wars are more sophisticated by political rhetoric and technological upheaval, recruiting soldiers these days creates a link between reality and entertainment.

It is imperative to realize that no satisfactory scientific evidence exists for the association between video games and violent behavior. Nonetheless, the sociology of video games seems to popularize violence among children.

But few are aware that some of the most technologically potent products are violent war games now staged at taxpayer expenditure, thus providing free conscripting tools by the United States military. It highlights some controversy that government production and circulation of highly sophisticated violent video games are unethical and undermines violence prevention efforts among children and youth.

Automation and social media are changing the way we fight wars; it’s concerning to think that children are being given the impression through various war-like interactive entertainments that the military is like a video game. Whether drones or killer robots, the last thing we need is less humanity in war.

Twitch, a live streaming platform owned by Amazon, boasted more than 5 billion hours watched from April through June 2020. According to a report, gamers with the Army, Navy, and Air Force spend hours on Twitch with children as young as 13.

We are living in an epoch in a time when we fight wars remotely and even bloodier than when it was a few decades ago. And those who fought in the battleground conveyed as they are living the reality of how video game players nurture their sense of patriotism.

Violent video games may not necessarily provoke violence at home but are valuable tools to commit atrocities abroad without questioning the political authorities. Therefore, banning and prohibition will never help reduce violence per se unless the use of such a powerful instrument is ethically and legally delineated, thus made transparent.