There is no denying that violence is everywhere today. In the home, on the job, in school, and in entertainment. We live in a violent culture. Lately, it seems to be an everyday occurrence somewhere in America. Our nation continues to mourn the loss of 26 Sandy Hook elementary school children and faculty members killed by a deranged young man.
Sadly, the twenty-year old Newtown elementary school shooter, Adam Lanza, spent much of his time playing violent computer games. Lanza is not the only young man whose violent behavior mimicked the mature-rated video games he may have played. James Holmes, the twenty-nine-year-old who killed 12 innocent patrons at a midnight movie screening in Aurora, Colorado, was also obsessed with first-person shooter games.
Americans are questioning what has gone wrong and what can be done to ensure such tragedies never happen again. The answers are complex and any solutions put forth will be challenging to the core of our souls.
Let’s start with what influences our sons and daughters in their first 18 years of life. Teachers of young people understand three things that contribute to positive effective learning: active participation, rehearsing behavioral sequences rather than discrete acts, and repetition, repetition, repetition. That’s how all humans learn... good things and bad things. Video games employ all three. In addition, the vast majority of the gaming scenarios (like the random killing of prostitutes; decapitation; and military style killing) fail to show the real-life consequences of violence. violent acts in gaming go unpunished, there are no consequences. In short, violent games can deaden the human mind and heart to the horror of violence and deaden our sensitivities to sinfulness.
It shouldn't surprise us that all media shape our thoughts and attitudes, which is one reason Paul exhorts us to think on things that are true, honorable, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent (Philippians 4). Left unguarded and unprotected, our minds and eventually our hearts will become seared by the unholy influences of violent gaming, self-justified by the misguided notions... “it’s no big deal... it’s fun... it’s just a game...it’s not real.”
One such media source is Steve Johnson, author of Everything Bad is Good for You. Mr. Johnson says violent video games are good for teens. He thinks that video games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto may function as a kind of safety valve. They let kids who would otherwise be doing violent things for the thrill of it, get out those kind of feelings sitting at home at a video screen. Says Johnson: "This may have a deterrent effect on violence." What? Using that theory... will watching porn online act as a release or deterrent to adultery and potential sex crimes? Maybe an occasional “fling” will keep a marriage healthy??? Such flawed philosophies are quickly embraced by many because they provide an escape from personal accountability for one's choices. Such thinking is a major reason for the decline in our cultural values and morals.
The American Psychological Association strongly disagrees with such ideas. The APA say... “Time spent playing violent video games increases aggressive thoughts, aggressive behavior, and angry feelings among youth.” In forming their position, APA scholars cited a study of eighth and ninth grade teachers. The study revealed that students who spent time playing violent video games were more hostile than other children and more likely to argue with authority figures and fellow students. And according to another study of 600 eighth and ninth graders, students not normally prone to aggression are nearly 10 times as likely to get into a fight after playing a violent video game.
The professional society for psychologists has acted on 20 years of research into the effects of violent video games. After a thorough review of more than 70 studies, the APA adopted a resolution calling for the "reduction of violence in interactive media used by children and adolescents." Killer video games are no 'safety valve' against violence, they are as proven by a substantial battery of research to be quite the opposite.
Defenders of violent and provocative games, point to the violence found in traditional storytelling, wondering what the difference is. Indeed, fairy tales are often gruesome, with wolves gobbling grandmas and witches baking little children into pot pies. But such fairy tales are pieces of cathartic moral fiction that help children process their fears. Biblical violence is every bit as gruesome, probably worse when visualized in the minds eye. However, such portrayals of Biblical violence help us construct a moral universe with boundaries defined by God that demand our acknowledgment and adherence. Goliath's severed head is not the end of a gory story. It is the beginning of a long saga in which the champion of God's people must struggle with hubris and learn humility. Still, it is not hard to see that repeated exposure to random violence can have a detrimental effect on the human spirit.
As Christians we should be asking ourselves... “How can a servant of a peace-loving God be participating in violence by playing violent video games?”
In next week's article... I will discuss this and many other important questions that Christians need to consider when it comes to all forms of entertainment, for our young people and ourselves.
Until then, be in prayer that the Lord’s Will be done on earth... as it is being done in heaven.
