Violence in video games does not significantly contribute to real world violence.

I've been meaning to explore some things that coincide with my arguments and this is a great opportunity to do so. TRAINED TO KILL I'll explain this more as I go along, but the fact is kids are being trained to kill. Everyday they are on their video games simulating acts of murder over and over. Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto all these games work to desensitize kids to violence and murder. It infects their brain and they lose their conscience. I hope by the end of this debate, I've convinced a lot of people to expose themselves and children to these violent forms of media significantly less. NOT BORN TO KILL Humans despite being a violent species are disgusted with violence. They can't bring themselves to kill people. Experts say that in World War 2 when solders would get within killing range of an enemy combatant only 1 in 5 would take the necessary shot. According to Army historian Brig. Gen. S. L. A. Marshall this has nothing to do with cowardice. Soldiers would still do feats of heroics, but just have a repulsion towards murder. Recovered muskets from the civil war showed that 90% were fully loaded. This means most of those simply weren't fired. Soldiers were pretending to shoot at the enemy. In the 1960s law enforcement was shown to have a similar problem. Cops just weren't shooting at suspects even when civilian lives were in danger. Psychologists stepped in to help the government create more efficient killers. How did they do it? Well look at a quote from the article this whole section is sourced from. "Target practice on hollowed cabbages filled with ketchup to mimic the way a bullet rips open a human head. Marching to chants of "kill, kill, kill. " Video game simulations that reward points for every successful "shot. " These are among hundreds of techniques that experts say can recondition the human brain. " That's right. The government uses video games to desensitize soldiers to acts violence, so killing becomes more palatable. This stuff actually worked. By the time Vietnam rolled around the kill rate was at 90% and is likely even higher now. The kill rate jumping from 20% to 90% in military operations aided by violent video games meant to desensitize people clearly fulfills my portion of the BOP, but let's take it a step further. . http://m.sfgate.com... DESENSITIZE ME It's not so much Video games being directly responsible for real world violence so much as violent video games being a major contributing factor. The more kids play violent video games the more they become desensitized to violence and the less empathy they have for victims of violence. . http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net... It's simple. The more you see violent images, the less it bothers you to see violent images. This desensitization makes it easier to either commit violent actions or to stand by and do nothing when violent acts are being committed. So it contributes in 2 major ways. I'm not the only one that sees this connection between violent video games and real world violence. "In fact the surgeon general, the National Institute of Mental Health and multiple professional organizations " including the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association " all consider media violence exposure a risk factor for actual violence. " . http://mobile.nytimes.com... I'm not saying that an individual that plays violent video games is going to be violent, but it certainly increases their chance of becoming violent, which in turn has a huge real world effect when taking into account how many people are exposed to this desensitization. In one recent study over 30 people were exposed to different images before playing a game where they could harm their opponent by blasts of sound. The people exposed to the most violent images, were far more likely to punish their opponent more than the ones not exposed to them. . http://videogames.procon.org... DR. BRUCE Dr. Bruce Perry an expert brain development in children provides a useful list of things that contribute to kids becoming violent scholastic. com z His first cause directly blames desensitization to violence as a result of violent media (aka video games). Number 2 is becoming detached from people which could also be a result of playing violent games too much. His number 5 reason is because we are becoming more practiced at killing and specifically mentions violent video games as helping with the practice. . http://teacher.scholastic.com... If you think that video games aren't good at teaching anything check out this article. . http://www.wired.com... A man actually saves a life from the practice he got on a military recruiting game called America's Army. FACT OR FICTION According to psychologists, up to 25% of the population can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy. . http://healthland.time.com... Maybe on an intellectual level they can, but these violent games are desensitizing them worse than anybody else. These people are at particular risk of going too far after being pushed. Violent video are a major contributor to real world violence. CONCLUSION I'll post my rebuttals next rebound and anxiously await my opponent's arguments.