Today there is nothing more dangerous to the youth of our country than the growing popularity of violent video games. In 2008, 10 of the top 20 best-selling video games in the US contained violence. one of the most popular of theses games is Grand Theft Auto IV. On its release day it sold more than 3.6 million copies and by September 2011 broke 22 million sold, according to The Huffington Post.

    The purpose of the game is centered around violence. The main character, Niko an eastern European illegal immigrant, does “jobs” on the behalf of gangs or other illegal institutions. These “jobs” range from stealing a car, to hunting a man down and shooting him  point blank. Often the missions are a lot more gruesome and distasteful than that. 

    Violent games like these pose a threat to our youth and have few if any redeeming qualities. Grand Theft Auto, like many other  violent games, rewards players for violent actions. This sends a inappropriate message to game players and encourages violence and aggressive behavior. 

    A 2008 Harvard study titled “Grand Theft Childhood?” found “60% of middle school boys who played at least one Mature-rated game hit or beat up someone, compared to 39% of boys that did not play Mature-rated games.” This data shows a clear association between disturbingly violent video games.

    However, The influence of the violent games should not be underestimated to just small scale assault. According to Reuters On August 4th 2008 a 18 year old male in Thailand was arrested for “robbing and killing a 54 year cabbie.” When question on his motives the youth said “he wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in [Grand Theft Auto IV]”

     Unfortunately, that’s not were it ends in terms of affecting our youth. It is commonly thought that games that used violence in a fantasy or unrealistic way are not as harmful to our children. However,  The American Psychology Association found this to be completely false citing that “experimental studies with college students have consistently found increased aggression after exposure to clearly unrealistic and fantasy violent video games. Indeed, at least one recent study found significant increases in aggression by college students after playing E-rated (suitable for everyone) violent video games.”

    Violent video games are bad for our youth regardless off they have a E,T, or M rating on it. These games increase aggressive behaviors and most importantly encourage our youth to solve problems though violent means instead of coming to a peaceful resolution.

    It is essential for the development of our youth that we limit there exposure to violent video games. Regrettably, these restrictions will not come from the government any time soon since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, which decreed that violent video games were a form of free expression  protected under the first amendment , thus barring state and local governments from restricting sales to minors. With that it in mind it seems that it’s now the responsibility of the parents to watch over what their children play.