Do violent video games create killers?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Do violent video games create killers?". Your opponent's style: Shroud

Prove me wrong

Dude, you're dead wrong. Look at the actual data - [1]for a 1% increase in the sale of violent video games, the incidence of crime decreased by 0.03%. That's not correlation, that's measurable crime reduction. The American Psychological Association themselves say [2]"Scant evidence has emerged that makes any causal or correlational connection between playing violent video games and actually committing violent activities". Even when they acknowledge aggression increases, [2]the same review found insufficient evidence of a link between such video games and crime or delinquency. Here's what really gets me - [2]societal violent video game consumption has been associated with over an 80% reduction in youth violence in the US during the corresponding period. If games created killers, we'd see the opposite trend, wouldn't we? The whole "games make killers" argument falls apart when you examine methodology. [1]Ferguson and Rueda showed that measurements of aggressiveness made in the laboratory were not correlated with violent acts encountered in real life. Lab aggression isn't real-world violence - huge difference. You want to talk about creating killers? The research shows games might actually be preventing crime by keeping potential offenders occupied indoors instead of on the streets committing actual violence.

Wrong, show more data.

Look bro, I'm backing this up with hard numbers. [1]No study has been able to show that exposure to violent digital games is associated with an increase in criminality, aggressiveness, or violent behavior. That's from psychiatric research, not gaming industry propaganda. Meanwhile, [2]serious violent crimes among youths have decreased since 1996, even as video game sales have soared. The timing couldn't be clearer - more games, less violence. [3] [3]Societal violent video game consumption has been associated with over an 80% reduction in youth violence in the US during the corresponding period. That's an 80% DROP while gaming exploded. Even when researchers find aggression increases in lab settings, [1]the preponderance of evidence shows a negative correlation between violent video games and crime. Lab aggression isn't street violence - that's the critical distinction you're missing. [3]Studies of mass shootings have provided no evidence for links with violent video games. A 2002 report from the US Secret Service found that school shooters appeared to consume relatively low levels of violent media. The data doesn't lie - games correlate with LESS real violence, not more. Your "killers" theory crumbles against actual crime statistics.