Argument 2

Over the last ten years, the U.S. Citizens have been exposed to more and more violence on a daily basis. People have been bombarded with violence in music, movies, videogames, the news, television shows, and in public life so much that they have become desensitized to it all. Starting at earlier ages, kids are playing video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty which are rated M for mature and are designed for people 17 or older. Next, the media reports daily on murders, rapes, and other acts of violence, especially mass shootings that occur throughout the world giving the perpetrators publicity, which is often what they wanted. Also, young children who might be watching television during the day should not be watching television stations that are playing violent movies. If government officials want to eliminate the number of deaths from mass shootings, the issue of violence in video games, music, and movies needs to be addressed. Instead of making more extensive legislation on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, more legislation needs to be made to regulate the violence that the public is exposed to on a daily basis.

            Recently, war games such as Call of Duty have gained incredible popularity among teenagers all over the world. They have become so popular because of the realistic gameplay and graphics. These games have become so realistic that some teenagers are having a hard time distinguishing between the video game and real life. In the case of the Newtown shooting, in which Adam Lanza killed 20 elementary students and six teachers, Call of Duty and other violent games played a direct role. Days after the shooting, information about Lanza’s obsession with the game revealed that not only could he not differentiate between the game and real life but also that he had learned many military tactics as well from the game. Lanza is reported to have fired more than 155 rounds in less than five minutes and knew when to reload so that he had a full clip as he moved from room to room in Sandy Hook Elementary School. Passing legislation to ban such violent video games such as Call of Duty would eliminate some of the violence from everyday life and would keep mentally unstable teenagers from learning military tactics that would enable them to carry out a shooting like Adam Lanza did.

            The movie industry is also to blame for desensitizing the public of the violence that is all around us. As movie making has become more and more specialized and the Computer Generated Imagery has become better, the violence in movies has increased drastically. In turn, the amount of violence allowed in a PG-13 movie has increased and so has that of an R-rated movie. Also, parents are letting younger children watch violent movies that are not appropriate for their age. Children as young as five and six years old are viewing PG-13 movies that are designed for teenagers. And young teenagers are viewing R-rated movies that are designed for adults. Parents need to take responsibility and not permit young children to watch movies that are inappropriate for them.