1993–2010 · USA and worldwide
Violent games are turning children into killers!
Violent video games
Panic meter
The verdict
Video games have been blamed after school shootings for thirty years. Research has not shown that they cause real violence.
Reality meter
What was said?
In 1993 the US Congress held hearings on the games Mortal Kombat and Night Trap. The following year the industry set up the ESRB age-rating system. After the Columbine school shooting in 1999, the first-person shooter Doom was singled out, and the same debate has followed almost every school shooting since.
The verdict: what happened next?
Violent crime among young people in the US fell sharply over the same period in which games became more widespread. In 2020 the American Psychological Association (APA) wrote that there is insufficient evidence to link violent games to violent behaviour.
The debate about games today is more about gaming addiction and in-game purchases – a different question.
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