We're Approaching It All Wrong: Video Games and Violence

We are completely missing the issue with video games. It can be said of most problem solutions that the answer is never as simple as it might seem at first. Here we see, countless people on both sides of the debate argue that either video games don't affect people, or that they do. The truth is, it is very much a complex issue. For instance, in my life, violent media, including movies and video games, did not affect how I operated in the rest of my life. Instead, the stories of adventure heroes gave me an understanding of myself. You see, we weren't designed to just go to school and sit at desks and fit in with the whole "system" of corporate America. We were always supposed to be explorers, adventurers, and heroes. Yet, we have lost that quality, and that is the big issue here.

Video games, violence or not, often are appreciated because of the fact that they speak to that place in our hearts that yearns for something adventurous. Yes, some of them are increasingly violent, and often in ways that are not healthy, such as in the case of Grand Theft Auto, in my opinion. Yet we have to understand that it will not help to simply forbid the video games. We need to attack the central issue, which is the complicated situation of how boring and unadventurous modern society has become. The younger generations aren't okay with the monotony. They are crying out for something deeper, and video games and movies which feature grand adventures are one of the only ways they can find some form of what they are looking for. If for no other reason, we should allow them for the time being, just so that society can realize its inner desire for change.