Nico Whitlock

Ms. Lewis

AP Language and Composition 5W: Editorial Blog Post

December 3 2014

Published to the Washington Post near the end of 2012, this editorial argues that video games desensitize youth and allow them to “self-meditate” and translate the experiences they have in video games into the real world. Ron Moten argues that these “glorified” actions in violent games, which are “progressively growing more violent,” lead youth to reenact the experiences they have in video games into their real lives. Along with mentions of massacres and school shootings such as Newtown, the Moten mentions powerful experiences he has had with youths in juvenile detention facilities. A particular powerful story involved a well known game called “Grand Theft Auto” and its effect on a youth. Moten recalled that one young man said to him that before playing video games “he would have never gotten into a stolen car” but the game “put him ‘in a zone’ to do what he had to do to survive.” This young man would soon die after talking to Moten and murdering several.

I agree to a certain extend with this point of view. Violent video games undoubtedly desensitize people, especially youths because our brains are still developing. I know eight year olds that play “Call of Duty.” It’s just not something that’s alright. Whether the gamer realizes it or not, games reward for killing, which has an effect on the subconscious. Granted, we don’t know all that much about our subconscious, but it certainly affected by both being desensitized and rewarded for killing. After desensitization, murder has an entirely different meaning. Video games, especially violent ones, are practically irresistible and decidedly addicting to youths and contribute to an increase in violence.

Works Cited

Moten, Ron. "Violence on the Screen, Violence in the Streets." Editorial. Washington Post 29 Dec. 2012: n. pag. Marvel. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.