Violent video games may be even more destructive to a child’s mind than television. Instead of simply receiving images of death and suffering in a passive way, game users actually push the button that inflicts death and suffering.
If that sounds far-fetched to you, think again. The U.S. Army has long sought ways to train reluctant soldiers to kill. After trying various methods, it found that one of the most effective tools in training a soldier to kill is to put him in front of a large TV screen with a hand-held plastic assault rifle and put a game up on the screen. That’s right. The U.S. Army uses computer games to train its soldiers to kill, and Nintendo is one of the companies that supplies it with the technology to do so!
Furthermore, studies published in the Journal of Adolescence in 2004 on the effects of violent video games on children show that teenagers who play the more-violent video games are more likely to be involved in fights, argue with teachers, get poor grades, have stronger pro-violent attitudes and exhibit lower levels of empathy.