Home Christian News Here’s What You Need to Know About Boys and Violent Video Games

Here’s What You Need to Know About Boys and Violent Video Games

The stories are similar for many other school shooters. But the detractors dismiss those examples pointing to the almost universal popularity of video games among boys—meaning, it would be hard to find a young man in America who does not play video games.

Still, if it is not certain that violent video games cause school shooters to act, there’s little debate that it makes them better at it. All three branches of the U.S. military use computer simulated combat games to improve a soldier’s performance, and the Army has developed a program that trains teachers to better respond to a school shooting.  

Statistically speaking, the Pew study finds that all teen boys play video games, and most are violent. That means Christian teens are playing them too. Regardless of your view on the role those games play in today’s violent world, it should cause parents to wonder if violent video games blur the lines between what’s OK and what’s not. Just as we are influenced by what we watch, focus on and listen to, we are also affected by the games we play.