The Blame Game:
Why Video Games are not the Cause of Youth Violence
I feel that this project has been as enlightening to me as it has hopefully been for the viewers. Going into the project, I already had developed solid opinions about the subject of violent video games. I thought that I could easily create a PowerPoint based on what I already thought about the subject, breezing through the written part, simply copying down my opinions. However, this was not the case. I found myself staring at my empty slides, struggling to actually put my thoughts to “paper” so to say. While I knew how I thought about the subject, it was almost impossible to translate those thoughts into a way that would make sense not only to others, but to me as well. This was rather disconcerting as it forced me to re-evaluate my once solid beliefs. How could I feel so strongly about something yet not find the words to describe how I felt? I sat back and decided to take another look at the issue. I spent upwards of two hours contemplating how I actually felt about the issue and I finally came up with my true beliefs. In the past, I had simply scratched the surface of the subject of violent video games, only examining the superficial aspects of the issues. Now however, I began to truly understand the reasons and causes for blaming video games for violence in today’s youth.
I feel that my choice of presentation, the PowerPoint, is the greatest tool for advocating my point. It allows quick and easy summarization of the key points in correlation with the main oral presentation. I chose 5 main points to be the subject of my slides: The reasons people blame video games for youth violence, the cases of the famous school shootings, video games as a positive, the truth about violent video games, and who really is to blame for youth violence. I feel that together, these 5 points accurately portray my feelings and beliefs about violent video games’ role in youth violence. The pictures I chose to put in the slide are all related to the point of the slide and are there to provide a visual stimulus as well as aesthetic appeal. In conclusion, I feel that this project has been a rewarding experience in the sense that I have gained a better understanding of my own views on the subject of violent video games and their influence on today’s youth. I enjoyed creating a visual composition in addition to a written one and hope to use this type of visual medium more often.