Video gaming has been on the rise for the past few decades. Unfortunately, many people in our society are desperately trying to find answers to the recent mass shootings and have made rash conclusions regarding the rise of such events by linking video games with violence in teenagers. President Donald Trump points to the video game industry that contributes to the “glorification of violence,” in response to the El Paso, Texas shooting. “When it comes to criminal violence, there’s virtually no evidence that video games matter,” states James Ivory, professor at Virginia Tech. In fact, gaming is an effective solution to relieve tension, anxiety and to help one relax. 

Video games allow teenagers to experiment with issues such as war, violence and death and provide healthy and safe opportunities for teenagers to explore rules and consequences of violent actions. Adults react to violent images differently than teenagers and are more likely to feel pain or anxiety caused by real violence when seeing it as make believe in video games. In a  study by Patrick Markey, a psychology professor at Villanova University, showed there is no scientific evidence linking video games to horrific acts of violence.        

 While some people are quick to blame video games for real-life acts of violence, experts say there is no such link to video games. As the Supreme Court noted, any impacts due to video gaming are impossible to distinguish from the effects of other media such as cartoons, videos and movies. Furthermore, video games have spread throughout the world without driving other countries to the level of violence that is apparent in the United States. It appears that any increase in violence is due to easy access to guns and other social issues in society and not video games.