It is not for less. There are frustration and discomfort for the statements of the criminologist and judicial expert of A Coruña, Luis Alamancos placeholder image. In an article published by The country suggests that one of the culprits in the beating with which they murdered Samuel Luiz on July 3 it is videogames. Specific, Fortnite Y Grand Theft Auto (GTA)
Alamancos assures that “now there are no filters” and that “at any time, the boys have before them hyperviolent series and games to which they are extremely hooked, like Fortnite.” He adds that as a society “we have a huge problem” because “people will have no way of knowing what is fiction and what is reality.”
In parallel, the article cites statements of Manuel Isorna, PhD in Psychology and professor of the Psychosocioeducational Analysis and Intervention Department of the University of Vigo, who suggests that the video game point system is translated into reality, according to what has been published by The country: “We grew up crying with Marco, or seeing Heidi’s relationship with her grandfather […] Today, our young people have as a reference to youtubers who, safe in their rooms, explain how to kill in Fortnite, or how to do it in GTA [otro juego] to have sex with a woman in a car and then shoot her for money. 99% of video games consist of killing, kicking, popping, murdering… And they get points for it. ”
But does violence in video games like Fortnite is it capable of awakening such aggressive behaviors, capable of inciting violence enough to kill a person with blows and kicks? The reality is that it has never been proven.
There is no evidence that video games like Fortnite or GTA incite any type of violence or murder
The truth is that there is no single test that demonstrates or only suggests that video games are capable of generating a level of violence or aggressive enough behavior to kill a person.
It is not something that happens in Spain or Europe, but in the United States, where school shootings and massacres of students occur relatively frequently, attempts have been made to link the violence of video games with mass murder using firearms. Now, with the murder of a boy, at the hands of a rather young crowd, they seek to find logic and motives behind an act as devastating as this.
Violent video games like Fornite or GTAThey are usually an easy target, and it is a mantra that has been repeated so much over the years. So much so that it is usually cited as real, even when there is not a single evidence of such a serious accusation.
In August 2019, after a massacre in which 31 people died In America, some more conservative wings of American politics blamed video games like Call of duty, of the increase in violence in the country.
Asked about the possibility, Patrick Markey, director of the Intepersonal experimental laboratory and professor of psychology at Villanova University explained in an interview to CNBC what exactly the opposite happens: “When we look at groups of video game players, we see a drop in violence and crime, we don’t see an increase.”
In fact, in the United States, a country with access to firearms, 70% of students play violent video games, but only evidence was found that only 20% of those who participated in a student massacre played them.
There is also the racist bias to try to explain murders by young people. “When the person who killed is a young white man, the media is eight times more likely to blame his actions on violent video games such as Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto (GTA) or Warzone, even when there is no correlation or evidence. ”
In February 2019, published a study conducted by Andrew K. Przybylski and Netta Weinstein who determined that video games, as a whole, are not associated with observable variability in adolescent aggressive behavior.
The countries with the highest sales of video games are usually the safest
Another proof that there is no relationship between violence and video games is that some of the countries that report the highest sales of video games tend to be the most peaceful and safe. Except for the United States. which is in second position.
China, Japan, South Korea, Germany and the United Kingdom have minimal rates of violence, as does Spain. The condition that differentiates the United States from the rest is access to firearms, no to video games.
Socioeconomic and individual conditions: the true causes of violence
According to a study made by Yemaya J Halbrook, Aisling T O’Donnell and Rachel M Msetfi, and published in November 2019, video games are usually a source of entertainment that, given certain conditions, have positive effects on mood.
The study concludes that the relationship between violent video games and assaults depends, in fact, strongly on socioeconomic and individual variables outside the game.
Likewise, the positive benefit of video games depends on individual effects such as motivation to play, external variables, the presence of violence in the life of the subject, social interaction and physical activity.
In 2017 the American Psychological Association (APA) had already reached a similar conclusion. There is little or no evidence that establishes a causal connection or correlates between playing video games and committing violent activities in reality.
In fact in August 2019, Newtral interviewed Alberto Venegas, historian, anthropologist and professor, who explained that war video games do not generate violence, “but they can generate what Professor Manuel Castells calls agenda setting“. This refers to people who have only one means of communication as a cultural reference and the inability to contrast points of view and perceptions in certain matters. But in the case of video games, according to Venegas,” there are very few references that capture complex scenarios not linked to the clash of civilizations “.
Before Fortnite and GTA: rock songs, violent movies and even role-playing games
Blaming a cultural phenomenon like Fortnite or GTA violence and murder among young people is not new. One of the most recognized recent cases was the false belief that violent films and especially Marilyn Manson songs influenced Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to commit the Columbine massacre, where twelve students and a teacher were killed.
Also in the 1980s an attempt was made to relate the popular role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons (in Spanish Dungeons and Dragons or Dungeons and Dragons) with the murder of Lieth Peter Von Stein at the hands of Christopher Wayne Pritchard.
After the sentence, two books published at the time, Cruel Doubt Y Blood games, suggested that Pritchard was influenced by role play. A relationship that was never demonstrated and that was also significantly exaggerated in the adaptations of both publications in films and miniseries for television.
The truth is that science has never been able to show that video games make us more violent. No relationship has ever been found between a criminal act such as the murder of Samuel Luiz with playing Fortnite or GTA. In fact, there is not a single evidence or suggestion that those accused of the crime are people who frequently participate in games of this type.