The Indie Gaming Cookie

Here in the Philippines, video game discourse has once again crossed paths with that of juvenile gun violence. This is due to recent school shootings that have been happening nationwide, from the Tacloban school shooting in June to — just recently — the shooting in Ateneo de Zamboanga in August. Police investigations and the media have made it clear that many of the suspects play video games prominently featuring gun violence. The inevitable question engendered by this media highlight is one I attempt to give my answers to in this blog. Namely, did video games cause the shootings that have been terrifying the nation? Answering this question will require an understanding of the many factors that may lead to juvenile gun violence. To get this out of the way, yes: violent media has been shown to cause increased aggressive behavior in adolescents, as studies have shown [1][2]. Certainly, violent gaming contributes to this aggression in behavior. We must note that similar results has also b...