This sort of controversy over violent video games is nothing new. Ever since the invention of any new media, there has always been some outcry over it. Elvis Presly hip gyrations were considered too risque for TV alongside rock'n roll. The content of comic books was considered obscene for children, so much so that there was a book written by a Dr. Frederick Wertham called Seduction of the Innocent about the evils of comic books. Jazz music was considered to be the devil's music around the time it was introduced.
Such panics are rerffered to as moral panics. A moral panic is a societal response to any unfamilliar type of medium or societal phenomena. It was coined by a sociologist named Stanley Cohen in 1987 in his seminal work, Folk Devils and Moral Panics. In his work, he described how certain aspects of youth culture such as mods and rockers were considered devious people and troublemakers. He noted how they were blamed for various societal ills and criminal activity.
Video games have undergone the same treatment, with video arcades being regarded as unsafe places to be. Games like Doom and Mortal Kombat were considered to be desensitizing children to violence with their extreme content. They have been used as a scapegoat to explain violent crimes such as school shootings and the London Riots. However, such claims have been thoroughly debunked. Most school shooters have been diagnosed with some type of mental issues and the London Riots were caused by social unrest and lack of job opportunities.
Much like most other media, moral panics are a phrase most societies go through when it comes to new media. Rock' n roll and comic books went through the same phrase, and sure enough video games are going through the exact same phase. Soon enough, it will pass as soon as the older generation dies off and our children will perhaps find another thing to fear
