Do violent video games cause children to become violent? That is a great question. In 1961, Albert Bandura experimented with social learning theory on children ages 3 to 6. This experiment, known as the Bobo Doll experiment, sought to determine if witnessing aggressive behaviors toward a doll by adults influenced the children's behavior. In the experiment, 24 children, 12 boys, and 12 girls, witnessed aggressive behavior, a similar group witnessed non-aggressive behavior, and 24 did not witness anything as the control group. The results showed that the aggressive group was much more likely to act aggressively toward the boba doll, and the boys were much more likely than the girls to be aggressive. The data collected showed that "nearly 90 percent of the children in the aggressive behavior groups later modeled the adults' behavior by attacking the doll in the same fashion and 40 percent of those children exhibiting the same behavior after eight months: (Nolen, 2023).

This experiment is very well respected and has been repeated many times in different ways. It plays a significant role in social learning theory and differential reinforcement theory. However, this experiment does not account for violent behavior over a lifetime and cannot anticipate how other influences and psychological disorders might affect how violent a child is or becomes as they age. I think other, real-world, daily influences are more likely to cause a child to grow into a violent person. The people that a child holds in high regard as role models are more likely to shape their behaviors than witnessing violent shows and playing violent video games. I grew up playing all sorts of violent video games and watching horror movies, and I am not a violent or aggressive person. The environment a person grows up in has much to do with how they interact with others. Additionally, if violent video games did cause people to become violent, there would be many more instances of violence in the world. As Siegel (2018) points out, "Despite a rampant increase in violent TV shows, films, and video games, the violence rate among teens has been in a significant decline" (p. 165).

The children at the most significant risk of being negatively influenced are those who live with psychological conditions. An impressionable neurodivergent child who can act out violence in a video game may be inclined to imitate those actions in real life without being able to recognize the actual consequences of their actions. Video games can incorporate some excessively violent actions as well as glamorize criminal behavior. The first thing that comes to mind is the Grand Theft Auto franchise. A person can carry out almost any form of crime in those games. The storyline centers on organized crime and violence. Other role-playing games allow players to choose between being good or bad. Examples of this are games like Skyrim and Fallout. Both games can be very dark and extremely violent. A common theme throughout is that there are few or no severe consequences for being excessively violent, and in some cases, the decision-making logic requires more violent approaches. While most children can distinguish that the games are fantasy and not something to be emulated in real life, some may not be capable of creating that mental separation. This is why parents need to be engaged in their children's lives. Suppose a mentally vulnerable child is left to their own devices. In that case, there are real possibilities that exposure to violent games and other media will significantly influence their behavior negatively.

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