Are video games just another way for kids to entertain themselves, or are they encouraging grade schoolers to act out the violent scenes they see on the screen?

Much like the Penny Dreadful novels of the 19th century, video games can be violent. However, like the Penny Dreadfuls, video game violence is often in the service of telling a story where good guys fight to protect the weak. These simple morality tales stand in contrast to the nihilism and libertinism on display in popular culture.

Video game protagonists like Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, or Street Fighter’s Ryu share a common heroism.

Video games generally see their players act in heroic roles by fighting criminals, alien invaders, and monsters. Many modern games have complicated things by granting players the freedom to move away from an imposed moral framework, granting players freedom that sometimes allows them to act as malignantly as any villain.

Studies, perhaps not surprisingly, are decidedly mixed as to whether violent video games promote similar behavior in their players; a study conducted by Oxford and Cardiff essentially exonerated video games, as did one by University of York.  Other studies conclude video games promote aggressive behavior.

While research seems deadlocked on the effects of videogame violence, a casual observation of the vast popularity and ubiquity of video games weighed against the instances of violent crime amongst teens and children would suggest that most who play games are not, indeed, inspired to acts of violence.

Violence is present not only in mass media, but in the literature that teachers hold up to students as classics: the works of Homer, Ellison’s Invisible Man, nearly any Shakespeare play, all are filled with fighting and death. It is also present in the scholastic sports students partake in as well. Even chess is a simulated confrontation between opposing armies.

It is undeniable that many, if not most games, involve some level of strategic thinking and concentration. Most games also require a degree of learning, which are good qualities for any student to develop.