In our society there are many problems that affect our young people. Issues like substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and verbal bullying are just some of the problems. There is a problem that has been on the rise for many years and is relatively new to the world; and this is violence due to exposure to violent video games. Research conducted by a group of scientists led by Professor Rowell Huesmann found "unequivocal evidence that violence in the media increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts" (qtd. in Anderson et al. 4) . This research is very thorough, but it does not state that a child will go to school and shoot children because he played Call of Duty. While a child may not show particularly aggressive behavior due to playing violent video games, they will show slight increases in aggressive behavior due to the games they play. These statistics are the same for teenagers as for children. Whether they realize it or not, everyone who plays a violent video game is affected by it in one way or another. While there is a rating system for games, that system is lacking in what they allow younger children to watch and do in these games. The question that needs to be asked is: "Why are these children exposed to such violent content?". The attention drawn to violent video games and discussions about whether or not to release them has been the only positive outcome of the numerous school shootings that have occurred (Anderson et al. 3). All of these school shootings were carried out by kids with a history of playing violent video games. In the short story “Playing at Violence,” by American Scholar, author Pacifique Irankunda talks about his life in Burundi and how...... middle of paper ......heb. December 3, 2013.Anderson, Craig Alan, Katherine E. Buckley, and Douglas A. Gentile. Effects of violent video games on children and adolescents: Theory, research, and public policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Network. 3 December 2013.Chittaro, Luca and Riccardo Sioni. “Killing Nonhuman Animals in Video Games: A Study of User Experience and Desensitization to Aspects of Violence.” Journal of Psychology 10.3 (2012): 215-243. Academic research completed. Network. December 3, 2013.Irankunda, Pacific. "Playing violence." American Scholar 82.3 (2013): 54-61. Complete text of humanities (H.W. Wilson). Network. December 3, 2013. Willoughby, Teena, Paul JC Adachi, and Marie Good. “A longitudinal study of the association between violent video game play and aggression among adolescents.” Developmental Psychology 48.4 (2012): 1044-1057. PsycARTICLES. Network. December 3. 2013.