Yes, but there is REALITY - many are NOT doing their jobs. And there is also genetics - some people simply are more predisposed to poor behavior than others.
So, not saying games are the primary problem, but they (and ammoral movies, TV shows, etc) FEED whatever problems that do pre-exist.
Again, denying that is denying the effectiveness of marketing.
I think the games may be more of a symptom, but I do think there have been studies that showed more aggressive behavior after playing that type of game. I don’t know if the studies were any good, however as I don’t know the details of how they were done.
When my kids were young, Ninja Turtles was big. I didn’t see a problem with them and allowed the boys to watch them (I didn’t let them watch much TV). My youngest decided it would be a good idea to try out Ninja kicks on his brothers. I had to make them stop watching Ninja Turtles. So, kids are impacted by what they see, it would make sense that they are more impacted if they are actually participating.
And parents really DO need to stop being their kids’ friends and start parenting. No is a great word for them to learn!
The fact that many parents are not doing their jobs does not change the fact that violent video games and media are not going to affect a large portion of the population who are mature enough to discriminate between what is real and what is not. Doing away with violence in media of any type will not solve the problem, but only serve to deny those of us who can view/play/experience violence in fictional contexts without allowing it to influence our decisions or personality the opportunity to do so. I really get pi$$ed off when some politician tries to make a law to ban violent games, movies, etc...that, my friend, leads down a very slippery slope...