Blake Standifird1/18/05EnglishPer.1Can Virtual Reality Kill? A few kids get together and decide that they are going to show the world that they are pissed off, and they are going to do this by hurting others. They meet up one morning before school. They had a busy night before making pipe bombs and loading magazines. They distribute the weapons among each other and head into school as if it were a normal day. At a certain moment they stand up in class and pull out their guns. Their primary targets are other students and teachers who have hurt them, and then anyone who gets in the way. They kill several students and faculty members before being gunned down by police. The parents of the children and other parents try to put a lot of the blame on the violent video games, movies, television, and music that they watched and listened to, but did those games ever put a gun in that kid’s hand and pull the trigger? In our world today violence is becoming more and more evident in the media. It is in video games, on television and movies, and even in music. Many people are trying to put blame on those areas of media for violent behavior in kids. They say that the violence affects the kids and makes them more violent. Lately there has been much research into this area. There are points of view supporting both sides of the argument. One side states that violence in media does affect children in a manner that may cause them to be more violent, while the other concludes that it doesn’t have enough impact to cause kids to become more aggressive or violent. Studies have shown that during game play and while watching violence on TV or in movies, subjects’ part of the brain, known as the amygdala, which is often referred to as the “fight or flight” organ, is much more active. Their breathing slows, they become more aware of noises in their environment, and blood rushes to their brains core, among other effects. Some people take these reactions as signs of violent...