War Video Games

I want to start off by making the disclaimer that I am not a gamer. I've played Call of Duty with my boyfriend for maybe 5 minutes before getting flustered by all the buttons and confusion of how to work the controller. The extent of my gaming was playing Mario Kart on the original Nintendo game console. After 9/11, games like Conflict: Desert Storm and others became unbelievably popular. I can imagine the boys and girls who played these games subconsciously thought they were being patriotic and contributing to the war. I believe the intention of the games were positive in a sense that it would make children aware of current events. I can understand the argument that these games are blurring the lines between citizens and soldiers, ultimately desensitizing the person playing the game. I grew up having a lot of guy-friends who enjoyed playing games with war, shooting, and fighting. And I can tell you that these boys did not grow up to be malicious killers desensitized to violence and others. I can understand the fear of the influence these games might have on the players themselves, but from my experience with it, I don't see much correlation between the two. I think people are influenced by their parents and the environment in which they grow up in. I think there is a very small influence that comes from these games that people play in their spare time. I look at serial killers like Jeffery Dahmer, and I don't think his intent to kill came from a video game he played. With most serial killers, there is a deep psychological aspect that plays a role in their behavior, not video games.