Why Violent Video Games Should have First Amendment Protection

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Introduction
The first amendment protection guarantees the freedom of religion, speech, expression, and the right to patent. It guarantees one’s right to express by forbidding the congress from interfering with the press or limiting people’s rights of speech and expression. Video games have been described as a means to express oneself; from the developers of the games to the players of the video games. However, should violent video games have First Amendment Protection? Like other types of video games, violent video games should also have First Amendment protection as some people us it as a way of expression. For many years, all types of video games were denied any type of protection until much later when arguments were made that video games are modes of expression, and since people have the freedom of expression, they should be protected by the First Amendment. However, there has been debate on the type of video games that should be protected (Conway & deWinter, 56). People on different sides of the argument have reasons as to why or not the violent video games should be protected. There has been comparison on the different types of media of expression and the regulations put in place.
Why Violent Video Games should have First Amendment Protection
Like any other entertainment media like songs, books and movies, video games are also a way of expression. People have different ways of expressing themselves and there are those who feel that playing violent video games is a good way to do so. Everyone has an individual choice to make when expressing themselves. Why should it be different when one decides to express him/herself through the violent video games? Just like movies and other forms of protected media, violent video games also have story lines (Conway & deWinter, 106). In most cases, the good characters in the video game emerge as winners while the bad characters are eliminated or killed. With good and valid storylines and moral lessons, the video games, although violent, are good enough and should be protected by the First Amendment.
In other cases, video games have been compared to literature where the video games are very interactive. The video games are able to draw in the audience giving them a chance to identify with the characters and even invite them to judge and quarrel with the characters. Therefore, there is no reason as to why video games should be separated from the other types of video games when it comes to having First Amendment Protection (Gard & Gard, 38). Scenarios have also been made in favor of this side of the argument that if one was stressed and in need to vent the stress, playing a violent video game while expressing himself when playing would help him/her feel better. It does not necessarily mean that playing a violent video game leads to one being violent.
Why Violent Video Games should not have First Amendment Protection
Many reasons have been given as to why violent video games should not have First Amendment Protection. One of the major reasons given is that children are the biggest percentage of the people who play video games. Children and teenagers tend to ...