“The Real Problem With Video Games” is an Op-Ed article written by Seth Schiesel, a staff writer working for The New York Times, discussing violence caused by video games. In general, he argues that there is no significant factual evidences that indicate the relationship between video games and violence in real life. He started his article with a common misconception that most people hold against video games, which is “simulated violence in video games begets violent tendencies in real life” (Schiesel). He also used real life incidence, the school shooting in Parkland, to enhance his counter-argument and establish the appeal to logic. In the article, he writes, “In the wake of the school shooting in Parklan… the nation debated gun control, [Mr.Trump] went on to implicate video games in particular: “…the level of violence on video games in really shaping young people’s thoughts.”” (Schiesel). Not only does Schiesel use factual evidence to support the counter claim, he also uses the quote from a famous person which improves his credibility. In the first half of the article, Schiesel builds up the counter claim, then he refutes it by using a research result, “they found that 37 percent of attackers…only 12 percent exhibited an interest in violent video games” (Schiesel) By using this statistical data from the department of education, Schiesel proves that playing violent video games does not have a direct relationship with players’ behavior in real life.

However, Schiesel claims that video games do have an impact on causing “toxic behavior to which players too often subject one another when gaming together online” (Schiesel). In summary, his main point is even though virtual gaming does not show a direct effect on real life behavior, it does provoke cyber-bullying. He states, “The racism, homophobia and misogyny prevalent in many online game precincts can amount to emotional abuse” (Schiesel) When people are gaming online, they become confident and bold in their actions due to protections of the screen in front of them. Players begin to not consider the consequences of their actions and the pain that they caused to others.