On April 20, 1999, two teenagers entered Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, and shot 12 of their classmates and a teacher. Then they committed suicide. When authorities investigated, they discovered that the boys had played thousands of hours of a video game that was set to take place at their high school. They used pictures from the yearbook to create the game's virtual victims. The event at Columbine High School is just one of many tragedies that have occurred under the influence of video games. Children and adolescents should not play violent video games because they are exposed to extreme violence, mature themes, and explicit language early on. In almost every video game there are weapons, in one form or another. Even Lego brand video games feature weapons and lots of killing. Many children and adolescents accept this violence because their characters regenerate when killed. Christopher Bartlett, a psychologist at Iowa State University, led a research team of 47 undergraduate students. Bartlett asked a group of students to play “Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance” for 15 minutes. Next, students had to distribute hot sauce to a classmate who didn't like spicy food, but had to swallow the sauce. Compared to a group of students who played a non-violent video game, those who played "Mortal Kombat" gave their classmate significantly larger amounts of hot sauce (Carrey). More than 3,500 studies have shown the close relationship between video games and violent behavior. All but 18 studies have proven this to be true. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), violence that occurs without suffering is more likely to mimic violent behavior because the violence is, in a sense, meaningless (Eakes)... middle paper.... ..dangerous.Works CitedCarey, Benedict. “Shooting in the Dark.” The New York Times. The New York Times, February 11, 2013. Web. May 4, 2014. science/study-the-effects-of-playing-violent-video-games.html?pagewanted=1>. Eakes, Pamela. “Do you know what video games your children play? » The video game revolution. PBS and Web. May 4, 2014. videogamerevolution/impact/violence.html>. Park, Alice. “Children who hear Swearon TV are more aggressive.” Time. Time, March 24, 2014. Web. May 4, 2014. Children-who-hear-swear-words-on-television-are-more-aggressive. Park, Alice. “Little by little, violent video games make us more aggressive. " Time. Time, March 24, 2014. Web. May 4, 2014.How-violent-video-games-change-children’s-attitudes-towards-aggression/>.