Illustrated lesson teaches how to evaluate claims.

1. Do Violent Video Games
Contribute to Youth’s Violence?
Prepare to Review the Issue and Write
an Argumentative Essay

2. Evaluating Pro and Con Arguments
A Common Core Lesson
By
Dean Berry, Ed. D.
Gregg Berry, B. A.
Common Core Curriculum Solutions
www.commoncorecurriculum.info

3. Common Core Reading Standards
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a
text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the
evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant
evidence is introduced.
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a
text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the
evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant
evidence is introduced.

4. Common Core Speaking
and Listening Standards
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on topics, texts, and issues, building on others’
ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims,
evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and relevance
and sufficiency of the evidence and identifying when
irrelevant evidence is introduced.

5. Writing Standards
Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant
evidence, using accurate, credible sources and
demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and
clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims,
reasons, and evidence.
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows
from and supports the argument presented

6. Evaluating Pro and Con Arguments
Prepare to Review the
Issue and Write an
Argumentative Essay

7. The Youth Violence Issue is Serious.

8. Do video games contribute
to youth violence?
Let’s Think About the Issue
•Do video games desensitize players to
violence?
•Do video games contribute to violence
towards women?
•Do video games teach an acceptable way
to solve problems?

9. • Is the research about video game violence and
youth behavior valid?
• Could video games reduce violence in some
players by providing an outlet for aggressive
feelings?
• Could violent video games reduce empathy in
players and reduce the ability to care about other
people’s feelings?

10. Does video game violence make
permanent changes in our brain?

11. What Do You Think?
Use your red or green card to signify your response to this question.
Raise your red card if you disagree or your green card if you agree.
Video games contribute
to youth violence.

12. What Do You Think?
Raise Your Red or Green Card
Video games do not contribute
to youth violence.

13. Essential Questions to Guide our
Review of the Issue
• 1. What does the research data say about the
issue?
• 2. How do you know the research is reliable?
• 3. Are the arguments supported by logical
reasoning?
• 4. Is each argument supported by specific facts
and examples?
• 5. Which side of the issue is supported by a
preponderance of the evidence?

14. Evaluating Evidence
Now that we have shared opinions, let’s
examine the evidence. Analyze the pro
and con arguments on the following
frames and determine which position
presents the strongest case.

15. Do Violent Video Games
Contribute to Youth Violence?
Background Information
97% of 12-17 year olds in the US played video
games in 2008, thus fueling an $11.7 billion
domestic video game industry. In 2008, 10 of
the top 20 best-selling video games in the US
contained violence.

16. Violent video games have been blamed for school
shootings, increases in bullying, and violence towards
women. Critics argue that these games desensitize
players to violence, reward players for simulating
violence, and teach children that violence is an
acceptable way to resolve conflicts.
Video game advocates contend that a majority of the
research on the topic is deeply flawed and that no causal
relationship has been found between video games and
social violence. They argue that violent video games may
reduce violence by serving as a substitute for rough and
tumble play and by providing a safe outlet for aggressive
and angry feelings.

17. Review the Evidence and Arguments
The Pro Position

18. Read each argument closely to
see if it passes the smell test?
The Pro Position
Take careful notes as you read
the following arguments.

19. Reason # 1
Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence
Increasing reports of bullying can be partially
attributed to the popularity of violent video games.
The 2008 study Grand Theft Childhood reported that
60% of middle school boys who played at least one
Mature-rated game hit or beat up someone, compared
to 39% of boys that did not play Mature-rated games.

20. Reason # 2
Video games often reward players for
simulating violence, and thus enhance
the learning of violent behaviors. Studies
suggest that when violence is rewarded
in video games, players exhibit
increased aggressive behavior compared
to players of video games where
violence is punished.

21. Reason # 3
Violent video games desensitize players to
real-life violence. It is common for victims in
video games to disappear off screen when
they are killed or for players to have multiple
lives. In a 2005 study, violent video game
exposure has been linked to reduced P300
amplitudes in the brain, which is associated
with desensitization to violence and
increases in aggressive behavior.

22. Reason # 4
Violent video games teach youth that
violence is an acceptable conflict-solving
strategy and an appropriate way to achieve
one's goals. A 2009 study found that youth
who play violent video games have lower
belief in the use of nonviolent strategies and
are less forgiving than players of nonviolent
video games.

23. Reason # 5
Violent video games cause
players to associate pleasure
and happiness with the ability to
cause pain in others.

24. Reason # 6
Young children are more likely to
confuse fantasy violence with real world
violence, and without a framework for
ethical decision making, they may mimic
the actions they see in violent video
games.

25. Reason # 7
Playing violent video games increases aggressive
behavior and arousal. A 2009 study found that it
takes up to four minutes for the level of
aggressive thoughts and feelings in children to
return to normal after playing violent video
games. It takes five to ten minutes for heart rate
and aggressive behavior to return to baseline.
Video games that show the most blood generate
more aggressive thoughts. When blood is present
in video games, there is a measurable increase in
arousal and hostility.

26. Reason # 8
A 1998 study found that 21% of games
sampled involved violence against
women . Exposure to sexual violence in
video games is linked to increases in
violence towards women and false
attitudes about rape such as that women
incite men to rape or that women
secretly desire rape.

27. Reason # 9
Several studies in both the United States
and Japan have shown that, controlling
for prior aggression, children who played
more violent video games during the
beginning of the school year showed
more aggression than their peers later in
the school year.

28. Reason # 10
Exposure to violent video games is linked to
lower empathy in players. In a 2004 study
of 150 fourth and fifth graders by Professor
Jeanne Funk, violent video games were the
only type of media associated with lower
empathy. Empathy, the ability to understand
and enter into another's feelings, plays an
important role in the process of moral
evaluation and is believed to inhibit
aggressive behavior.

29. Read each argument closely to
see if it passes the smell test?
The Con Position
Take careful notes as you
read the following arguments.

30. Con Position: Reason # 1
Video Games Do Not Contribute to Youth Violence.
Violent juvenile crime in the United States has
been declining as violent video game popularity
has increased. The arrest rate for juvenile murders
has fallen 71.9% between 1995 and 2008. The
arrest rate for all juvenile violent crimes has
declined 49.3%. In this same period, video game
sales have more than quadrupled.

31. Reason # 2
A causal link between violent video games
and violent behavior has not been
proven. Many studies suffer from design flaws
and use unreliable measures of violence and
aggression such as noise blast tests.
Thoughts about aggression have been
confused with aggressive behavior, and there
is a lack of studies that follow children over
long periods of time.

32. Reason # 3
A 2004 US Secret Service review of previous
school-based attacks found that one-eighth of
attackers exhibited an interest in violent
video games, less than the rate of interest
attackers showed in violent movies, books,
and violence in their own writings. The report
did not find a relationship between playing
violent video games and school shootings

33. Reason # 4
The small correlations that have been
found between video games and violence
may be explained by violent youth being
drawn to violent video games. Violent
games do not cause youth to be violent.
Instead, youth that are predisposed to
be violent seek out violent
entertainment such as video games.

34. Reason # 5
Playing violent video games provides a safe
outlet for aggressive and angry feelings. A 2007
study reported that 45% of boys played video
games because "it helps me get my anger out"
and 62% played because it "helps me relax."

35. Reason # 6
Exposure to violent video games has not been
shown to be predictive of violent behavior or
crime. Any link found between video games
and violence is best explained by other
variables such as exposure to family violence
and aggressive personality.

36. Reason # 7
In 2005, the US had 2,279 murders committed by
teenagers (27.9 per million residents) compared
to 73 in Japan (3.1 per million). Per capita video
game sales were $5.20 in the US compared to $47
in Japan. This example illustrates that there is no
correlation between violent behavior and playing
video games.

37. Evaluating Pro and Con Arguments
for an Issue
Prepare to Write an
Argumentative Essay

38. Converse with Your Peers
Meet in small groups to discuss the
pros and cons of this issue and take a
group position on the problem. Select a
group chairperson to lead the group and
report back to the class.
Discuss the following essential Questions.

39. Questions to Guide our Exploration
Discuss the Following Issues
• 1. What does the research data say about the
issue?
• 2. How do you know the research is reliable?
• 3. Are the arguments supported by logical
reasoning?
• 4. Is each argument supported by specific facts
and examples?
• 5. Which side of the issue is supported by a
preponderance of the evidence?

40. Research and Statistics
• Compare the research and statistics for
both the pro and con positions
• Discuss which position presents the
strongest research and most reliable
sources

41. Do video games contribute
to youth violence?
Discuss these questions in your group.
•Do video games desensitize players to
violence?
•Do video games contribute to violence
towards women?
•Do video games teach an acceptable way
to solve problems?

42. Continue Your Group Deliberations
• Have group members use their notes to
discuss and analyze each major argument and
supporting evidence.
• Each group member should take the leadership
and lead the discussion on one or more of the
pro and con arguments.

43. • Is the research about video game violence and
youth behavior valid?
• Could video games reduce violence in some
players by providing an outlet for aggressive
feelings?
• Could violent video games reduce empathy in
players and reduce the ability to care about other
people’s feelings?

44. Weigh the Evidence
Have your group create a plus and minus chart.
Place the best, most logical arguments for the pro
position on one side and the best arguments against
the pro position on the other side.
Use this process to help your group reach a decision.

45. Report Back to the Class
Present your findings to the
class. Which side of the issue
does your group support?
Why?

46. Write an Essay
Organize your ideas and prepare to write an
essay about the pros and cons of youth
violence and violent video games. Evaluate
the arguments and evidence on both sides of
the issue. Weigh the pros and cons and
decide which position is supported by the
most persuasive evidence.

47. Develop a Writing Plan
•Determine what your main point will be, and write a
topic sentence that provides focus for your essay.
•Choose several main ideas that support your topic
sentence.
•Sort your information into supporting details with
facts and examples.
•Be sure to address both the pro and con positions
47

48. Use the following
essay format to
write your paper.
48

49. 49
Essay
Outline
Introduction
What is my topic
sentence?
Body-Main Ideas
With supporting
details
Conclusion
How can I summarize
my paragraph?
How can I rephrase
my topic sentence?

50. Essays Require
Three Main
Sections

51. Begin Your Essay With
a Carefully Crafted
Introduction

52. Get the Reader’s Attention and State Your Thesis

53. The Key Elements of a
Strong Introduction

54. Check Out This Sample Introduction

55. Details Must Support
the Main Ideas
Provide specific
facts, examples,
and reasons for
each main idea
in the body of
your essay

56. Create an Outline
Topic Sentence___________________________________
_______________________________________________
A. Main Idea_____________________________________
_______________________________________________
Details/Evidence__________________________________
_______________________________________________
Details/Evidence__________________________________
_______________________________________________
B. Main Idea_____________________________________
_______________________________________________
Details/Evidence__________________________________
________________________________________________
56

57. Prepare to Write
•Use your outline and write
an essay on your topic.
•As you write your rough
draft, it will be very
important to use special
words that enable you to
transition smoothly from one
idea to the next.
57

58. Transition Words
As you view these words,
select the words that help you
make transitions smoothly
from one idea to the next.
• as a result
• such as
• for example
• nevertheless
• for that reason
• finally
• at this time
• therefore
• furthermore
• in addition
• in conclusion
• as well as
58

59. Conclusion
Write a conclusion
for your essay
reviewing your main
points and discussing
why this issue is so
important for our
future.

60. Write a Strong Conclusion for Your Essay

61. What does a good conclusion do?

62. Let’s Review a Good Conclusion

63. Review, Edit, and Rewrite
1. Re-read your essay several
times.
2. How can you improve your
sentences to communicate more
clearly?
3. Are your main ideas supported
by examples and details?
4. Exchange papers with another
student and read each other’s
essay out loud.
5. Make final corrections and write
the final draft of your polished
essay. 63

64. 64
Copyright Protected © 2013 Dean R. Berry
All Rights Reserved
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from the author