With America's level of violence at twenty times the world average, American policymakers and their constituents are hardpressed to find the root of the problem. As each highly televised mass shooting or terrifying homicide story breaks news in the eyes of the already weary populace, new groups of people voice their concerns about a particular area they suspect might be culpable. Many are pointing to a fault in our culture regarding our treatment of the mentally ill, while others are expressing their frustration with the negative impact that flawed government policy is having on national crime rates. Whatever the case, every person seems to have his or her own opinion about where the blame should fall, with new online mobs gaining traction every day that share a unifying hatred for certain aspects of society, the most recent victim being the supposed influence of violent video games.

Hyperactive parents have long been protesting these pastimes for their perceived effect on the children that engage in them, that being one of increased aggression and violent tendencies. These concerns resurfaced only recently upon the news that Florida high school shooter Nikolas Cruz was an avid player of violent video games. Different studies have come to differing conclusions regarding what effect these games actually have on players, but the scientific consensus seems to be that while violent games do cause a fleeting uptick of aggression, they leave no lasting fundamental impact.

The jury is still out, however, on whether the older generation will find this answer suitable enough to assuage their misplaced concern. After all, America indulges in the same amount of video games as any other nation, yet we remain unmatched in our number of mass shooting tragedies. Since this fact alone doesn't seem to exonerate the name of video games, here's a list of ways they're actually helping players rather than hurting them:

1. Hand-Eye Coordination

An increase in hand-eye coordination is the most widely known benefit of playing video games, most likely because you can easily see its application while playing. The simple act of moving your controller based on what you see onscreen is proven to lead to sharper hand-eye coordination, which comes in handy when reading, typing, and writing. Strong hand-eye coordination is also associated with fine motor skills, which make simple motor functions like gripping and other tasks necessary for sports come a lot easier. Additionally, this kind of hand-eye coordination is what you might typically associate with the steady hands of a surgeon (so be sure to ask your surgeon how many wins they have in "Fortnite" before the operation, just to be safe).

2. Improved Attention and Concentration

While thousands of kids play video games as a distraction from the piles of work they should be doing (me included), studies actually found that video games lead to an improved attention span and concentration. This might seem paradoxical at first, but once you closely examine the nature of some popular games you might begin to see the connection. For example, an extensive round of a first-person shooter game requires a great deal of undivided attention and precision, both of which can only be achieved through intense concentration. This kind of skill might not seem transferrable into your everyday life, but complete concentration for an extended period of time can prove useful during school exams, during sports matches, and especially during creative endeavors like writing or painting.

3. Problem Solving

Video games have been proven to be helpful in problem-solving for the developing kids and teens that play them. Certain games like "Portal" teach players the thought process behind elaborate and creative puzzles, a process that translates into real-world problem-solving.

If you've ever wondered why students learn how the arbitrary math system works, one primary reason is its positive influence on problem-solving and logical understanding. In this way, video games provide a similar educational platform through which students can expand their problem-solving skills while actually enjoying themselves. In the end, most kids would much prefer spending time on enjoyable video games than on perplexing math problems, especially when the two have similar educational value.

4. Reduced Impulsiveness

While many might think that violent video games increase the aggressiveness of those that engage in them, video games actually have the opposite effect on their players. For one, action games actually have been proven to reduce impulsiveness, meaning that participants were less likely to respond to non-target stimuli after playing.

It seems that with all the tragedies occurring and chaos arising surrounding the politics of gun violence, certain groups saw nowhere to turn other than to the already exhausted debate over the influence of video games. Whether their actions were intentionally attempting to mislead the American people or simply the product of a misunderstanding is largely unclear. Regardless, the adverse effect of violent video games on the youth is one that has been disproven time and time again by credible scientific data. As Americans, we can only hope that the media repositions its attention toward those with the actual power to make a change in our current system to solve the current crisis of gun violence.