HARI SREENIVASAN:Jacqueline?

JACQUELINE MEARS:I feel like it's a false placement of blame, because other countries have the exact same video games, they have the exact same movies, exact same cartoons that children and teenagers and adults are watching, and those other countries don't have the same violence as we do.

And I feel like it's basically just the fear ingrained in Americans' minds that you need that gun to protect yourself, when, in reality, it's kind of putting you out to be a victim of crime.

HARI SREENIVASAN:A separate group of students said families and parents have to counter the effects of a violent media culture which can desensitize people to the brutality around them.

Ben Hudson from Magnolia, Texas, believes media violence can be desensitizing.

BEN HUDSON, Magnolia, Texas: When they see in video games they're killing people or they see it on a movie, it kind of makes the whole violence thing, even hearing it on the news, like it's not real.

I don't think it will affect someone enough to pick up a gun and kill someone just because they played a video game.

PATRICK AVOGNON:I disagree, because I think if you were raised on a game like "Grand Theft Auto," like you played it when you were 6 years old and now you're playing something like "Call of Duty' now, you're a lot more comfortable with the idea of a weapon or a gun, especially if you don't have parents or you don't have someone telling you that this is the wrong thing or this -- you shouldn't be -- this is just a game.

HARI SREENIVASAN:Gerald, you had your hand up.

GERALD HARRIS, Nashville, Tenn.: Yes, I don't think that we should legislate against a culture or cultures. And I'm not comfortable with restricting choice. I think if it's the parents' choice and if it's the child's choice to go and buy that video game ...

ROGER MCLAUGHLIN, Richwood, W.Va.: I don't always agree with, you know, a 6-year-old, for instance, my nephew, playing "Grand Theft Auto." But I won't say that video games themselves are the problem.

HARI SREENIVASAN:Madison, go ahead.

MADISON THOMAS, Missoula, Mont.: I agree with Ben about video games numbing us as people to when we hear about violent things. You don't feel as much as you would before, like, playing the video game. But without having playing these video games, you probably feel more when you hear about tragedies like these.

HARI SREENIVASAN:Thank you all for participating in this student Reporting Labs Google Hangout chat by the NewsHour. Thanks for joining us.

JUDY WOODRUFF:And you can watch the full conversations with the students speaking candidly about guns on our Web site.

Also online, you can explore our entire week's worth of coverage for the "After Newtown" series. That's at NewsHour.PBS.org.