his argument is that if he didn't have this much control I wouldn't do anything

Do something then. Are you still in school? Are your grades alright? Show your dad that you're able to manage your live even though you're playing violent games.

@drackk does this work?

is there any evidence to support what he's saying

Shitposting aside, I can definitely empathize with the topic. The parent I lived with while getting into comp did not like that I was playing TF2, albeit for different reasons. What eventually helped alleviate this tension between us was going to, and organizing a LAN. This demonstrated initiative and independence, but also showed the people on the other side of the screen and why I enjoyed playing with them so much.
You don't need to organize an entire LAN by yourself, but contributing to the community and showing why you love it can work wonders.

Honestly? You should probably respect your parent's wishes, he only wants what's best for you and for you not to be some introverted loser who only plays video games. Do what an earlier poster said and get a job so you can live on your own once you're 18 if it's really that big a deal, that's only two more years.

I’m not an introverted loser, I rarely play video games/use electronics compared to everyone else at my age

unless your life is actually in shambles, you could probably introduce some sort of reasoning like,
"why are you destroying my independence in my leisurely activities? i just need two more years of living here before graduating, a few hours from my evening isn't destroying my life. i don't think putting me under your direct influence is constructive."

and depending on what you want to do after graduating, you can elaborate further with your plans. i personally, very much so during high school, banked off the whole "<this much time> before graduating and i'll move out" type of thing. it helps if your academics are in order, contributes to the going to school after school path. however, all of this is subjective to your life situation, the severity of this tension, and the discretion/line of thought of your parents

This is all really good advice and I appreciate you guys telling me it, but I also need to convince my parents that video games don’t make people violent

Does anyone have a link to the study that shows this?

• Some studies do suggest there is a link between violent media (not just videogames) and aggression, but that should be easy to argue (if you're not an aggressive person, it doesn't really matter if you're statistically more likely to be because you're not). But even that doesn't necessarily mean that it makes you violent, and it's argued among psychologists that it may be due to violent children being attracted to violent videogames, and not violent videogames changing the children's behavior any.
  
• On the note of violent media, if your parents / siblings watch violent tv, it's easy to make the same connection and realize it's not impacting their behavior. This is a particularly good point because if your parents can relate it to something they do, they're much more likely to be accepting of it. Alternatively, you could point out that if you weren't playing games you'd be watching movies which even depicts violence much more realistically.
  
• And in case you are violent, it's often suggested that videogames offer a good source to vent that behavior so you don't actually commit crimes. And if you do have these problems and your parents want to do something about it, they should be taking this to a therapist. I wouldn't mention this unless it applies to you though.
  
• To my knowledge, the majority of studies about violent videogames and violence is done with young children. Since you're 16, you shouldn't be as impressionable as the subjects of many of these studies that suggest the link anyway. I'm not a psychologist, but I'd wager your brain would've already developed to know that violence isn't acceptable a long time ago.
  
• Playing violent videogames is notably not a predictor of agressive / violent / criminal acts.
  
• Even then, individual risk factors are never solely to blame. If your only risk factor is the games you play (which is debatably not a risk factor in the first place), you're not at risk.
  
• That said, things like lack of support or trust from parents, authoritarian parenting, inconsistent punishment, lack of involvement with recreational activities, etc. all are risk factors. And idle hands are the devil's playthings--you're more likely to do shitty stuff when you don't have an activity to sink time into. It might not be a very productive activity, but not spending all your free time being productive is extremely normal.

On top of the classic, more general:

• Violence has always existed, and it has only decreases since videogames were released (unlikely to be due to videogames, but they certainly haven't increased it).
  
• Violent crimes historically have temporarily dropped when popular violent videogames get released.

But #1 is definitely being able to show that you're able to manage your shit and that videogames are just what you do in your free time as a hobby. Like others have said, the easiest way to prove that videogames aren't causing you problems is by solving all your problems in the first place.

Thanks jarateking, I’m a pretty laid back person and I have never done anything violent in my life. My dad is completely opposed to violence and he thinks that even movies with violence in them will make me violent. My parents have pretty much no trust in me whatsoever.

I was planning on bringing up that last point you mentioned “people with more free time are more likely to do bad things” but I can’t find a source on this

hi me too

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/5a/5a650a8e1040cfdde1d498ceb83c897f7fdd01a7b987d29e9ebe1d06e820e708.jpg

tell him u have 1st place

Here is some more serious advice other than get a job and move out. Yeah you can argue your hypothesis and try to convince your dad that video games ain't that bad but fuck all that -- sound, logical arguments NEVER often do not win people over and instead just makes them more defensive. It will also probably be more trouble than it's worth; you gotta make the juice worth the squeeze.

I say make a deal with your dad. You love TF2 and want to play it and in exchange you will do x chores every week or get x grades in school. This is a grown up move and your dad will notice. It might suck but consider it as sacrifice to the TF2 gods. Of course, keep your end of the bargain -- don't slip up, NOT EVEN ONCE, or else it will all be for naught.