Because of this possibility, parents should assume responsibility for evaluating video games and should prohibit young teenagers from purchasing those that are especially violent. Myself being a parent I do research the games my kids want to buy. To begin with, a number of authorities claim that playing a violent video game does present a threat to the user’s psychological health. As early as 1983, Geoffrey and Elizabeth Loftus, in their book Mind at Play: The Psychology of Video Games, warned about the dangers of violent video games: “Although we can never be sure in any individual case, a substantial body of evidence indicates that viewing excessive violence on the screen is associated with aggression and violent behavior among children and teenagers.” More recently, studies have measured changes in behavior and emotional responses to video
Do video games lead to violence? I totally agree violent video games are not all so bad. I mean they teach you hand-eye coordination and can teach you things to help you one day in a violent situation. Yes it may cause aggression; I will get into depth about this in the next paragraph. But long ago violent games were invented based on violent movies so if someone says it causes aggression then some movies in the world cause aggression too.
Are video games causing violence amongst today’s children? Nowadays, video games have caught the attention of both the Media and parents. Increasingly, the media tends to remind people how much violence these games contain, thus blaming them for the violent behavior a child may be imitating. In addition, video games seem to be the scapegoat for a quick point of blame and is a much easier answer rather than finding what truly may lie behind the motives for violence in a child. With RPG (role playing games) becoming ever more so popular, so does the demand for realistic violence in them.
I agree with Jenkins when he says children learn the difference between real shootings and video game death. We grow up playing pretend, which allows us to express ourselves in a way we can always do in the real world. For example, if a teenager gets angry and says they are going to murder someone, you would worry about their mental health. But if the same teenager came home after a long day of school and played a shooting game, everything would be fine. Grossman says that the 1st Amendment doesn't apply to video games if they teach children to kill, but does any game really teach you to take someone's life?
The boys told the investigators that they decided to go on a shooting spree after playing the video game Grand Theft Auto III. That particular game is one of the most popular games in which players can play missions that involve killing people or just play at random and go on shooting sprees. Although this game is far less violent and gory than other games, it does have enough influence to make two teens’ fire shots at their own family. The biggest factor to the video game violence is the fact that parents go out and buy these games without knowing that their child may be addicted to the game. If the chid is abusing the game it can become very addictive.
Parents should regulate the amount of video games their children play because if your child regularly plays games with plots based on violence and aggression, research shows children at risk for increased aggressive behavior, it inhibits social interaction, and it is not always intellectually stimulating. First, parents, not government, need to monitor video games. Laws don't go far enough to help parents, argues Craig Anderson, a professor at Iowa State University: "The results are really quite clear; regardless of gender... regardless of culture... we know that playing violent videogames increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior and aggressive thinking, decreases the likelihood of pro-social behavior, and increases what you might think of as desensitization... Probably the best solution is to educate parents... but we also need to give parents better tools and the current rating systems don't do that." "One study reveals that young men who are habitually aggressive may be especially vulnerable to the aggression-enhancing effects of repeated exposure to violent games," said psychologists Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., and Karen E. Dill, Ph.D. "The other study reveals that even a brief exposure to violent video games can
Critics of violent video games argue that these games desensitize players to violence, reward players for simulating violence, and teach children that violence is an acceptable way to resolve conflict. The medical community claims that there needs to be extensive research done to understand whether some kids are more vulnerable to video-game violence, and how exposure interacts with other risk factors for aggression like poverty, psychological disorders, and history of abuse. When establishing sources for a persuasive essay, the writer must chose articles that will show credibility in regards to the argument. All resources used in this essay should work well in showing credibility. There are many aspects to look at when discussing the issue of how violent video games impact our youth.
Every bad experience or violent act that has been seen in the public somehow will get linked to violent video games causing the violent acts of the people that do the crimes. In 1994, a system was put together to help rate video games to help keep underage children from being able to play these games that are rated inappropriate for their ages, this board is called the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) ("Esrb History", n.d.). However, even though this guideline was put into place some adults will purchase the games that are rated for mature audiences for their younger children. Some research will prove the opposite of the violent actions coming from playing a video game such as the video game will calm down a person or even kids that play video games that are on the honor roll in school. What is the meaning of violence?
The games also make them more likely to use an aggressive answer to a problem, and that they’ll behave as they would on the video game when real-life conflicts arise. A lot of video games give immediate feedback and constant small rewards like points, or access to new levels or weapons, reinforcing the violent behavior. Of course video games can some times be used be the media and politicians who need something to blame on an individual’s violent behavior, but when video games aren't about violence, they can easily be used to teach. Like for people who have a fear of flying, of spiders, or post traumatic stress disorder, therapists are starting to use tools like virtual realities for desensitizing. The games also make it easier for kids to remember information.
Violent Video Games and Their Effect On Children In 1999, the shootings at Columbine High School seemed to spark the debate about many things wrong with our youth but one thing in particular was violent video games. Parents claimed that these violent video games were a catalyst for the violent actions that these young men committed that day. According to Sean P. Neubert of Rochester Institute of Technology, a person who is biologically predisposed to aggression will be more strongly influenced by violent scenes and thus will have a greater risk for carrying out destructive actions. For example someone with Antisocial personality disorder has a greater risk of going out and shooting someone after playing hours of Grand Theft Auto or a game of a similar nature. [1] Also, Barlett, Branch, Rodeheffer, and Harris, (2009) found that a violent video game produced greater elevations in heart rate, hostility, aggressive thoughts, and aggressive behavior compared with a nonviolent video game.