Do violent video games lead to actual violence and increased aggression? Some feel that they don’t have any correlation while others feel that they are a direct cause. I believe that that violent video games increase aggression & violence because these gaming systems are mostly played by young children who are easily influenced and create a thin line between reality & fiction. According to Pediatric Nursing volume 26 issue 6 most children of both genders prefer games with violent content. When electronic video games were first introduced in the late 1970’s, they were basic animated interactive games such as Atari’s Pong.
Video Games and Their Affects on Society Today’s world seems consumed with all types of media. It seems to have taken over civilization in a way and sometimes determines the way in which someone lives their life. Video games are a massive part of society today and they attract those young and old. Many argue that video games are corrupting the younger generation, but many studies show that game playing has a positive result. They have helped many children and adults excel through life and they also help to create a successful career.
“Why Games Are Good for You” by Steven Johnson is a persuasive article that’s purpose is to open the minds of people that doubt that playing video games reap cognitive benefits and change their point of view. Steven Johnson does a great job of forcing the reader to ask themselves, “Could I only be seeing one side of this phenomenon?”. “Video Games Help Children Learn” by Marc Prensky is an article whose purpose is to convince people that children playing video games is not completely bad and there are actually intellectual benefits that can come from them. Prensky’s main objective is to get people to understand that children can learn real life lessons from video games. The two articles both present reasons why video games might not be all bad for mankind.
However, as games become more realistic, the question of if violence and adult content that is portrayed in games could potentially have a negative consequence on its user. There has been much speculation on whether or not video games over the years are causing children and teenagers harm. Experiments have been conducted to show a link between video games and aggressive behavior. Sure it’s easy to point a finger at something to be the cause of children committing criminal activity, such as the media, but where are the facts. Despite these accusations, I would tend to argue that games are not as harmful as so many may think, but instead very beneficial.
More ways of playing violent video games are created each year, but most of us have this question in mind. Do violent video games influence young people to act aggressively? Overplaying video games can have many disastrous effects on teen limiting gameplay can have multiple positive effects. Sitting in front of a TV screen shooting people can incite young players to act violently. Repetitive killing can train them to act aggressively.
| Factors In Favor of and Against | Pros and Cons of Video Games | | | 10/17/2013 | HUM 200 | I would like to start off with the strongest pro first and work down and with that video games are really a great workout for your brain. Those who are against don’t see that when video games are being played, the requirements that are involved require high level thinking. There is a long long list but I’ll name six, 1) Hand-eye coordination, fine motor and spatial skills 2) Multitasking 3) Developing reading and math skills 4) Strategy and anticipation 5) Memory 6) Quick thinking, making fast analysis and decisions (Raise Smart Kid). As a gamer growing up and still going strong now, I know all this to be true and very effective. Back then games rarely had voices so gamers had to read a great majority of the time and that’s where my reading got a whole lot better.
Violent video games have the most negative psychological effects including: decreased socialization, increased aggressive thoughts, behaviors, and feelings. Children who play more violent video games are more likely to have increased aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. The effect of video game violence in children is worsened by the games’ interactive nature. In many games, children are rewarded for being more violent. The act of violence is done repeatedly.
The relation was stronger for individuals who are characteristically aggressive and for men. Academic achievement was negatively related to overall amount of time spent playing video games. In Study 2, laboratory exposure to a graphically violent video game increased aggressive thoughts and behavior. In both studies, men had a more hostile view of the world than did women. The results from both studies are consistent with the General Affective Aggression Model, which predicts that exposure to violent video games will increase aggressive behavior in both the short term (e.g., laboratory aggression) and the long term (e.g., delinquency).
Gus Bolen Edgar Temam Writing 121 October 31, 2011 T.V: A Crisis for Our Youth Television is a powerful medium for appealing to mass audiences- it reaches people regardless of age, sex, income, or educational level. In addition, television offers sight and sound, and it makes dramatic and lifelike representations of people and products. Focused TV coverage of advertisements has been largely limited to fast food and other things to entice the younger audience into watching their show. However, too much T.V. for our younger generation is bad for their learning habits because it distracts children from homework for school.
The wasted time could be used in activities to help in their growth and development as well as coping with life’s challenges. It all depends on the amount of video game exposure and play time (Matt, 2013). Excessive playing of video games especially by young children encourages competition that one must win to move so as to progress. In addition, continued playing of these games makes users aggressive as most of them are usually ‘unforgiving’; for example, if one gets shot and ‘dies’ while playing Call of Duty, the situation cannot be reversed. The aggression can pass on to their real world lives (Douglas, 2011).