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.
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
The intense concern about video and computer games is based on the belief that the ultra violent games are inappropriate for all children and harmful to some. It is the player’s responsibility to be aware of the negative effects of video gaming. However, the gaming industry should also take part in some social responsibilities as well. What they develop and sell can affect people positively or negatively. For this reason, both the gamers and the gaming industry should acknowledge the ethical issues regarding video gaming, and both need
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.
Violence in Mass Media: Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence? Tracy Brown January 18, 2013 English Composition III Dr. Kay South University Recent shooting tragedies have sparked the controversial topic of whether playing violent video games has contributed to the increasing youth violence in today’s society. Video games are a very popular form of entertainment for today’s youth, which in turn has raised the question whether playing violent video games causes negative effects on children; this will be the topic addressed. Most popular video games feature aggressiveness or violence as the primary theme in the game but most parents do not restrict the types of games they are allowed to play. 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.
Video games can help with a person’s hand/eye coordination, aid with stress and anger release, and develop the social capabilities of an individual. Video games are a positive and fun way to become something one could not in real life and help aid with creativity. The proposals that video games can cause increased violence, addiction, prejudice, and sexual instability in most adolescents are absurd, and the flaws in those arguments are almost too Fagan 2 obvious. First, what is to say that these effects are life-long? These affects may only last a little bit, and can thus be cured.
To compete and win. Notice that violence isn't mentioned at all in the top responses listed. B.) Blaming problems on violent video games is counterproductive, expensive, and distracts us from the real problems for violence in society. 1.)
Whether or not violent video games and films influence someone’s levels of violence is a much debated topic, some people believe that it does where as others believe that it doesn’t. There has been much research into the topic by psychologists such as Craig Anderson, who wanted to find out what effects violent video games and films have on children. From results of studies like his and many others we have been able to get a clearer view and opinion on whether or not it does affect these things. Craig Anderson, stated that “young men who are habitually aggressive may be especially vulnerable to the aggression-enhancing effects of repeated exposure to violent games," and also said “that even a brief exposure to violent video games can temporarily increase aggressive behaviour in all types of participants.” He completed a study which involved 227 college students who reported their aggressive behaviour in the past. They also gave information on their game playing habits in their past.
On whether video games lead to violence: It’s very difficult to give a definite answer on this topic, mainly because there can be so may variables like what game is being played, how long and often, how old the player is, whether the player is predisposed to aggressive behavior, etc. Not to mention how new this field is, it’s only just recently that the first generation that is young enough to have grown up playing games, but old enough to have kids came into consideration. There are some studies that have found a direct correlation between playing violent video games leading to more aggressive behavior. In playing the games, children become desensitized to the violent imagery, which usually makes them less disturbed about it and therefore deal more easily with it in real life. 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.
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?