With RPG (role playing games) becoming ever more so popular, so does the demand for realistic violence in them. Commonly, children tend to imitate what they see but what causes a child to actually act out in violence? Some would argue it’s the violent games that are the cause for violence in youths today. Not surprisingly, this theory is not doubted by many. Many would say and some may agree that the reason is that video games these days are too close to reality.
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.
Teen Violence and Video Games As a teen, I would spend hours sitting in front of the television playing Space Invaders on the original Atari Game System and that was over thirty years ago. The games and graphics from the mid-eighties don’t compare to the high definition graphics and realistic game play of today’s game systems. However, because of their realistic graphics and game play, video games are being accused of distorting teen’s minds into not being able to distinguish reality from fantasy. This distortion of the mind is said to cause aggressive and violent behaviors in teens. In some cases, it was alleged to be the cause for the teen to kill.
Excessive playing of video game can cause violence, addiction, and poor academic performance in children. During the past years, the playing of video games was investigated to observe and analyze its negative impact on children. Violence, addiction and poor academic performance were determined as some of the negative effect of video games on children. Video games over the last 30 years have made an impact on the way children spend their leisure time, by keeping them from being bored, but also have caused children to develop violent skills the use to hurts the society. Many of today's video games, especially the ones that are suitable for young boys, focus their attention on
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?
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.
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.
At a young age, children's minds are sponge-like, absorbing everything that surrounds them, which makes them easy targets in terms of manipulation and victimized by violent video games. Violent games might seem like harmless fun, but what if the violence attracts and addicts young players, affecting their behavior and their view of reality? Problem: Should Violent Video Games Be Monitored Some say that violent video games have minimal impact on young teenagers, pointing out that most video-game player’s live completely normal lives. The weaknesses in that argument are almost too obvious: first of all just because a player does not immediately imitate specific violent acts found in video games does not mean the games will not have any long-term negative effect on that player’s views and behavior. Because of this possibility, parents should assume responsibility for evaluating video games and should prohibit young teenagers from purchasing those that are especially violent.
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.
With the new DVD that shows sex and violence or computers that gives kids access to unauthorized sites, technology is something that many parents need to look out for. As technology continues to forge ahead concerns about its effects on the general population are raised. Whether it is microwave ovens causing cancer or cell phones causing accidents, people are always interested in researching, and often accusing, these new products. Such is this case with videogames. Ever since PongÒ swept the nation, scholars have been researching videogames effects on children.