In many games, kids are rewarded for being more violent. The act of violence is done repeatedly. The child is in control of the violence and experiences the violence in his own eyes including killings, kicking, stabbing and shooting. This active participation, repetition and reward are effective tools for learning behavior. Indeed, many studies seem to indicate that violent video games may be related to aggressive behavior (Main #2) Too much video game playing makes your kid socially isolated.
She also writes some about politicians and the Juvenile Justice system. Sternheimer points to other possible reasons for the violent acts of the youth such as, the home life. While it may be that juvenile crimes have declined and personal backgrounds effect actions, it cannot be said this proves video game violence has no effect on youth. Sternheimer begins by explaining how video games violence has become a “folk devil” (204) to explain unexplainable happenings of youth shootings and this is just the one to follow the many other explanations the media and politicians have given for problem youth. She then brings up the issue of unnerving newspaper headlines such as “Bloodlust Video Games Put Kids in the Crosshairs” (205).
People in America have many views when it comes to the effects video games have on children. A lot of people think that violent games are not healthy and serve as a wasteful source of entertainment. There are so many negative opinions concerning violent video games. Critics say, “violent games are a pretty poison for society, fancy blood and fireworks with no redeeming value. They say that video games take innocent young children and taint them with images of fiery destruction.” Video games are one of the hottest media sellers on today’s market, but how do they affect our children?
05 March 2014 Peters’ Censorship of Violence in Popular Entertainment Unjustified In Roberts Peters’ article “Censorship of Violence in Popular Entertainment Is Justified”, he writes about his personal concerns and his personal solutions to combat obscenity and uphold decency standards in the media. He believes that due to the many graphic and violent depictions in TV, films, music/RAP, video and computer games, the children in present society are easily influenced into acting out the media violence and turning it into real life violence. He believes that there are four main problems with media violence. The first problem is that is too much of it. The glut of media violence desensitizes viewers and contributes to the “mean world syndrome.” A second problem with media violence is that it can be easily imitated.
Violent video games can lead to an increase aggressive behavior in children if parents do not make it clear that the behavior exhibited in these games is inappropriate. Children and adolescents need to be made to understand that the way people act in these games is not reality. Parents need to monitor the content of games their children are playing, as well as the amount of time spent playing them. Aggression is defined by the (American Psychological Association, 2012) as “behavior that causes psychological or physical harm to another individual.” This means that not all aggressive behavior is physical; it can also include insulting, obnoxious, and rude behavior. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) defines violence in video games as, “Scenes involving aggressive conflict.
She also admits that one of the problems with video games is that there is no standard for rating video games, so any content that is profitable is acceptable. One thing that she states is that the violence in video games has been linked to violence in the lives of the viewers, and that people who play video games naturally have a more aggressive personality. Though TV has also been known to show violence, Wrights says that video games are worse because they’re interactive. She also asserts that though people may like to deny the negative effects of video games, they cannot deny that the media is a manipulative tool that is used to trigger emotions. Wright’s closing statement is a warning to parents; she says that they need to educate themselves to keep their children safe.
In his essay, “Video Games Are Responsible for Increased Youth Violence,” author Ron Moten uses his experience working with troubled teenagers to uncover the negative effects of violent media. The problem he identifies is that violent media is responsible for desensitizing youth to violence, hence increasing crime in our society. Motten assumes his readers are educated and sympathetic, but uninformed of the threats posed by violent media. His purpose in his essay is to raise awareness of a connection between violent media and increased crime in society and to convince the audience that violent media needs to be regulated by laws. To achieve his purpose, Moten mainly uses ethos to appeal to his readers.
The actual games make young adults in the novel become inhumane and violent in order to survive. They are forced to become violent. The games provide violence in both the tributes in the games and the children watching. This is allegorical to video games
EBSCO Host. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. This article looks to explain the acts of teen violence that happened during the time of publication. Their research suggests that violent video games cause aggressive behavior, aggressive affect, aggressive cognition, and physiological arousal.
Some experts conclude that the recent trends of violence in video games and on TV are manipulating children. Nearly half of the video games a typical seventh grader plays are violent or involve killing. The shooters of the Columbine Tragedy, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, were avid players of the games Doom and Quake (Keegan). Both of which are controversial games that have been referred to as “ultraviolent video games” (Sternheimer). But normal, healthy children do not play these games just for the thrill of shooting someone.