Violent video games can lead to aggressive and violent behavior in children and adolescents. “Violent media increase aggression by teaching observers how to aggress, by priming aggressive cognition (including previously learned aggressive scripts and aggressive perceptual schemata), by increasing arousal, or by creating an aggressive state” (Anderson and Bushman 355). As more children are becoming exposed violence in video games in the recent years, violence in schools and other locations where children are prominent has increased. “A national crime victimization survey compiled and maintained by the United States Department of Justice, shows that overall crime rates in United States society have fallen. Simultaneously, school- based studies reveal that many violent behaviors have increased among children and adolescents” (“Causes of School Violence” 1). Exposure to violence in video games can lead to aggressive behavior, desensitization, and an increase in crimes committed by children and teens in our society.
Today’s youth is heavily influenced by the media. Video games, television, and movies make up a large part of the lives of children in America. These easily accessible forms of entertainment are lightly regulated by parents and the government; children and adolescents are exposed to extremely violent media everyday. “By the time the average American child reaches seventh grade, he or she will have witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on television. Some people say so much violence on television makes American society- including its children- more violent” (“Causes of School Violence” 1). Among the violent media, video games are the current trend. Although video games are rated by ESRB (the entertainment sof...
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...and Brad J. Bushman. “Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive
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The article “Do Video Games Kill” written by Karen Sternheimer addresses the widespread question; are video games the cause for “young killers”? (220) Sternheimer believes concern for the influence of video games may have on youth is spiraling out of control. She puts most of the blame for this out of control concern on the media. She also writes some about the politicians and the Juvenile Justice System. Sternheimer suggests that there are other factors to blame for violent behavior: poverty, the neighborhood, unemployment, family violence, divorced parents and mental illness (218). While it may be that juvenile crimes have declined, and personal backgrounds effect actions, it cannot be proven that video game violence has no to little effect on
Since the 1970 video games have become more popular than ever before. Generating 11.7 billions of dollars of sells every year or more, the video game industry is considered one of the largest industries in this century. However, video games have been a topic of controversy. With the sales of violent video games going up and the increased violence in schools and teenagers, video games are always to blame. Many people speculate that video games are the cause on why many teenagers have developed aggressive and violent behavior, are desensitize to violence, and the increase violence in schools and public places. In contradiction, video games have little or no fault in teenagers’ violent behavior and shouldn’t always be blamed.
Violent video games are becoming more popular among children and adolescents of all ages since its debut approximately 30 years ago. This growing popularity is generating an increasing concern that these sometimes very graphic videos and life like characters can have a negative influence on the younger generation. Although never proven, there has been speculation that some of the high school shootings across the country were committed by students who were habitual players of violent video games. Due to these concerns, a non-profit, self-regulatory organization was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to appropriately rate all video games from EC (early childhood), E (everyone), E10+ (everyone 10 and over), T (teen), M (mature), and AO (adults only). While assessing the efficacy of violent video game ratings, it is unknown how effective these ratings are for the intended audience (Becker-Olsen & Norberg, 2010).
Although violent video games are thought to encourage real world violence, they actually help to prevent it. I am focusing on violent video games and how they affect juveniles because I feel that this issue needs to be looked at in the criminal justice community. It is an unnecessary distraction to blame the actions of a disturbed youth on a form of entertainment that has been used by millions of people without incident. A review article published in The Psychiatric Quarterly found that many studies which claim to indicate an increase in aggression due to video games are, in fact, biased! Once the bias is taken into account, the studies no longer find any correlation between youths who play violent video games and youths who demonstate aggression and violent behavior. (Ferguson, 2014)
Most of the time violence is considered as the worst when it comes to the bad effects of video games. A scientific survey (Anderson & Bushman, 2001) has found a connection between aggressive behaviors and playing violent games where more the children play violent games, more tend be aggressive in behavior. Not only that but also they are more likely to have aggressive feelings and thoughts plus diminished aiding. It is said that the impact of playing violent games in children is compounded by the intuitive/interactive nature of the games. Children are remunerated for being more vicious or violent, most of the time in many games. The demonstration of violence is carried out over and again and the player is in control of the violence who encounters the brutality such as killing/stabbing in his own eyes. This first-hand experience in violence, being rewarded for it and the iteration of this process are compelling conditions for learning and developing violent behavior.
In the past fifty years media has played a major role in the development of the American society. Due to our modern era, video games of all types are played on a daily basis by a large amount of children. However, some of these games, especially the extremely violent ones, can be detrimental to a child’s thought processes and behavior. In my investigation of whether or not violent video games negatively affect children, I read two articles about the effects of violent video games on the youth. The first text was an article entitled, “Children and Violent Video Games”, which was found on the Dr. Phil’s website. The second text was an article by Christopher J. Ferguson and Cheryl K. Olson entitled “Video Game Violence Use Among “Vulnerable” Populations: The Impact of Violent Games on Delinquency and Bullying Among Children with Clinically Elevated Depression or Attention Deficit Symptoms.” The first article from Dr. Phil’s website explains how these violent video games install aggression and hatred towards others. The second article shows how research has proven that such accusations are false, and in fact, some of these types of aggressive media actually help children release anger and frustration they possess.
Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: a Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature." Psychological Science (2001). EBSCO. DePaul Library. 7 Mar. 2008.
“As video games have become more violent and more sophisticated and the sales of video games has skyrocketed in the last few decades, youth violence has plummeted,” Ferguson says, citing evidence compiled by various federal agencies (Adams 3). Violence in video games is not a new issue. It has been debated and argued since the release of the first violent video game. As time has progressed, so has the evolution of violence and strong language within video games. Ratings have become more relaxed, and the lines between T (Teen) and M (Mature) rated games has gotten closer together. Violent games are becoming the normal and accepted of all games, and are being demanded by the gaming industry more heavily. Parents have always shied away from these games for their children, regardless of age. However, kids are getting these games whether they are the correct age (17+) or not. Young kids, less than ten years of age are playing horribly violent games and parents are fearing the repercussions. But video games are not to be blamed for child violence. Violence in video games does not cause children to become violent people later on in life.
With the nationwide discussion of gun control sparking up as of recent, some people are trying to pinpoint how aggressive tendencies arise. It is an essential topic to understand in order to decrease violent crime rates. Media violence, especially violent video games, is commonly blamed for crimes caused by young adults such as bullying, harassment, and even school shootings. While it may seem like a reasonable risk factor at a glance, this is a flawed view. Video games aren’t the recipe for school shootings. Studies have shown that there is no causation between video game violence and real life violence, juvenile crimes rates have actually decreased while the sales of games have done the opposite, and violent video games have been observed
There I was, about to do a drug deal with the Colombian Cartel. As I made the exchange, they pulled automatic rifles out and started shooting at me. I ran for cover and started shooting back with my handgun. They made an escape with the money and the heroin. I was then interrupted by reality and it was time to go to school. I paused Grand Theft Auto IV and prepared myself for school, as my brain was making its way back to the real-world. Intense violence, drug abuse, sexual content, foul language, and criminal behavior are some components of violent video games like Grand Theft Auto that fuel the multibillion dollar gaming industry. Recently, there have been concerns about the effects of violent video games on young people who play them excessively. The mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary school, Washington Navy Yard, and in Aurora, just to name a few, have led to a series of media claims that violence in video games causes violence in the real world. It is natural for the media to make connections with violent video games and a gunman who avidly plays Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto. However, that is not to say that violent video games promote violence. In fact, research shows that while video game sales are at an all-time high, violent crime is at an all-time low. Therefore, playing these types of games may not be detrimental to a persons’ well-being.
Violent video games, aggressive attitudes or behaviors, and societal violence can all be interrelated based on studies and research. The only issue is, there’s not enough evidence to directly link movie and video game violence to societal violence. Several studies in the “Movie Game Violence& Societal Violence” research paper required estimation procedures for data. This can increase the risk of over or underestimating numbers. Due to several other contributing factors, it is unknown whether or not there is a correlation. Numerous factors impact societal violence and cultural influences could also add to the cause. In five to ten years, there potentially could be more evidence to support these claims. Videogame consumption data is only available from 1996 and beyond so over the next few years more and more data will be collected. Looking at the completed historical record, there are not many connections between movie and societal violence. Overall, this is a highly debated topic among criminologists. The important part to take away from this article is the negative affects of early violence viewing in children. Starting at a very young age, children
It has been quoted “A 1992 study found that the average American child graduated from elementary school has seen more than 8,000 murders, more than 100,000 assaults, rapes and other acts of violence on television aone” (Wright). The amount of violence within children’s cartoons and music influences children negatively and plays off violence with humor. It has been proven, “with video games you’re not only passively receiving violent attitudes and behaviors, you're rehearsing them” (Cohen). The repetitive actions of shooting and violent behavior is replayed in the mind over and over, almost as muscle memory. It has been found “A recent analysis asserts that the correlation between virtual and actual aggression is stronger than those linking passive smoke and lung lung cancer” (Wright). Users of aggressive video games often do not realize how harmful the effects can be. Psychologists states “there is evidence that points to decades of research and more than a thousand studies that demonstrates a clear link between media violence and real aggression” (Wright). There is more than enough evidence that proves media violence is a link to actual violence. Children are more vulnerable to view violence on television. Children’s programs average between 20-30 violent acts per hour, four times as many as adult programs (Wright). The amount of violent acts shown to children at a young age is a factor that can lead a person to commit violent acts outside of the virtual
“90% of pediatricians and 67% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior among children” ("Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?”). Pediatrics and parents are aware that kids that play violent video games see a change in their behavior. Many cases they see the kids with anger problems and causing them to do violent acts. Violent video games have been around for many years where some older titles, such as ‘Mortal Kombat’ and 'Grand Theft Auto’ both are some of the most controversial ones. The video game industry has been growing and with the large amounts of violent video games being produced. “Total US sales of video game hardware and software increased 204% from 1994 to
Violent video games are special games, which negatively influences to the attitude and behavior. These video games are popular between children and teenagers. Since 1980-s years violent games are in political discussion. Because when teenagers usually play violent video games, they are becoming aggressive and then they face with psychological problems. For this, some people claim that violent games are harmful for society and they affect to behavior and health.
Saleem, M., Anderson, C. A., & Gentile, D. A. (2012). Effects of prosocial, neutral, and violent video games on children's helpful and hurtful behaviors. aggressive behavior, 38(4), 281-287. doi:10.1002/ab.21428