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How video games cause violent behavior
How video games cause violent behavior
Increased violence among children
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It is said that two out of three children are exposed to violence either directly, as victims, or indirectly, as witnesses. Violence can include any behavior involving physical force that is intended to hurt someone, or emotional damage that can hurt someone as well. We can easily conclude from this that violence is not good. However, children are being exposed to violence every day, and as they are exposed to violence, they become more violent. This can be shown in my following examples that include violence from media, video games, and child abuse. When children are exposed to violence, they learn from it and eventually start to use it themselves.
Violence in the media affects children by allowing them to think it is appropriate to act violently in public. According to John P. Murray, a professor of psychology at Kansas State University, he states “Characters get shot with… shotguns and they get back up. It sets it
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According to Craig Anderson, a professor of psychology at Iowa University, he states “Virtual violence is treated the same as real violence by the brain” (“Games on the Brain” 1). Violent video games put players at a perspective where they have to shoot, beat, and brutally kill the enemy. The fact that the brains treat these cruel acts as if it was real allow players to think aggressively. Craig Anderson also said “People seem to be learning to think aggressively, and that's having an effect on the decisions they're making” (“Games on the Brain” 1). Imagine you as a father or mother with a child making bad decisions based off of the aggression they learned from playing video games. This clearly will make the children more violent as they perform violent actions. Would you as a parent want this happening to your child? If I have to answer this question, it will definitely be a no and I believe all of you can agree on
According to John Davidson's essay Menace to Society, "three-quarters of Americans surveyed [are] convinced that movies, television and music spur young people to violence." While public opinion is strong, the results of research are divided on the effects of media violence on the youth in this country. Davidson wrote that most experts agree that some correlation between media violence and actual violent acts exists, yet the results are contradictory and researchers quibble about how the effects are to be measured (271). Moreover, Davidson is not convinced that the media is the sole problem of violence, or even a primary problem. He points out that other factors, such as "poverty, the easy accessibility of guns, domestic abuse, [and] social instability" may have a greater impact on a child becoming violent than the influence of the media (277). Even though other forces may be stronger, media violence does have some adverse effects on the members of society. If senseless violence on television and in movies had no effect, it would not be such a hotly debated topic. What type of effects and whom they affect are the most argued aspects of the discussion.
In today’s society, video games have played a huge part in the children and teen demographic. Revolutionizing the future, popular titles have implemented realistic values and experiences to players all around the world. As the quality of graphics improve and the plot thickens, so does the violence, gore, and bloodshed. Individuals who devote countless hours staring at the television screen trying to triumph the top high score and levels do not realize the amount damage and violent acts they are causing whether it is secluded in a virtual world or to their brains. Simulating unarmed fist fights, gun shootings, and war could lead to aggression and actual real-life violent conduct. Violent actions and behaviors in these titles could also desensitize
Many psychologists have studied the effect of the media on an individual’s behavior and beliefs about the world. There have been over 1000 studies which confirm the link that violence portrayed through the media can influence the level of aggression in the behavioral patterns of children and adults (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001). The observed effects include, increased aggressiveness and anti-social behavior towards others, an increased fear of becoming a victim or target of aggressive behavior, becoming less sensitive to violence and victims of violent acts, and concurrently desiring to watch more violence on television and in real-life (A.A.P. 2001). According to John Murray of Kansas State University, there are three main avenues of effects: direct effects, desensitization, and the Mean World Syndrome (Murray, 1995, p. 10). The direct effects of observing violence on television include an increase in an individual’s level of aggressive behavior, and a tendency to develop favorable attitudes and values about using violence to solve conflicts and to get one’s way. As a result of exposure to violence in the media, the audience may become desensitized to violence, pain, and suffering both on television and in the world. The individual may also come to tolerate higher levels of aggression in society, in personal behavior, or in interpersonal interactions. The third effect is known as the Mean World Syndrome, which theorizes that as a result of the amount of violence seen on television and also the context and social perspective portrayed through the media, certain individuals develop a belief that the world is a bad and dangerous place, and begin to fear violence and victimization in real life (A.A.P. 2001).
Sasha Parkinson Ms. Rollins APLAC 28 April 2014 Violent Children Life is such a precious thing, yet it can be taken away so easily. What does one do when a precious loved one’s life is taken away from them? This is a common question that people tend to find themselves asking. Young children have committed violent crimes for centuries now, and it seems that it has got worse this generation, yet our courts seem to let them off easier than they deserve. A child who can take a life without regret or thoughts deserves to be charged as an adult; he or she made an adult decision so they need to accept the consequences.
In a research analysis of Media and Violence, studies show that “Although the typical effect size for exposure to violent media is relatively small ... this ‘small effect’ translates into significant consequences for society as a whole” (“Media and Violence: An Analysis of Current Research”, 2015). This states violent behaviors can come from the smallest variables, or clips from videos, which is why it is important for parents to control what their kids see, read, and watch, and limit the amount of violence exposure.
Research has shown that immediately after playing a violent video game, kids can have aggressive thoughts, angry feelings and physiological effects such as increased heart rate and blood pressure. In addition, studies that survey large populations of kids on their game-playing habits and measure aggressive personality traits or self-reported aggressive acts — physical fights, arguments with teachers — often find an association between games and aggression.
This argument assumes that, under normal conditions, worry about violence reduces its use. Media may, however, inspire aggressive behaviour by desensitising children to the effects of violence. The more televised violence a child watches, the more acceptable aggressive behaviour becomes for that child. Frequent viewing of television violence may cause children to be less anxious about violence.
The question is, “Do violent video games influence children to act aggressively?” and “Can repetitive killing train a person to be violent himself?” Although the violence in these video games is fictional, research has proven the violence to lead to more aggressive behavior in children. Violent acts depicted in these games allow young children to believe that killing and fighting is acceptable and fun.
Television violence causes destructive behavior in children, however; television can be a powerful influence to young viewers in our society. Unfortunately, much of today's television programming are very violent. Many researchers like scientists, pediatricians, and child researchers in many countries have studied to find out what it is about television violence that makes it such a big affect on the way kids act and behave. Sometimes, children think that is a normal thing in our real life, by watching only a single violent program, which can increase aggressiveness on children and become violent, aggressive, and vicious.
Television violence causes children and teenagers to be less caring, to lose their inhibitions, and to be less sensitive. In a study on the connection between violence and television done with 1,565 teenage boys over a six-year period in London, William Belson, a British psychologist, found that every time a child saw someone being shot or killed on television they became less caring towards other people (Kinnear 26). William Belson also discovered that every time a child viewed this violence on television, they lost a fragment of their inhibitions towards others (Kinnear 26). In addition to William Belson’s study, studies done by many scientists and doctors show that seeing violence on television causes viewers to become less sensitive to the pain of others (Mudore 1).
Vastag, Brian. “Does Video Game Violence Sow Aggression? Studies Probe Effects of Virtual Violence on Children”, JAMA, Chicago: April 2201. Vol. 291, Iss. 15; pg. 1822. Retrieved: 16 August 2004
No single factor can cause children or adults to act aggressively. Instead, it is the accumulation of risk factors that leads to an aggressive act. Hundreds of studies look into the issue of violent media, it always seems to end up the same place with three major effects including increasing aggressive behavior in a variety of forms, desensitization, and spurs fear. Not every viewer will be affected noticeably, but we know that every viewer is affected in some way. Some have argued that violent media are the primary cause of mass shooting. Others have argued that there is no solid evidence of any harmful effects of violent media. But it is clear is that exposure to media violence is one of risk factors increased aggressive behavior, desensitization, and fear.
...ct violent video games to have a greater effect than violent television, and most of the reasons why one would expect them to have a lesser effect are no longer true because violent video games have become so realistic, particularly since the late 1990s. Controlling an avatar during video games has a much larger influence on the audience’s behavior, thoughts, and beliefs than that of a movie. Children grow up killing others in video games, seeing it in a movie doesn’t have nearly as large of a impact on them as its does when they do it in a video game. Since video games are interactive and you’re fully engaged in the game, it has a larger impact on people as opposed to simply watching a movie. While most parents (88%) report regularly supervising their children's use of television, only about half report regularly supervising their children's use of video games.
But just how much does it affect them? If they affect children at all? Separating other factors that can influence violent behavior is almost impossible. Can you really separate media violence from all the other factors that can influence violent behaviors? (Rochman.) Real life has more of an effect than fantasy violence (Cutler.) For instance, children who have a parent who went to jail are more likely to go to the jail than children who watch the violent animated cartoon Happy Tree Friends.If a child has have abusive parents or siblings, ther...
The first effect of mass media on teenagers is violence. Aggressive behavior is the first example of violence in the media. Aldridge argues that, teens who watch violent movies may behave in an aggressive way towards others for example bullying and fighting in school. This is important because there are high risks of teenage developing into aggressive behavior that may last into adulthood if they are not being supervised on what they see on TV (2010). Fearful of the world may also occur for those who watch violence television programs. According to children and television violence, teens that are being over exposed to violent on television may worry about becoming a target of violence. The relevance of this idea is that teenagers will more likely grow up thinking that the world is a scary place and that something bad will happen to them (2008). Imitative behavior is another major effect of seeing violence in the media. According to Weldon, two teens from Johnstown, Colorado, killed a 7 year old girl by beating her to death. The teens claimed that they were imitating moves from a video game called “Mortal Combat.” This is an example case which shows that violence in the video game may lead to an imitating behavior (2007).