Are Video Games Harmful Essay

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Research Paper: Are Video Games Harmful?
Chris Chu
SOC 324-01
Overview
In today’s society, children are exposed to technology early on in their lives. Many young children engage in video games as early as 5 years old. This exposure to technology has been blaming for leaving impressions in individuals, causing them to develop behaviors that aren’t norms in certain communities. In an age where every common person has either a laptop, a smart phone, or a tablet, the ability to gain access to video games has been made much easier. Video games have become a much more common occurrence in today’s youths. Does this increase in usage of video games necessarily have an effect on behaviors of individuals? Possibly, but not enough to warrant labeling video games as the sole cause of violence in people. In this paper, I will be looking at questions regarding video games and their violence-depicting nature. Do video games specifically influence behavioral development, like violence, in people? Why is the demographic of violent outbursts caused by video games predominantly focused on male, teenage Caucasians? Why are video games being portrayed in a more negative light when compared to other media mediums? These are all questions that I will be looking to answer in the paper.
My hypothesis for this study is that video games are not solely responsible for detrimental behaviors such as violence. Also, in regards to the other research questions, video games are only portrayed in a negative light because of their accessibility. It’s an interesting thing to note that video games portrayal as a negative influence to children didn’t really lift off until certain events triggered this point of view, mainly during a series of “rampage shootings at sch...

... middle of paper ...

...lent video games on adolescents: The overlooked influence of development. Pergamon, 8(2003), 377-389. Retrieved from http://geneseo.edu/~kirsh/vita/avb.pdf
Sternheimer, K. (2007). Do video games kill?. Contexts, 6(1), 13-17. Retrieved from http://videogames.procon.org/sourcefiles/Dovideogameskill.pdf
Sternheimer, K. (n.d.). Media violence causes real violence. In Why Media Is Not The AnswerRetrieved from https://blackboard9.usfca.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-382811-dt-content-rid-1496240_1/courses/SOC-326-01-Spring_2013/sternheimer violence.pdf
Sternheimer, K. (n.d.). Media phobia: Why blaming popular culture for causing social problems is a problem. In K. Sternheimer (Ed.), Why Media Is Not The AnswerRetrieved from https://blackboard9.usfca.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-357480-dt-content-rid-1452412_1/courses/SOC-326-01-Spring_2013/MediaPhobiaBlamingPopularCulture_Sternheimer.pdf

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