Game Over: the Effects of Violent Video Games on Children

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.

The first text speaks to its audience about the negative effects violent video games have on children. The article starts off by stating “that on an average a boy plays thirteen hours of video games per week and girls, on average, play five hours per week”(1). The author argues that there are three negative effects that children acquire by playing violent video games. The first one, “according to the American Psychological Association, violent video games can increase child’s aggression” (1). “Dr. Phil explains, “the num...

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...r that they do affect children, but the way they affect them and the severity is different based on every individual child. The video game itself does not necessarily make a child more aggressive or less aggressive it is the other factors, such as their environment and personality that makes a child react to violent video games the way he or she does.

Works Cited

"Dr. Phil.com - Advice - Children and Violent Video Games." Dr. Phil.com - Advice - Children and Violent Video Games. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. .

Ferguson, Christopher J., and Cheryl K. Olson. "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." Journal of Youth and Adolescence 43.1 (2014): 127-36. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.