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Impact of video games on adolescents
Do violent video games promote teen aggression and violence
Do violent video games promote teen aggression and violence
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Recommended: Impact of video games on adolescents
Video games already have a bad reputation when it comes to the teenage generation. The video games that are being released in the past ten years have caused some speculation if they are suitable for kids to play. Some states have even tried getting involved with the issue by banning the distribution of offensive video games to minors. First-person shooting games have increased in popularity, and some experts say it is also increases violent behavior in the adolescents that are playing it. The increase of games that are more realistic, engaging, and increasingly violent will lead to more violent behavior in teenagers in the upcoming years.
All the blame for the current state of teenage violence cannot be placed on video games; they are only an amplifier of the behavior (Anderson, 2011). The games reward violent actions and convey the message that violent responses are appropriate and effective (Porter & Starcevic, 2007). Rewarding the players for doing violent actions leads to the players having thoughts of doing violent actions outside of the game. Long-term players of these games feel the satisfaction of doing violent actions, causing them to think that it is alright for them to do some of the actions in the real world (Anderson, 2011). There are a couple extreme examples that show this theory. Such as, “the 1993 game ‘Doom’ belonged to the ‘first person shooter’ genre and was played by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold before they went on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School in 1999” (Porter & Starcevic, 2007). The same is said about the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Adam Lanza, the shooter, was known as a devoted Call of Duty player (Keim, 2013). Teenagers can relate differently to the games, where some find them as a ...
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...sence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments, 17(3), 256-268.
Porter, G., & Starcevic, V. (2007). Are violent video games harmful? Australasian Psychiatry, 15(5), 422-426. doi:10.1080/10398560701463343
Violent video games and young people. (2010). Harvard Mental Health Letter, 27(4), 1.
Keim, B. (2013, February 28). Do Video Games Cause Violence? — NOVA Next | PBS. Retrieved November 17, 2013, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/what-science-knows-about-video-games-and-violence/
Anderson, C. A. (2011). Violent Video Games and Other Media Violence (Part I). Pediatrics For Parents, 27(1/2), 28.
Ivory, A., & Kaestle, C. E. (2013). The Effects of Profanity in Violent Video Games on Players' Hostile Expectations, Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings, and Other Responses. Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 57(2), 224-241. doi:10.1080/08838151.2013.787078
In today’s society, highly addicting video games involving strong violence and language, explicit sexuality and crime often lead to inappropriate behaviors. Role playing games or RPGs allow us to step into a virtual world, cutting ourselves off from worldly distractions. Nowadays, the age range for people who play these extremely graphic games are anywhere from six to eighteen and are surprisingly hazardous to young children’s health. A study gave a group of players playing a violent video game the chance to blast a painful sound into their opponent's ear in order to get the upper advantage. They also gave another group playing non violent games, the same opportunity. The study showed that overall the gamers playing violent video games were more prone to inflict more pain on their enemies, unlike the other group who inflicted considerably less pain. Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D who did this study agrees, “violent video games desensitize players to violence, and makes them more violent in real life" (McGonigal). Young adults are exposed to these terrifying images, harming their mental health. In recent events, a young eight year old boy shot his grandmother after playing Grand Theft Auto. This game is the epitome of why young people should not be playing these games. It is comprised of murder, drug and alcohol abuse, criminal behavior, violence and general disrespect for women, and foul language. In summary, young people should not be playing these games in order to save their mental health. Furthermore, television contributes to desensitizing society with it’s ...
Now a day every video game has something violent going on. Such as in 2010 the top 20 games out in the market were violent related. When a kid sees in a video game that he can beat someone else up and get away with it they think they can do that in real life. This will increase bullying and kids are being taught not to bully. Every kid plays video games even if it’s a racing game or a shooting game. In 2008, 97% of kids from the age of 12-17 played video games. Most M rated games have sexual violence and when a kid sees that in a game and then beats the girl up. The crime rate for rape will increase as it has. A study in 2009 found that it only takes a child four minutes of playing a game to make him have aggressive and violent thoughts going through his head. The critics of violent video game has that bully has increase 32% because of violent video games. Also in the study when a child sees blood when beating up or killing someone in a game he will have more aggressive thoughts than normal.
Children today are exposed to more graphic violence in video games compared to any past generations. This is because the media finds that making a profit, surpasses the lives of the adolescents that play these games. However, over time two set of views formed from the violence in video games. James D. Sauer, is a graduate of the School of Phycology. In his article, “Violent Video Games: The Effects of Narrative Context and Reward Structure On In-Game and Postgame Aggression,” Sauer, describes that adolescents gain forms of aggression and violence after playing certain games. Not every video game causes post game aggression, but documented in his article, “Players who enacted in-game violence through a heroic character exhibited less postgame
The allegation that videogames cause violent behavior in children has been present as long as videogames themselves. Some researchers said that the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, was one intense gamer. “Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech Shooter was seen by his roomates as odd because he never joined them in video games.”(Beresin) This debate will continue to go on in this country as long as there are horrific crimes that occur. There is much written in the research regarding this issue, and many differing views. The research that is presented in the next few paragraphs supports the theory that it is not the graphic video games that produce aggressive behavior, but other factors in a child’s life that create violent actions.
People have always been looking for a reason why horrible things happen. The media is quick to blame video games as the target and cause of many shootings that have occurred, ever since Columbine and Quake. People have been blaming video games for violence for years now, ever since violent video games have been made. News reports blame video games more and more for each shooting, telling the public how this person played video games for x amount of hours a day, and that video games caused him or her to shoot people, and how video games encourage and reward violence. Anti-video game lobbyists have been campaigning to have violence removed from video games, citing resources that they themselves have created as reasons for such, poorly done studies where they confirm that kids are more aggressive through how much hot sauce they put on someone’s fries. While unbiased studies of video games and their links to violence are hard to come by, recent research has shown that video games do not in fact have a casual link to violence, and may even have the opposite effect. Violent video games have nearly no link to violence in teens or adults.
...f Violent Video Games on Aggression: Is it More Than Just the Violence? Aggression and Violent Behavior, 55-62.
Dill, Karen E. and Dill, Jody C. “Video Game Violence: A Review of the Empirical
Violence has been around for quite a long time. Fights and wars are the interest of today’s society of entertainment. People are more likely to see a movie, where protagonists kill bad guys, over a romantic movie, where a typical girl finds her “knight in shining armor.” This also applies to how teens feel when playing games. Teens have a sweet tooth for violent games, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops, Kill zone, Infamous, and other violent rated games. These games are like vocabulary words in a teens’ language. A recent discussion has been brought up from the Industry of Coombes Class (ICC). A worker has noticed a few news reports stating that games have influenced shooting sprees or murders in the community. Not only that but also parents are being persuaded to ban their children from playing games. The question is “Are games really influencing teens’ bad behaviors?” Well, violent games have been said to be the cause of teens’ violent acts, but this is not true. Many times this has been proven wrong by scientists and psychologists.
Ivory, Adrienne Holz, and Christine E. Kaestle. "The Effects of Profanity in Violent Video Games on Players' Hostile Expectations, Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings, and Other Responses." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 57.2 (2013): 224-241. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Apr. 2014
“Contrary to the claims that violent video games are linked to aggressive assaults and homicides, no evidence was found to suggest that this medium was a major (or minor) contributing cause of violence in the United States.” (Markey, 290)
ScienceDaily, "Could Violent Video Games Reduce Rather Than Increase Violence?" 2009 Web. The Web. The Web. 23 Apr. 2015. The 'Second http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514213432.htm
“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.
“YOU SUCK!” “I killed him!” “Head shot!” These are just a few examples of dialogue spoken by children while they are playing violent video games. These video games might seem like harmless fun, but what if the violence in these games is affecting the behavior of young players interacting with others?
Several studies display that video games with violent content are related to more hostile behavior in teens. This is a concern because most of the popular video games contain violence. Part of the upsurge in aggressive behavior is connected to the amount of time children are permitted
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.