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Video games and violence with young children
Video games and violence with young children
Media violence in children's lives
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Grand Theft Auto 5 is a game that was released in 2013 by Rockstar games. It was one of the most popular games released that year. While it is recognised in advertising that sex sells, in the world of video games it is violence that sells. The violent themes of Grand Theft Auto 5 include assaults, killings and torture and these are made realistic by the flawless graphics. Grand Theft Auto 5 is one of the most controversial games to have ever been released because even though it has a rating classification of R18+ it makes its way into the hands of many younger players via parents, siblings or friends. There are serious concerns that exposure to these violent themes will have effects on developing brains. Grand Theft Auto 5 and games like it actually cause violent behaviour, desensitises users to acts of violence, it causes some users to view the world as a scary and violent place and possibly most concerning is the fact that exposure to violence in games gives users the appetite for viewing further violence.
Grand Theft Auto 5 encourages aggressive behaviour and in turn provokes violence. All too often the reports of a mass shooting weave their way through the sensationalized headlines. These reports often involve two key factors: Videogames and violence. It’s no wonder that this is the case, when in games like Grand Theft Auto 5 you are rewarded with cash for killing innocent pedestrians and law enforcers. Some game players come to view the world as a scary dangerous place and become fearful and anxious and this is called the ‘victim effect’. While only few players’ progress to commit murder, research has shown that exposure to violence makes players aggressive. In 2012 an experiment done by Ohio State University professor...
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...cerns regarding violent themes in their games, Rockstar has made attempts to have the game more resemble a film structure. The makers have clearly given the game a plot and narrative structure. They have also hired script writers and voice actors. Rockstar have included pre-rendered cut-scenes to enhance the gaming experience by giving context to its violent action. These scenes are a feeble attempt to justify the mindless violence that pervades the entire game.
Rockstar have attempted to give context to the violence in Grand Theft Auto 5 and make it play more like a film however Grand Theft Auto 5 It is not a film. It is an opportunity for people to take on the role of criminals and in turn commit criminal acts. It not only desensitises players to violence but has also been shown to make them more aggressive in their actions thought and behaviors.
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 ...
Today’s society thrives on violence. Young children made pretend guns and shot at siblings, teenagers enjoyed video games which praised the player for kills, and adults flocked to see the latest horror movie, few people asked what effect this has on people and society. Some psychologists have started researching this effect. A study by Dr. Ferguson;...
Kulling, Matthew. “GTA:Link between violence and video games lacks a smoking gun.”. marquettetribune.org. 15 Nov 2013.
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.
“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)
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)
There is no doubt that mostly everyone has heard of the controversies that the Grand Theft Auto series has raised in the past 14 years. Grand Theft Auto is a series of video games where the player is placed in an open world city where they can perform murder, carjacking and many more awful actions. One common name in all of these controversies is Jack Thompson, a famous activist and disbarred lawyer that is known for his frequent protests of violent video games, specifically Grand Theft Auto. Jack Thompson uses the argument that violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto have a connection with murders, crimes and school shootings, which is not true. There are many reasons that could cause someone to pull off a violent crime, and video games
As a character you are controlling walks through the bank, cops begin to swarm around you, and you are forced to kill them or be killed by them. After you kill the cops you rob a bank and gain around 2 million dollars. That is one of the very first missions in the popular game Grand Theft Auto 5. Grand Theft Auto 5 broke several records the first day it came out. Some of these records include best selling video game in 24 hours, fastest video game to gross $1 billion and it had the most viewed trailer for an action-adventure video game (Lynch). Grand Theft Auto 5 is a very violent video game, as well as very profane in the language and gestures used. I can personally vouch for the violence of this game as I bought this game the day it was released. However, Do games like Grand Theft Auto have negative effects on teenagers? Many people relate violent video games to aggressive behavior in
“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.
dear Daily Mail editing house, James Dellingpole, in this article, summarises his views of the new critically acclaimed GTA V to the public, as insinuated by the title. His uncertainties that the game (Grand Theft Auto V) will outflow into civilization - that it will root fierceness and crime into the streets of Britain... His goal, although uncertain, can be unravelled to raise awareness but also to foreshadowing what this game may do to humanity. Yet he fails to comprehend that crime rates are failing every year.
Perhaps similar video games without violence may be better. GTAV hampers children's psychological growth; many role-playing games with hostility would usually be considered as damaging for children’s vocabulary and physical capabilities. Violent video games may improve learning but when in also increases delinquent behaviour among youth, I agree like you, that it's illogical to promote the game. There are various negative behaviours that GTA gives rise to: verbal abuse, bullying, criminal assaults or even murder. I hope you understand that this outweighs the advantageous effects from playing Grand Theft
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.
The violence in video games could trigger anyone's emotions, but no video game should escalate anyones aggression at a high level.
Grand Theft Auto by Rockstar Games has been targeted many times for its violent themes and adult nature. This game is one of my all-time favorites. I have been playing this series for a very long time and
“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