The marine stands in a hanger bay with a gun in his hand. He looks around and finds some armor and health packs. As he moves through the area, he finds a door and opens it. Ahead of him, he sees possessed men carrying weapons. In order to defend himself he shoots straight at them. Instantly, they are dead. He picks up their equipment and continues on. This is the opening scene of the violent, first-person shooter game called Doom (1993). Violence in video games is a very controversial topic among many people because of how it affects the minds of young children when they are exposed to violence repeatedly in their early years. One of the first major school shootings attributed to the actions of a seventeen-year-old gamer and an eighteen-year-old gamer occurred at a high school in Columbine, Colorado in 1999. In 2012, another shooting from an alleged twenty-year-old gamer occurred at an elementary school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. In the Columbine shooting there were thirteen victims, and twenty-six victims at Sandy Hook. Both of these tragedies cannot be completely attributed to violence in video games. However, there is evidence that violence in video games leads to aggressive and severe anger behaviors, poor school performance, and bullying.
One serious effect of violent video games is the aggressive and severe anger behaviors that can result from the amount of time spent playing these games. It is estimated that as many as eighty-nine percent of video games on the market include violent content and about half of these include acts of violence against game characters resulting in serious injury or death (Glaubke et al 6). When playing a violent video game, the player becomes a part of the game’s script. This allows them to deci...
... middle of paper ...
...hannon
Tyler. “Young Children’s Video/Computer Game Use: Relations with School Performance and Behavior.” Issues in Mental Health Nursing 30.10 (2009): 638-49. Print.
Hicks, Mary. "Video Games and Bullying." The Washington Times (Washington, DC). N.p., 20
Apr. 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2014
Norcia, Andrea. “The Impact of Video Games.” Doctors, Patient Care, Health Education,
Medical Research. Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Aug.2013. Web. 01 Mar.2014.
Sharif, I., and J.D. Sargent. “Association Between Television, Movie, and Video Game Exposure and School Performance.” Pediatrics 118.4 (2006): E1061-1070. Print.
“Video Games ProCon.org.” ProCon.org Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
Villani, V. Susan, Cheryl K. Olson, and Michael S. Jellinek. "Media Literacy for Clinicians and
Parents." Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America 14.3 (2005): 523-53. Print.
At this day in age we bask in the luxury of having easy access to advanced technology at our disposal. From the World Wide Web, to cell phones, music, movies and video games the human race has thought of any and everything to keep us entertained. Over the years studies have shown reasonable concerns regarding the long-term effects of video games. These games can desensitize gamers to real life violence, which is usually seen in the younger crowd. The studies especially hit on the games containing player-on-player violence. Though these games are extremely entertaining and can get kids to settle down for a while, if not properly supervised, they can produce adverse effects. Other studies have shown that video games can be used as way to yield positive outcomes such as, good problem solving skills, cooperation in a group and the ability to flow. Although there has been psychological research on children learning through the actions of others some believe that children are automatically able to distinguish between what is just a game and what is reality. The longer they are allowed on their game system the more they become convinced that their games are real. Some researchers believe violent video games can channel the aggression of the child but the parents are to blame for what happens to the child after playing an excessive amount over a period of time. Children can become preoccupied with these violent video games which have been proven to be the cause of poor social skills, uncontrollable aggression and a false reality.
Dylan Klebold, Eric Harris, Adam Lanza, Steven Phillip Kazmierczak, and Seung-Hui Cho all have a few things in common, they are all school shooters that have killed and injured a combined total of 149 human beings and are or were believed to be avid violent video game players, who also committed suicide immediately after carrying out their attacks. To the public, school shooters seem to share a direct connection to playing violent video games and that playing them leads to violent behavior. Violent videogames have become a highlight in the media and national debate for this very reason but, there is no scientific evidence to support the existence of a causative connection between participants of violent videogames manifesting violent behaviors. The media provides biased information that misleads citizens into believing that said link is well established and accepted. I argue that parents should make responsible and well informed decisions in regards to their child’s videogame activities in spite of the lack of scientific research.
The shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado killing thirteen students and teachers shocked the world. “They were video gamers who seemed to be acting out some dark digital fantasy. It was as if all that exposure to computerized violence gave them the idea to go on a rampage – or at least fueled their urges” (Carey 1). The shooters of this incident learned their deadly skills from video games. Seventy percent of children ages eight to eighteen have access to violent video games at their home. “Boys who play Teen or Mature-rated games for a minimum of 40 minutes a day may witness over 180 incidents of aggression per day, or 5,400 incidents per month”(Smith, S.L., Lachlan, K.A., & Tamborini, R). Children that play violent video games at such a young age and experiencing such violent actions will start to increase in aggressive thoughts, feelings, and aggressive behavior.
Video Games have been around since the early 1940s. Meaning people have been playing video games for at least the last 74 years. Based on research the first violent video game came out in 1976 known as Death Race. This game was described as sick and disturbing. Death Race was a driving game and you received points when you ran over people. Think that is violent, imagine the violence in the video games 28 years later. Violent video games affect the present and the future because they impact children’s mind, behavior, and education.
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
Since the 1970 video games have become more popular than ever before. Generating 11.7 billions of dollars of sells every year or more, the video game industry is considered one of the largest industries in this century. However, video games have been a topic of controversy. With the sales of violent video games going up and the increased violence in schools and teenagers, video games are always to blame. Many people speculate that video games are the cause on why many teenagers have developed aggressive and violent behavior, are desensitize to violence, and the increase violence in schools and public places. In contradiction, video games have little or no fault in teenagers’ violent behavior and shouldn’t always be blamed.
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.
By far the largest concern of technology today is video games. There have been so many experiments and studies to try and figure out if video games have a negative or positive effect on our children. A growing body of research is linking violent video game play to aggressive cognitive, attitudes and behaviors (D.A. Gentile, 2004). Video games can obviously be dangerous for our children causing aggression, bad performances in school and obesity. Although we cant blame all of these problems on the use of video game...
Over the past 30 years, playing video games has become one of the most popular hobbies worldwide. Not only has the video game industry become a multi-billion dollar industry, but it has attracted people from all age types. While video games today are played by both kids and adults, there are many issues being raised regarding the effects of video games. More particular, is the effect that violent video games may be having on children. Some critics argue that video games are direct indicators of child aggression while video game supporters argue that there is no direct link between child aggression and violent video games. While many people have their own personal stances, this issue is unique because it is unfolding everyday. Scientists and researchers all over the world are continuously doing research regarding the effects of video games on children. Even though this remains a field of uncertainty for researchers, parents should definitely be involved in being aware of what it is that they’re children are playing when they play video games.
JAMA and Archives Journals. "Study Examines Video Game Play Among Adolescents." ScienceDaily 4 July 2007. 19 March 2008 .
Ever wonder why children and teens seem to be more aggressive and violent? Violence has gone up because of violent video games. The games children play these days are rated higher than what their age group are suppose to play. “In this study, children who played video games often with older siblings were twice as likely as other children to play mature-rated games (Considered suitable for ages 17 and older)” (Violent). Children are acting violent due to the games they play.
Exposing someone to violent video games will train the person for doing violent actions that are shown in violent games. Grossman is a writer of two books on video game violence and thinks that video game is a major cause for violent teen behavior. On 1997 in a Paducah, Kentucky high school shoot out a 14 year boy shot eight people and five where headshots. This was believed to be a effect of the teen playing first person shooter games. The FBI say that trained law enforcement officers only land one out of five shots and this boy had no past experience shooting except for in the game. “Exposing children and adolescents (or "youth") to violent visual media increases the likelihood that they will engage in physical aggression against another person,” said expert Craig A. Anderson. Exposure to violent video games can cause a child to learn the...
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.
..., DF (2010). Generation M2: Media in the lives of 8-18 year olds. Merlo Park CA: Henry J Kaiser Foundation
This report offers information on the influences of video games on children and how it will affect their behavior and mental health. This report will analyze each individual information source and will provide a review of the findings. The report will interpret both good and bad effects of video games on children.