Violent video games and violent adolescent behavior, is there a connection? Millions of violent video games are sold around the United States, millions more are sold overseas, but the numbers of violent crimes, that could be associated with violent video games is low. Assault, robbery, burglary, rape and murder occur daily. The drug industry accounts for the majority of these crimes. The cases not related to drugs, fall into a number of categories, including Psychological Disorders. Disorders that can cause violent behavior are psychotic or anti-social behavior, depression, schizophrenia, delusion, disassociation, and any others recognized by a Psychologist.
Video games, with violent content, do not cause violent behavior. However, in the case of an individual experiencing, violent, disruptive, and dangerous behaviors, video games may contribute to an outburst of violence.
In February of 2009, 60 minutes did a special on video games leading to murder. In the article Rebecca Leung, discusses a shooting that occurred in Fayette Alabama on June 7, 2003. A mentally disturbed young man by the name of Devon Moore shot and killed two police officers, a dispatch officer, and stole a police cruiser. The Attorney Jack Thompson blames the video game Grand Theft Auto as having trained Devon Moore to carry out the murder. Thompson has consistently criticizes violent video games, and has brought forth a lawsuit against the producers of the video game. Thompson says, "What we're saying is that Devin Moore was, in effect, trained to do what he did. He was given a murder simulator.” Thompson argues that Moore had played the game for hundreds of hours and if he had not been “trained by the game.” He would not have committed these ...
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...Walsh suggest that moderation is the key to dealing with an addicted adolescent, limit the amount of time they play the game, and ensure that their priorities are taken care, school work, chores, or family time. If this does not work than Walsh recommends removing video games completely. Additionally Walsh argues that if people are partaking of media, movies, video games, or surfing the web, they are not outside playing, or participating in sports. They are not getting enough exercise, which can lead to obesity, diabetes, and other health related issues. Video games can be a positive aspect of adolescent or adult life, the key as in most things is moderation.
Works Cited
Why do they act that way? A survival guide to the adolescent brain for you and your teen. David Walsh, Savage Pastimes, Henry Schechter, CBS, Michael Ward, Video games, Violence, and crime
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.
In 2008, 97% of twelve to seventeen year olds in America played video games, thus fueling the domestic video games by $11.7 million. Ten out of the top twenty best-selling video games contain violence. Many of these violent video games have been accused of incidents that include crime, bullying, and behavior problems. As the popularity of violent video games increase, more people become victims of behavior problems such as depression, aggressiveness, and addiction. Although video games were intentionally created for entertainment purposes, through studies and experiments it has been established that they are factors of behavior problems because of the active interaction people demonstrate while playing video games.
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.
“The Columbine shooters played violent video games; that has to be a factor in their decision to brutally murder their classmates!” Society is quick to point fingers and approach unknown situations with a causal mentality that often results in a false accusation of an innocent bystander. With the advent of the video game era, psychologists have debated their effect on the minds of their youthful audience. Throughout the multitude of studies and the perpetual debate, society still lacks an absolute answer. With this knowledge, when it comes to video games and their impact on the minds of children, researchers must consult a wide variety of subjects with an open mind about the potential outcomes. I conducted my research by examining my personal experience, analyzing studies refuting both sides of the argument, trying to view the American fascination with violence through an outside perspective, and reviewing the thought processes that lead the members of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in order to gain a full perspective of the issue. What correlation exists, if any, between violent video games and the violent tendencies that children exhibit after exposure to said media? Throughout my research, I have discovered that a trend does exist, but it manifests after the child has encountered puberty because of the heightened levels of testosterone that accompany this phase of development, and the trend relies heavily on other factors in a violent disposition. The age factor generally fails to exist in the violent tendencies argument; this is intriguing in that the majority of violent videogames are targeted toward an older audience. In order to truly understand the violent tendencies of mankind, we must first analyze these ...
“Video Games Get the Blame in Colorado Shooting Spree.” GamePolitics News. Mar. 2008. Web. April 06, 2014.
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.
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 demonstrate aggression and violent behavior.
The early 1990s brought with it increases in technology and violent video games emerged with “person-on-person violence” which include games such as two graphic fighting games, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter and a first-person-shooter zombie infestation game called Doom. By this time, youth violence had dramatically increased and peaked to one of the highest levels on record and various groups of school shootings shocked the United States. The more drastic response to this was the belief that video games were training young children to become murderers by simply playing these violent video games (Ferguson). In view of consumers’ violent nature, the vast majority of research concerning video games has focused on “the way game play impacts anti-social behavior” (Tear). The video game industry was aware of this issue and had to improvise quickly on a solution or there would have been a noticeable decrease in sales. Parents were and still are ...
Do video games cause violence? Violence in our real world caused by playing a video game that has guns in it or even death. Some people say they do and others don't. Here are my three reasons why video games do not, have not, and will not cause violence.
Violent video games allow players to release their stress and anger in the game, leading to less real world aggression, studies have shown that this is very true for example once in Texas were told to rate how angry they were by some friends
It's a silly fallacy, of course" (Klain 1). When kids are playing violent video games it causes violent behavior and they act in a particular way when they play video games. Video games are fun in all but it's just too much to handle for kids/teenagers. Although video games and movies can cause shootings and behavior issues, can violent video games cause violent issues to act in a
The children roaming in our present society have gotten more violent, their minds are slowly corrupting as the generations pass by, and all for what? This dramatic change in society is being brought by present day video games, which ultimately contribute to youth violence, for they alter behavior and can be seen in the daily, natural lives of the kids in today’s environment.
Some people believe that violent video games can cause behavioral problems. This is not true; it is only their opinion. They may say people that play violent video games start having behavioral problems, and what was that cause? It is only people and it has no effect on them, only their own actions and their mental health issues. The violent video games for computers and consoles’ sales rate went up, but violent crime offenses went down.
“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
Do violent video games affect a persons behavior? Why are so many children hooked on violent video games? What do violent video games do to someones mind? Yes, the answer that everybody is looking for is staring us right in the face, yes violent video games makes a person more violent. Do you know video game developers spend millions of dollars developing violent video games and advertising these violent video games. All the money that goes into developing video games have something to do with making the games more addicting. Violent video games desensitizes violence in a childs mind. The answer is simple, violent video games makes a person violent. Exposing children to violent video games will train the child's mind for doing violent actions being done in the game. Mass homicides are linked to violent video games. Many studies show violent video games make a person behavior more aggressive.