Forty-eight million men women and children play games on their smart phones and tablets (Galarneau). Technology has become so advanced that people can carry their favorite games along with them. A current debate about whether or not video games are harmful or helpful, especially to children and older people, is a heated one. Some say that video games could spike aggressive feelings in children. Others say video games could be a new educational tool. Knowing the research behind some of these areas will be helpful to current and future parents and mentors. This paper will show that as a result of playing video games, gamers may experience behavior changes, elderly may experience brain stimulation, and students may experience learning benefits.
Initially, lots of research has been done involving violent video games, and the thought that they may cause people, especially children and young adults, to have aggressive feelings. There are all types of video games, but the violent ones seem to make some parents worry. For example a study was led at Iowa State University, with forty-seven students who were asked to play violent video games for fifteen minutes. Afterwards, the students were asked to serve out hot sauce to other students. “Compared with a group who had played a nonviolent video game, those who had been engaged in “Mortal Kombat” were more aggressive across the board. They gave their fellow students significantly bigger portions of the hot sauce” (Carey 1). The results of this study make clear there was something about the games that made the students dish out more hot sauce. If fifteen minutes caused some sort of arousal, then what would a longer amount of time do? According to Carey, psychologists at Brock Univ...
... middle of paper ...
...ideo Games Can Help Children Succeed In School.” Medical Daily.
2014 IBT Media Inc, 24 May 2013. Web. 25 Feb 2014
Carey, Benedict. “Shooting in the Dark.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company,
11 Feb 2013. Web. 16 Feb 2014.
Galarneau, Lisa. “2014 Global Gaming Stats: Who’s Playing What, and Why?” Big Fish Games.
16 Jan 2014. Web. 21 Apr 2014.
Jacobs, Tom. “Video Games Can Encourage Positive Behavior, Too.” Pacific Standard. 27 Mar
2009. Web. 04 Apr 2014.
Newscore. “Hours of Playing video games can change brain for the better, research finds.” Fox
News. Fox News Network, 06 Mar 2012. Web 18 Feb 2014.
Ritter, Malcolm. “Video game helps elderly stay sharp.” The Denver Post. The Denver Post, 06
Sep 2013. Web. 28 Feb 2014.
Servick, Kelly. “Videogame May Help Rejuvenate Elderly Brains.”Wired.com.
conde Nast, 05 Sep 2013. Web. 38 Feb 2014.
is playing the latest and hottest game, when his mother runs in snatching the plug from the console, “These things are useless and corrupt the brain, go find something else to do!” Video games don’t really corrupt the brain as some people think. Actually, research has shown that there are negative effects, but also positive such as giving the brain a real workout. Are video games great or harmful to the brain? Actually, they can be both. Video games are usually frowned upon by parents
age of people who play video games in America according to the ESRB. Yet when people talk about video games as a bad thing the topic that always comes up is that video games are bad for children and is going to rot their brains. But if people looked just at the numbers it could be seen that if video games really did rot people’s brains there would be millions of average American’s that would not fit in with the average public in the slightest. Why does this not happen. Because Video games are not
Are Video Games Bad or Good? Whether video games are beneficial or harmful to our growing youth has been a long, exhausting debate. Video and online games have long been accused of negatively affecting children’s health not only physically, but mentally as well including laziness, violent tendencies, social isolation, and obesity. However, recent research is proving otherwise. Scientist and University research has found that video games can not only assist in problem solving and logic, but also
Or could it be that violent crimes have actually begun to occur less frequently as the world of gaming changes and grows? Simulated violence in video games is beneficial to the minds of gamers. There is no proof of these violent games affecting actions in the real world, less violent crimes are being committed, and the simulated violence provides an acceptable distraction to gamers. As mentioned before, there is no proof of any negative connection between the simulated violence in video games
is gamification? Gamification is the concept of applying game like thinking to non-game applications to make them much more entertaining and immersive with students. It is an attempt to make things in school that are not very fun and engaging and applying qualities from games to make them that way. This paper will talk about the benefits that video games provide for a learning experience, why educators are cautious about adding in video game based learning, and the future potential of education through
Video games have come under fire recently. Many people claim the graphic violence and adult themes in the games have affected younger generations and caused many violent acts. Others claim that video games have contributed to obesity and a lack of communication skills. Both of these claims are most often an older generation's misunderstanding of today's youth and the overreaction of the media. Rarely does the mainstream media portray video games for what they really are, a new way for kids to interact
Are Video Games Bad for You? Have you ever been told that video games will rot your brain? Some would tell you it’s a misconception others would agree. Many parents will argue that videogames are bad, that they will ruin your brain and you’ll become a couch potato. But as more studies are done science is showing that may not be the case. In fact studies are showing that videogames can be very beneficial. Video Games can help with reaction speed, problem solving, and focus. The first thing that
It’s true, video games do affect how its players live their lives, but it may not be just quite how the media portrays its effects. Many parents believe that the violent games their kids are playing is causing a negative effect on their child, research contradicts this. Many studies have found that there is a huge positive side of playing video games. How Games Make Kids Smarter, a Ted Talk by Gabe Zichermann, tells the listener a story of how using educational based games in the classroom increased
There are many controversies about video-games that vary from the idea that they lead to violence due to the graphic nature of some video-games, they are addictive, or they promote laziness and corpulence rather than going outside to be active. Contrary to belief there are many family friendly, educational, and fun games available if a person takes the time to look past all of the hype in the media about games such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty. “Nearly 60 percent of the almost 1,700 ratings
Studies show that video games can in fact, be beneficial to you. Many times when you hear people talk about video games, it is usually talking about how they ruin people’s minds. While there is little evidence to back up those claims, on the other hand, there is also evidence defending it. Video games can have many social, educational, and/or cognitive benefits. Not all video games are rated violent, such as the Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat, or Battlefield. Instead there are games that are considered
The controversies of video games A lot of people (mainly parents) say that video games have a negative effect on children because they think it causes them to become greatly distracted, violent, socially isolated, addicted, and teaches them the wrong values such as vengeance and aggression. However, what a lot of people don’t know is that playing video games actually impacts your brain in many positive ways. It teaches people abstract, high level thinking skills people will need in the future
Video games have been argued about for decades. Some people have argued that video games are linked to violence. However, new research shows that video games can be used for therapeutic purposes, exercise, stress relievers, positive interactive learning, hand eye coordination, and different types of patient treatment for people all around the world. When playing video games, the coordination and concentration can physically, socially, and mentally benefit the user. Research today shows that
When video games are mentioned, most people think of teenagers. In a like manner, people tend to look at violent video games as teenagers’ main source of violence. They seem to believe in the likelihood of a kid bringing Call of Duty gameplay into real life. Since video games and the people who play them vary in many different factors, it is extremely difficult to arrive at a simple yes or no answer as to whether violent video games make people violent. However, when considering that the question
Many people believe that video games change people and mislead them to do bad things, such as drugs and alcohol, but it is the opposite. Gaming prevents people from such acts and actually helps to keep them away from the substances. Lots of people, mainly parents, believe that video games harm people so they try to keep their children away from them. In reality, video games make your life better. Video games can provide many benefits to your lifestyle as “numerous academic studies indicate that
Simulated violent video games can create healthy distractions for kids who play them. These types of video games can build up certain skills for kids, like focusing on multiple things all at once. Violence suggests that the video games are action-packed, which involves intense multitasking. An argument could be that violent video games urge kids to commit crimes, for example, depending on the game. However, the game’s message itself isn’t to rob a bank or steal a car, but instead it is the kid who