In today’s society, video games have played a huge part in the children and teen demographic. Revolutionizing the future, popular titles have implemented realistic values and experiences to players all around the world. As the quality of graphics improve and the plot thickens, so does the violence, gore, and bloodshed. Individuals who devote countless hours staring at the television screen trying to triumph the top high score and levels do not realize the amount damage and violent acts they are causing whether it is secluded in a virtual world or to their brains. Simulating unarmed fist fights, gun shootings, and war could lead to aggression and actual real-life violent conduct. Violent actions and behaviors in these titles could also desensitize …show more content…
After the events at Sandy Hook Elementary, politicians have been fighting against the video game industries to not glorify firearms and artilleries in the stir of past mass shootings. Dianne Feinstein, Democratic senator in California, stated if the industries are not taking action and attempting to resolve these issues, Congress is ready solve matters in their own hands. “If Sandy Hook doesn 't do it ... then maybe we have to proceed, but that is in the future” (Wrigley). Feinstein is ready to incorporate her thoughts, opinions, and declaration to address this issue in Congress with law makers, members of Congress, and other politicians who have realized the link between gun violence and video games. Chief executive officer and vice-president of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre accused violent video games for the incident at Sandy Hook, following the evidence that the shooter, Adam Lanza, played violent video game titles such as “Call of Duty” and “Starcraft”. Lamar Alexander, Republican senator in Tennessee, considers "video games is a bigger problem than guns, because video games affect people" (Wrigley). Not only affecting people but society itself, with gun violence and its themes being incorporated in movies, video games, and music, society is more likely to be drawn into violence. Tennessee Republican Representative, Diane Black, recognized the Sandy Hook shooting to “unprecedented levels of violent games, music and so on" (Wrigley), again being related into today’s pop culture in music, movies, and video
Sandy Hook is an elementary school in Connecticut that was invaded by a shooter, Adam Lanza. Twenty-eight people were shot and killed, twenty of them being children between the ages of five and ten. Before Lanza arrived, he shot and killed his mother who was a teacher at this school. The article was published the day of the shooting to the Washington Post. The article was written announce what had actually happened during this tragic event. The article was directed towards parents with kids and adults to inform everyone on the catastrophe and to hopefully make schools as safe as they could possibly be. Additionally the author also states that this is not the right time to try and discuss the gun control laws.
In our society we have many issues that plague our youth. Problems such as substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, and verbal bullying are just a few of the issues. There is one issue that has been on the rise for many years, and is relatively new to the world; and that is violence due to exposure to violent video games. Research done by a panel of scientists led by Professor Rowell Huesmann found “Unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts” (qtd. in Anderson et al. 4). This research is very profound, but it does not state that a child will go to a school and shoot children because he played the game Call of Duty. While a child might not show major aggressive behavior because of violent video games, he will show minor increases in aggressive behavior because of the games he plays. These statistics are the same for adolescents as they are for children. Whether they realize it or not, everyone who plays a violent video game is effected in one way or another. Even though there is a rating system for games, that system is lacking in what they let younger children watch and do in these games. The question that must be asked is, “Why are these children being exposed to such violent content?”
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 ...
In “The Effects of violent video games, do they affect our behavior?” Brad J. Bushman argues that violent video games have had “hundreds of additional studies have shown a link between violent media exposure and aggression.”(Bushman 1) Bushman points out why are video games more harmful than violent TV programs, how are video games good for you, and why do people deny harmful effects of violent video games. He gives a good reason on why video games are harmful that violent TV. He states that players are likely to relate themselves with the character, the player also perceives the same visual as the character, and also that the player gets rewarded after a violent scene such as killing. Bushman also states how some people claim that violent
The first violent video game invented was during the 1970’s (Anderson & Bushman, 2001), since then, the degree of violence present in a video game has significantly increased. Today, the graphics, sounds, characters in video games have become more realistic than before any of the past years. Real-life associations are easier to make if a video game is realistic. Violent video games impacts individuals psychologically, physiologically and socially. On one side, these elements results in an increase in aggression, addiction, lack of empathy and desensitization (Myers, 2013, p. 295), fluctuation of heartbeats, high levels of blood pressure, and changes in the perception of society (Anderson & Bushman, 2001 ). In the other case, the individuals do not experience these effects altogether or experience very little because of factors such as strong morals and they have no symptoms of any mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety (MediResource, 2013). These individuals demonstrate a high level of cognitive development like critical thinking and motivational skills (Myers, 2013, p. 295).
Desensitization from video games creates a biological response that leads to a lack of empathy and more aggressive behaviors. Furthermore, violence in video games is rewarded, making one more likely to repeat the behavior in real life. Finally, video games allow people to take on roles, and along with one’s inability to separate reality from fantasy, people will take on these roles in real life, leading to many of the recent mass shootings. The debate on video games and violence will carry major significance over these coming years. Although violent video games will not necessarily be banned, there might be moves to educate parents about the dangers of violent video games so that their children can be monitored in the games they choose. However, the debate will not be completely solved. Video games are a multimillion dollar industry and the companies may pay psychologists to agree with their sentiments, prolonging the debate. Although video games are some of the most popular items in the world to own, one must take caution in purchasing them, especially violent
Carl Becker “Ideal Democracy” says that people spent so much time trying to sway others to our own way of thinking that we fail to see that working together and compromising could yield much better results. For example “In a May 12, 2000, CNN interview on The World Today, Doug Lowenstein, president of the Inter- active Digital Software Association, said, “I think the issue has been vastly overblown and overstated, often by politicians and others who don’t fully understand, frankly, this industry. There is absolutely no evidence, none, that playing a violent video game leads to aggressive behavior.” (Anderson 353). This means that people just talk without having background information of what is going on and not automatically blaming it on violent video
Role-playing games with simulated violence are perilous to individuals, regardless of their age, because they have the ability to deteriorate an individual’s mental state. This is especially true in present day, where violence in video games is becoming increasingly more graphic. Video games can influence an individual into thinking that killing people is completely acceptable, when it’s obviously not. Furthermore, impressionable teens can also be fooled into thinking that their murderous fantasy can be brought to reality through the means of “games.”
A recent controversy has surrounded games that feature simulated violence due to 97% of teens in America playing them. Many people claim that these games make teenagers aggressive, but they can actually have positive mental effects on teenagers. These games have been shown to lower aggression in those who play them, especially those with a previous record of violence. Multiple studies have backed up this evidence. This is an issue that has been commonly debated, especially as more teens begin to play them. The common opinion is that these games provoke violence, but that is a large misconception. In fact, teenagers who use them have been shown to develop better social skills than those who don’t. Clearly, games with simulated violence are healthy for teenagers.
In the past, the kind of technology that we had to develop video games was just something really simple such as GoldSrc which was a game engine used internally by Valve Software to create a video game called Half-Life. We did not have anything advanced like Cryengine 3 or Frostbite 3 to create some currently well-known known games that have realistic looking graphics such as Crysis 3 or Battlefield Hardline. In our world today, entertainment has taken a big part in our lives, especially in developed countries such as the United States. Beside from movies, we have a really high demand and expectations toward our video games. For the purpose of competition, most video game developers are required to be up to date with their technology in order
American educational philosopher John Dewey once said, “ Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” Education is the foundation of a permanent lifestyle. Parents should desire for their children to have educational stability to build upon. Any concerned parent should want nothing but the best for their child as they are well aware of the new forms of child entertainment. Since the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, children in the United States have become subject to a new type of entertainment: video gaming (Nickson, 2010). Video games have become a big part of the average American household. Parents have begun to wonder how video games are affecting their children’s lifestyles.
“When you hear the tragic, heart-wrenching stories such as what happened in Newtown, Conn., you wonder how exposure to violent games de-sensitizes people to the act of killing other people. The thought of my little boys picking up a gun to shoot someone is not only disgusting, it teaches them to disrespect life. What if that could carry over to their own life or others?”
In a society driven by technology, video games are becoming more popular each and everyday. People of all ages enjoy video games in their free time; these games allow the player to become an athlete, a soldier, or a professional fighter at the tip of their fingers. The biggest problem with these video games is that they are becoming too violent. In today’s society, children often brag about the new video game they bought, and the number of people they have managed to kill while playing these games. Video games have become realistic, causing them to intrigue a larger amount of children. Many of these violent video games encourage killing and fighting of enemies, or strangers in the game. Each year a new game system, and hundreds of video games are released, and millions of kids go out and buy them and spend hours playing. Video games have a large effect on school performance and time spent with family. Children would prefer to play their games than sit down and talk with their parents (Saleem, 2012).
Video games have a large foothold in present American culture. Todays children and adolescence are immersed in a world of electronics and technology that is rapidly changing and evolving. A vast majority of video games contain a violence component. One could see that the exposure to violent video games can be correlated to increased aggression in adolescence but, it’s more complex then that. We live in a culture that has an insatiable appetite for destruction. From watching a action movie to watching news broadcasts of a disaster to riding a rollercoaster there is an evident thrill seeking component as well as a general fascination with anything that pertains to death and disaster. If a child or adolescent is not exposed to