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Review of the Effect of Violent Video Games on Children and Adolescents
Impact of video games on child violence
Violent video games should be banned : debate
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“Breaking news tonight at 11, three students dead, several wounded after manic depressed teen lashes out with a handgun…” Americans serve witness in recent decades to this scary yet familiar occurrence. The cause of this familiar scene is minors suffering from social disorders and aggression. The major focus of blame is the entertainment industry including television, movies, books, and recently video games. The state of California decided to address the concern of video game violence by passing a law banning minors from purchasing games that are considered “violent”. However, the law is unconstitutional and unnecessary. The law is simple: any game that humanoid characters are maimed, killed, or tortured is considered violent. Labels that clearly state 18 must be placed on all games falling under this definition. The law requires that any individual purchasing a game in this category must provide proof of age. Additionally, retailers must obtain proof of age before selling the game or face fines. The law’s purpose is to protect minors from games that contain violence. Unfortunately, the California law ignores the Constitution. The First Amendment covers minors’ rights to obtain video games, because the games enjoy the same protections granted to other forms of protected speech. Carmen Hoyme (2004), notes in the First Amendment Law Review that since video games share properties that other protected media forms have, the same protections are extended to video games and restrictions affecting minors' access are allowable due to incitement (pp. 318-385). Holning Lau (2007), writing in the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, explains that minors have the right to obtain expressions protected by the First A... ... middle of paper ... ...Freedom of expression and interactive media: video games and the first amendment. University of North Carolina School of Law First Amendment Law Review, 2(377), 377-402. Retrieved September 22, 2014 www.lexis.com Lau, H. (2007). Pluralism: a principle for children’s rights. Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, 42(317), 317-372. Retrieved September 22, 2014 www.lexis.com O'Holleran, J. (2010). Student note: blood code: the history and future of video game censorship. Journal on Telecommunications & High Technology Law, 8, 571-612. Retrieved September 22, 2014 www.lexis.com Wood, R. (2009). Violent video games: more ink spilled than blood - an analysis of the 9th circuit decision in video software dealers association v. schwarzenegger. Texas Review of Entertainment and Sports Law, 10, 103-121. Retrieved September 22, 2014 www.lexis.com
Do we have a moral and ethical obligation to regulate video games and movies? On Martin Luther King Day 2002, the new video game "Ethnic Cleansing" was released by Resistance Records a company owned by the "National Alliance", the largest and most active neo-Nazi organization in the United States. The objective of the game is to kill "sub-humans"-i.e. Blacks and Latinos and their "masters", the Jews. "Patterned after popular mainstream games such as 'Quake' and 'Doom', the game turns racially motivated violence into entertainm...
While unbiased studies of video games and their links to violence are hard to come by, recent research has shown that video games do not in fact have a casual link to violence, and may even have the opposite effect. Violent video games have nearly no link to violence in teens or adults. The ESRB rating system was created in 1994 in response to violent video games like Doom, Mortal Kombat, and Night Trap. The ESRB rating system is meant to protect those under the age of each rating, eC (Early Childhood) through A (Adult, 18+). While it is not illegal to sell adult or even mature games to minors, most retailers like Gamestop and Target refuse to sell them to those under 18.
In 1998, the US software industry sold $6.3 billion worth of video games (see Unknown). Not bad for an industry that didn't exist 25 years ago! Yet despite its continued growth, all is not well in the video game industry. School shootings in Littleton, Colorado; Pearl, Mississippi; Paducah, Kentucky; Conyers, Georgia and many other towns have shocked the nation (see Malcolm). Understandably, grieving parents and sympathetic citizens are searching for a cause for this "outbreak" of youth violence. It is natural to assume, "when children, the symbol of innocence, commit the severest of crimes, then something must be going wrong with society." (see Maker)
Most games today that children play depict some type of violence. However, parents neglect that the games have warnings for violence, language, and even nudity. In my own personal experience, kids will ask for the most trending games at the time and parents will buy the game to satisfy the needs and wants of the children.
The debate about media violence has been going on for hundreds of years. The newest form of media being scrutinized is videogames. I will be taking you through this debate and sharing with you some things that you may find surprising. This is not a new topic and has ...
"Monkey see, Monkey do." Everyone has heard this phrase sometime in his or her life. This phrase is simple, yet very applicable to today's debate. When a child sees someone or something doing something. They will of course follow suit and imitate the action being performed. Children do not know any better. Therefore they are innocent and deserve to be respected. It is for these following reasons that we argue for the censorship of harmful materials that could influence a child or children into violent acts, expressions, and other dangerous actions. Through television, video games, and movies, children and teens view countless acts of violence, brutality, and terror as part of entertainment. They become conditioned to associating violence with entertainment. First-person shooter video games develop our children's skills in operating weapons. The games reward marksmanship, and further reinforce the association of killing with entertainment. In the past, the heroes of movie and television shows were usually people who strictly followed the law. Now, heroes are often people who take the law into their own hands, who see an injustice or evil and seek to rectify it personally, sometimes brutally, regardless of the consequences. Such portrayals signal, to a child, society's approval of that behavior.
Costikyan, Greg. “The Problem of Video Game Violence is Exaggerated.” Video Games. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2003. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 5 Nov. 2005.
Video games have been a rapidly expanding industry since their inception in the 1970s. Along with their growth have come concerns about violent video games and their effects on aggression and violence in young people. The endless numbers of school shootings have pushed this issue to the forefront. These events brought about the question: do violent video games induce aggression in youth? That’s the question I set out to answer by looking at research. The research shows that there is a link between playing video games and increases in aggression in adolescents. What implications does this fact have ethically? It means that video game producers and distributors need to be held responsible for their releases and the way they end up in the hands of kids.
Video games have been a growing industry for about 30 years and has never been bigger. As a whole, the industry made around $66 billion last year, and is expected to make even more this coming year. Because of this growth, gamers have sought better graphics, better stories, and even more violence. Developers have satisfied this want with more M rated games that include heavier violence, stronger language, sexual themes, and intense blood and gore. Past acts and laws have been put in place to try and eliminate violence in video games. These laws have stiffled the industry's freedom of expression and caus...
The censoring of violent video games has been a controversial issue since the early 90’s to the present time, and has been growing more and more with the advanced graphics that have been developing each and every year. (Including the fact that people react even more to the unexplained missions that they give in video games). For the good of society violent video games should be banned.
Just like movies and TV shows, video games have the same rating system based on age.
Violent video games have become more realistic every year. Children spend about 40 hours seated in front of a screen killing cartoon characters. It has been debated whether minors under the age of 18 should play violent video games that contain physical harm, killing, and sexual assault. In the contrary, people say video games increases the capacity of learning of children, but violent video games cause great damages. Although there are an increase learning skills playing video games, violent video games should be prohibited to minors because it changes an individual behavior, physical, and brain.
...or even animal abuse can result from aggression caused by these games, states Dr. Phill. This is why I believe teens should not be aloud to buy and be influenced by these inappropriate video games.
“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
In 2008, the computer and video game industry has made $1.7 billion in revenue. Of this, 16% was made through the sale of violent video games (FYI: Video Game Statistics by the Entertainment Software Association | Critical Gaming Project). Many parents are concerned about these violent games because of how they can affect their children. Many think that these games are dangerous and should be banned. Others believe that the sale of these games should go unregulated. Whereas still others believe that there is a middle ground between these in restricting the sale or rental to minors.