Politicians point fingers at video games for a quick scapegoat, in order to appease and gain support of a community... ... middle of paper ... ... Violence in games is a reflection of real-world violence, meaning it was already existing. Even though parents or educators criticize kids and adults for wasting their time in something that will not help them in life, games provide means for many good things to occur. Being detrimental for the health of someone is not solely caused by video games; it may have to do with an already unbalanced lifestyle, or an addictive behavior. Games can be beneficial or harmful, it all depends on how they apply what they learn through games into their life. Simon Sinek said, "The only time I waste is time I spend doing something that, in my gut, I know I shouldn't.
A major issue people see when discussing this topic is that children who play video games often warp their sense of reality. The kids think that if they shoot a person in a game and nothing really happens then nothing will really happen if they shoot a person in real life. When video games first became popular, people may not have seen this as much of a problem because games were not very realistic. With the advancement of technology, however, video games are becoming more and more realistic. If video games become more realistic, children will forget what is real and what is simulated; a child seeing somebody violently murder another human being in a video game will have the same effects as seeing somebody murder another human being in real life.
Over the past years, video games have been a way to escape reality for some people. Video games vary from fantasy, romance, and role playing games to violent games. However, vicious video games have been blamed for school shootings, growths in bullying, and violence concerning women. Various people argue that these games numb players to violence, recompense players for imitating violence, and educate children that violence is a suitable way to resolve conflicts. Several studies display that video games with violent content are related to more hostile behavior in teens.
Do they cause humans to be more aggressive than we should be? Michele Zorrilla, the author of The Video Game Controversy: Aggression, Benefits, and Addiction explains, very unbiasedly, both sides of the argument. The article states how video games cause people to become more violent because of the types of games that they play. Most games that kids and young adults play nowadays are to kill the other player as many times as you can. Zorrilla also explains how video games can be beneficial to one’s life.
Jack Flanagan, the author of “Violent Video Games Promote Antisocial behaviors” discusses how video games correlate with everything we do which leads to his case that “video games mean trouble.” He contends, “Violent video games are linked to real-world violence, and we should stop pretending otherwise.” Flanagan adds, “Sitting at your console, it might be hard to believe that what you do next might actually impact who you become in the real world.” Most children and adolescents appreciate and crave praise for things they do. Most games give a sense of satisfaction and easy success. Players say things like “Good shot!” and talk about the numbers in a kill streak. Praise and repetition can be a harmful combination because the more praise a player receives for a certain behavior, the more likely the behavior will be repeated. This cycle of praise and success may lead into a gaming Additionally, and even more disturbing, researchers are discovering that violent video games can be desensitizing toward real violence.
Although, there are some strong theories and opinions to why these shooting occur; violent video games. In the articles "Frag Him" by Mike Jaccarino and "Shooting in The Dark" by Benedict Carey, these authors express their feelings on how violent video games correlate with these aggression that could eventually lead to horrific tragedies. Each author have similar and different thoughts regarding this serious matter. In Mike Jaccarino's article "Frag Him", he advocates that video games and aggression are most definitely linked. Violence in video games already heighten one's aggression after playing; but due to the technology we have today, the realism of it all is just making it worse.
Some people say that early childhood is the worst time to expose a person to violence in their life. “The U.S. surgeon general is poised to declare graphically violent television programming and video games harmful to children, marking a potential watershed in the debate over government regulation of entertainment” (Leeds A1). Another way video games can cause violence is from having little social life outside of video games, this can lead to not knowing how to deal with things in society that can cause anger or stress. People need to learn how to take care of anger and not let it turn into something dangerous. “(The games are) training for aggression, you can actually grow neural pathways called dendrites that enable you to perform more easily the physical acts of violence.
Violence in Video Games Do video games containing violence spark people of today to commit violent acts? Violence in video games are blamed for some of todays violent crimes. Some people believe that these crimes are committed due to playing a video game. Others believe that video games are a easy excuse for the violent acts, and keep America from looking deeper into the minds of people committing these acts. Video games are also thought to be a good way to take out some hostility.
On the other hand, Parents and other members of society emphasise that violent video games are harmful and should be subject to restrictions given by the authorities. This controversy led to on-going scientific studies, so as to ascertain the effects of these video games on their users. The Controversy Some individuals argue that violent video games can cause children to become less social as well as trigger aggressive behaviour. However, reports prove that these behavioural changes are not reproductive. Kids who are exposed to brutality in their daily lives are more prone to adopting aggression from playing violent video games, than those who do not suffer violence.
However, this does not mean all types of video games are bad and that children will only develop bad habits from playing the video games. Video games can have tremendous negative effects on the brains and body of children and adolescents. They also promote inactivity, health problems such as obesity, and violence towards others. First, playing violent video games can encourage kids to think violence is needed for everything they do or their personality may become more aggressive and violent. Violence can be life threatening and damaging to the child’s health and is the theme of a handful of video games.