The effect of video games on the behaviour of youth raises a lot of controversy. Video games have a huge impact on youth culture, as the video game industry is one of the largest sectors in the entertainment industry; over 80% of youth aged 6 to 17, play video games. Several games contain mature content, thus giving them a rating of M; despite children making up a small percentage of the youth who play videogames, statistics show that a certain percentage of kids have been able to play M-rated games. In addition, approximately 89% of games contain some form of violent content, and half of these games contain serious violent gameplay towards another character in the game (Gentile, Lynch, Linder, and Walsh 7). An international study indicates 7 to 11 percent of the
The first effect of violent video games is a shown increase in aggression, thinking skills begin to match the thinking skills of those characters in games. Teenagers begin to think through aggression problems will be solved. These problem solving theories are a result of violent games. In the article “Shooting in the Dark” by Benedict Carey he states that, “Games are more violent and realistic and bloodier”. He also states in the article paragraph three, line two that, “Playing the games can and does stir hostile urges and mildly aggressive behavior in the short term. Moreover, youngsters who develop a gaming habit can become slightly more aggressive”. Aggression can take a variety of forms and can be physical or be communicated verbally or non-verbally. The acts of teenagers aggression are both shown through Verbal acts and physical acts. An example of physical aggression as result of violent video games is Devin Moore. Devin Moore Alabama (teen) on suspicion of car theft. When brought into the station he attacked a police officer. He stole his gun and fled the scene with a pair keys, and drove away from the pol...
Video games have been on the rise for decades now. In the 80’s, the release of the gore infested Mortal Kombat sent shivers up parent’s spines forcing a rating system similar to the rating system used for movies. Technically an M-Rated game is only available to a consumer 17 or older, much like an R-rated movie. The largest difference however is that if a parent wants to bring an underage child to an R-rated movie, they must watch the movie together, but rarely does a parent know what their child is playing beyond the brief synopsis of the rating in the bottom corner of the package.
Violent video games are becoming more popular among children and adolescents of all ages since its debut approximately 30 years ago. This growing popularity is generating an increasing concern that these sometimes very graphic videos and life like characters can have a negative influence on the younger generation. Although never proven, there has been speculation that some of the high school shootings across the country were committed by students who were habitual players of violent video games. Due to these concerns, a non-profit, self-regulatory organization was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to appropriately rate all video games from EC (early childhood), E (everyone), E10+ (everyone 10 and over), T (teen), M (mature), and AO (adults only). While assessing the efficacy of violent video game ratings, it is unknown how effective these ratings are for the intended audience (Becker-Olsen & Norberg, 2010).
In recent years, many technological advancements have led to a new form of entertainment for society. One of the soaring forms of this entertainment is video games. While the sale of games continue to rise at a drastic rate, game designers and the media focus the public's attention on violent video games, since it seems to currently be to the more attractive type of game, not only among the public, but the gaming industries as well. As these games become increasingly popular, there has been an abundance of researchers and health officials that say that such games result in increased violence among juveniles. Many believe that violent video games cause behavioral problems and therefore increase crime rate and violence among youth; however, research has shown that some of these studies are inaccurate because they do not effectively measure aggression and that these games can contribute in a positive way.
It's a surprising fact that 90 percent of young boys and 40 percent of young girls play video games on a regular basis. The real question is how many of those young people play violent video games, and of those, how many have become more violent as a result? Although some people don't believe that violent video games are harmful to young boys and girls, they are harmful because they cause more aggressive behavior and they desensitize.
It seems that in every facet of the media today, when it comes to teenagers and acts of extreme violence, people are quick to point the finger at violent video games. Several school shootings in the past were definitely used to target these types of games as the cause to violent youth. This response is usually not related to facts, but rather to emotions. People that blame violent video games for teenagers and their corrupted behaviors just want a simple answer to a complicated issue. Unfortunately, there is not just one cause that leads teenagers to commit violent acts.
Since the introduction of video games in the late 1900s, people of all ages have been captivated by virtual reality and experiences that can be shared by family and friends. Like many forms of media, video games have been the subject of continual controversy and censorship, due to the use of graphic violence, sexual themes, substance abuse, gambling, propaganda, profanity or any other sensitive subject matter in various games. The video game industry has dealt with several issues concerning their rating system in the past and people have wondered whether they need external help to address this problem. The video game industry is doing a sufficient job of regulating itself when involving mature content in violent games and the government should not interfere in this industry's ratings system.
In conclusion, our study has demonstrated that a rise in social aggression may not be caused by violent video games, as there is no correlation proven to be significant from these results. Although the concerns are still great, future research should look into more of the short-term effects on teens and young adults from playing video games and then approach the idea of the habituation of violence from these games. A rise in aggression is something that should be taken seriously and future research should reflect that.
Video games have begun consume a large portion of the time our youth has and has begun to increasingly play a role as big as family and even a social life, but the question is that are the video games that they are playing begun to affect their behaviour in a violent way. Over the years video games have evolved from a simple form of entertainment where two players hit a two dimensional ball back and forth with one another until someone misses; to a variety of diverse and complex games. These games can incorporate many themes, such as: education, action, adventure, simulation, RPG (role playing games) and many others, in these games a players can build lives for their characters; use them to engage in social activities and even experience things they could not imagine to do in real life. These experience could range from bowling to learning how to operate a plain to even exploring space, at the same time this range includes war, murder and the use of a dangerous weapons.