Violent Video Games

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In 1977, video games have become popular. Since then, companies began to introduce technology into video games; they developed video games to be more realistic and interactive, but many video games have become violent. They have bloody, nasty scene where player can be part of the game and engage with games such as Nintendo games. As a result, children’s behaviour have become worse, and show some violent behaviour. For instant, in April 2002, Erfurt, Germany: a 19-year-old runs amok with a gun at a school. His 20-minute shooting frenzy leaves 17 dead, including himself. Psychologists have done studies to know whether these games are connected with violent games or not. Although there are some criticism, some experts believe that violent video games cause aggressive behaviour, decrease pro-social and aggressive thought and feeling because they are realistic, interactive and children can copy them.
Violent video games increase aggressive behaviour in children. Studies involving around 3000 participants found that aggression has a direct relation with violent video games. Certainly, this effect of violent video games on aggression is as strong as the effect of condom use on risk of HIV infection; furthermore, they found that violent video games increase aggressions in both genders in children and adults in experimental and non-experimental studies (Anderson & Bushman 2001, pp. 353-359). Another study says that violent video games lead children to commit felonies. Craig Anderson of Iowa state university in Ames and his colleague Karen Dill found that people who play violent games are more likely to perpetrate assaults and robberies (Muir 2004, p.26A). Another study was published in the Journal of Adolescence by Barbara Krahe and her ...

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...g Anderson, PhD, show that violent games could have even stronger effects on children’s behaviour because the games are extremely engaging, interactive, and reward violent behaviour, and the children are repeating these behaviour over and over as they play (Gentile Anderson, 2003, cited Violent Video Games Psychologists Help Protect Children from Harmful Effects 2004). Similarity, certain types of violent video games may be as effective in training killers as flight simulators are in training (B. Sullivan, as quoted in Wood & Johnson, 2000 , cited Vessey & Lee 2001 p.608). Furthermore, a study was done by Bandura and Walter's found that children innate tendency to observe and copy the behaviour of those who are significant in their lives, and they can often correctly imitate a behaviour in the first time (Bandura & Walter's cited in Vessey & Lee 2000, p. 608).

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