Have you ever wondered if violent video games can cause aggression in children? Thousands of children all over the world engage in violent video games for a large amount of time during their day. According to ProCon.org 60% of middle school boys and 40% of middle school girls who played at least one Mature-rated (M-rated) game hit or beat up someone, compared with 39% of boys and 14% of girls who did not play M-rated games. I will be using naturalistic and case study research methods to determine if violent video games cause aggression in children.
For my naturalistic observations I decided to take a look at a family member who is in middle school. He has always been a video gaming kid while growing up and I wouldn’t say he is an aggressive
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A case study chooses one or a few people to do research on them. I choose to observe 5 random kids at Glenn C. Jones Middle School. They are from all different classes and the only thing they have in common is their love for video games, and their age. Their parents have agreed to let me do a case study on their children Gabe, Everon, Jerry, Phillip, and Keanu who are all in 6th grade and 11 years old. This case study will be over the course of their middle school years as a child. They all love videos games as much as the next boy in middle school does. War games, zombies, wrestling games, Grand Theft Auto and so much more are the most topped played games in the world. (INSERT STATISTIC HERE.) After school each day they have 3 hours from the time they are home to the time they go to bed to play their favorite video games. As they go about their day they all start to play around 6 in the afternoon. They all play Call of Duty Block Ops together through Xbox Live, so they can talk through their headsets. They’re coming up with strategies, and
maneuvering through the course while killing people on the opposite team to gain victory. Some are better than others at playing, but they are all being shot as well dying, and respawning to the check points. As 30 minutes go by they are all starting to get agitated because they are losing. Gabe, Keanu keep dying, and not helping the team win, while Jerry, Everon, and Phillip are gaining all the points, and pulling all the weight. They eventually take a break to recoup, and lets some stress of the game
“Study: Violent Video Game Play Makes More Aggressive Kids.” 2011. SIRS Researcher. Web. 23 Mar 2011.
The allegation that videogames cause violent behavior in children has been present as long as videogames themselves. Some researchers said that the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, was one intense gamer. “Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech Shooter was seen by his roomates as odd because he never joined them in video games.”(Beresin) This debate will continue to go on in this country as long as there are horrific crimes that occur. There is much written in the research regarding this issue, and many differing views. The research that is presented in the next few paragraphs supports the theory that it is not the graphic video games that produce aggressive behavior, but other factors in a child’s life that create violent actions.
Since the 1970 video games have become more popular than ever before. Generating 11.7 billions of dollars of sells every year or more, the video game industry is considered one of the largest industries in this century. However, video games have been a topic of controversy. With the sales of violent video games going up and the increased violence in schools and teenagers, video games are always to blame. Many people speculate that video games are the cause on why many teenagers have developed aggressive and violent behavior, are desensitize to violence, and the increase violence in schools and public places. In contradiction, video games have little or no fault in teenagers’ violent behavior and shouldn’t always be blamed.
Studies on the link between videogames and violent behaviors began in the late 1970’s. The first time a violent video game was introduced and raised some eyebrows about the amount of violence being displayed was with a certain racing video game. “The controversy dates all the way back to Death Race, a 1976 8-bit video game in which cars run over bad guys, turning them into tombstones” (Kelly, 1). The studies between videogames and violent behavior continued into the 1980’s. “In 1984, a study found that arcade games have a “calming effect” and that boys use them to blow off steam. Both studies relied on surveys and interviews asking boys and young men about their media consumption” (Kain, 2). As a result, the link between videogames and violent behavior has been studied for a long time.
Video games are one of the most addictive things in the world. Researchers said that more than 1.2 billion people are playing games worldwide whatever genre is. Many people buy it to have fun with friends, other people buy it for themselves, and others just buy it because they don’t have nothing to do at home. What many people concern about is whether or not kids should play video games. In my opinion, I believe that video games can make kids more violent for three main factors.
Violent video games and violent adolescent behavior, is there a connection? Millions of violent video games are sold around the United States, millions more are sold overseas, but the numbers of violent crimes, that could be associated with violent video games is low. Assault, robbery, burglary, rape and murder occur daily. The drug industry accounts for the majority of these crimes. The cases not related to drugs, fall into a number of categories, including Psychological Disorders. Disorders that can cause violent behavior are psychotic or anti-social behavior, depression, schizophrenia, delusion, disassociation, and any others recognized by a Psychologist.
The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review on existing articles relating to the possibility of violent video games promoting aggressive behavior. The hypothesis set forth was that people who played non-violent video games displayed more Prosocial behavior versus those who played violent video games displayed more antisocial and aggressive behavior. A search was conducted on regular search engines on the internet, and on EBSCOhost using the title “can violent video games promote aggressive behavior.” The research articles presented are obtained from five case studies each focusing on different measures that were obtained, methods used, the participants involved, the designs of the study, and the results of the studies.
One article points out that video games have a big impact on children’s lives and that many of the games played are violent. Researchers have found that “nearly all children spend time playing video games” and studies have found that “8th graders spent an average of 17 hours per week playing video games” (Tamborini 336). Moreover, 68% of the most popular video games contain violence (Tamborini 336). So it is clear that many children have access to violent video games and they have a big impact on their lives simply because of the amount of time spent playing them.
At this day in age we bask in the luxury of having easy access to advanced technology at our disposal. From the World Wide Web, to cell phones, music, movies and video games the human race has thought of any and everything to keep us entertained. Over the years studies have shown reasonable concerns regarding the long-term effects of video games. These games can desensitize gamers to real life violence, which is usually seen in the younger crowd. The studies especially hit on the games containing player-on-player violence. Though these games are extremely entertaining and can get kids to settle down for a while, if not properly supervised, they can produce adverse effects. Other studies have shown that video games can be used as way to yield positive outcomes such as, good problem solving skills, cooperation in a group and the ability to flow. Although there has been psychological research on children learning through the actions of others some believe that children are automatically able to distinguish between what is just a game and what is reality. The longer they are allowed on their game system the more they become convinced that their games are real. Some researchers believe violent video games can channel the aggression of the child but the parents are to blame for what happens to the child after playing an excessive amount over a period of time. Children can become preoccupied with these violent video games which have been proven to be the cause of poor social skills, uncontrollable aggression and a false reality.
Over the past 30 years, playing video games has become one of the most popular hobbies worldwide. Not only has the video game industry become a multi-billion dollar industry, but it has attracted people from all age types. While video games today are played by both kids and adults, there are many issues being raised regarding the effects of video games. More particular, is the effect that violent video games may be having on children. Some critics argue that video games are direct indicators of child aggression while video game supporters argue that there is no direct link between child aggression and violent video games. While many people have their own personal stances, this issue is unique because it is unfolding everyday. Scientists and researchers all over the world are continuously doing research regarding the effects of video games on children. Even though this remains a field of uncertainty for researchers, parents should definitely be involved in being aware of what it is that they’re children are playing when they play video games.
By far the largest concern of technology today is video games. There have been so many experiments and studies to try and figure out if video games have a negative or positive effect on our children. A growing body of research is linking violent video game play to aggressive cognitive, attitudes and behaviors (D.A. Gentile, 2004). Video games can obviously be dangerous for our children causing aggression, bad performances in school and obesity. Although we cant blame all of these problems on the use of video game...
Vastag, Brian. “Does Video Game Violence Sow Aggression? Studies Probe Effects of Virtual Violence on Children”, JAMA, Chicago: April 2201. Vol. 291, Iss. 15; pg. 1822. Retrieved: 16 August 2004
Ihori, N., Sakamoto, A., Shibuya, A. & Yukawa, S. (2007). Effect of video games on children’s aggressive behavior and pro-social behavior: A panel study with elementary school students. Retrieved 26 March 2014 from http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/07312.31554.pdF
A study in the medical journal Pediatrics discusses how a group of 181 Japanese students from the ages 12 to 15, and 364 U.S. children from the ages 9 to 12 were tested in order to observe the effects of violent video games. It was recorded that the children who were more subjected to the violent video games were more aggressive than their complements who did not participate in the games. (Moeller) The children who played the games also ended up controlling numerous situations inadequately; this involves pushing or shoving for what they wanted, or yelling at each other. It is tolerable to have faith in that this is a standard stereotype for children at this age; however, children are becoming more and more out of control and belligerent. Research has also found that, controlling for prior aggression, children who played more violent video games during the beginning of the school year showed more aggression than other children later in the school year
“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