ADHD Symptoms Scale Self-Report

Technology is an important aspect of change in our world. As time goes on, we are introduced to more and more technology every year, which includes media such as video games. The increase of technology has also increased and improved the world including ways of communicating and distribution of information. More often used outlets of media are those used for entertainment purposes, like television, internet and video games. The ones who are most likely to engage in these media outlets are millennials and the most recent generation Z, because they have been introduced to these outlets from a young age. In fact, a study found that children spend around 9 hours a week playing video games (Polman, de Castro, & van Aken, 2008). It is evident that video games are progressively becoming more violent in nature, and with children spending as much time as they do playing video games, there are questions that must be asked, is the violent nature of video games effecting today’s youth? And if so in what ways?

One of the many observed effects of social media is the violent tendencies that seem to become more common in the upcoming generations. Many video games and movies show a lot of violence and these things can sometimes make an impression on the children. Even though there are many studies on media violence on children, there are really no clear answers. But different television, film, video games, etc. have definitely raised the level of violence in children and it continues to rise. Murray, a developmental psychologist, says even though that television and film are just as violent but video games are more worrisome in that it requires the player to be heavily involved in the game, and through repetition

The release of early games, such as Pac-Man, Donkey-Kong, and Space Invaders, initiated the innovative and precedent era of video game popularity; however, modern games follow a distinctly uniform pattern in violent graphics and paucity of discretion. Whereas early media did little to affect the teenage psyche, the impact of modern media and its barbaric implications are considerably heightened by the large teen proclivity towards television, video games, and film. Surveys by the Kaiser Family Foundation6 have shown that in today’s highly digitalized society, children ages eight to eighteen spend approximately six and a half to seven and a half hours a day using media devices. Correlatively, research from the Pew Internet Project reveal that 97% of American teenagers play video games. Such media saturation, while undoubtedly harmful to health and social interactions, has only become psychologically harmful in recent years with the emergence of violence in interactive and narrative media. Unable to actively participate in violent crimes in the real world, teenagers take solace in doing so in the imaginary one, effectively learning to disassociate themselves from the characters they brutalize and murder. This talent, unfortunately, has become useful to those whose minds have been

(White, 2009, p. 2) Video games also cause children to develop social problems. Their empathy decreases and they are less willing to help others. Children become antisocial spending less and less time interacting with family members, friends, and playing. They are controlled by what is occurring on the screen in front of them, locking themselves up in their rooms, or away from others just to play endless hours of video games. Video games have progressed over recent years becoming far more violent, sophisticated, and addictive. Studies have shown that the effects of video games and aggressive behavior follow almost the same pattern as that of studies with violent media such as cartoons.

There are indicators that links playing violent video games to increasing aggression in young people. Teenagers who are expose to violent games are more supposable to increase the likelihood of experiencing aggressive thoughts, in which turns into the likelihood of engaging in physical aggression against another person. Furthermore, violent video games produce an emotional desensitization to aggression and violence to the youth (Anderson). Based on the observation teenagers are exposed to when they are playing violent video games, they will reenact almost immediately in real life if the situational contact is sufficiently similar to the ones in the games. Therefore, consumption of violent video games produces negative behaviors that are controlled by negative

There is a concern that video games, especially the violent ones are capable of causing aggression (Anderson, 2004, 152). To support this claim, there is a number of different studies that represent the connection between playing video

Findings supporting these claims also show that with an increase in violence comes other negative health risks such as an increased likelihood of substance abuse, sexual activity, and obesity(Denniston, Swahn, Feldman, and Romero). Media use, and subsequent exposure to violent content is extremely prevalent among 8 to 18 year old children who spend, on average, 7.4 hours a day using media or computers and 80% of teens have some type of gaming console(Denniston, Swahn, Feldman, and Romero) These claims and the amount of media children are exposed to were concerning enough that the American Academy of Pediatrics started making advisory statements about violent video games and media being health risks for children in 2001. (Hall, Day, and Hall) Since then the link between violent games and violent behavior in youths has been researched across many “population groups”(Denniston, Swahn, Feldman, and Romero). The second theory revolves around any positive effects that might be gained from playing these games (Hall, Day, and Hall). Stating that these may offer “safe” outlets for negative emotions and thusly allowing players to be more emotionally balanced. (Hall, Day, and Hall)

In 2008, 97% of twelve to seventeen year olds in America played video games, thus fueling the domestic video games by $11.7 million. Ten out of the top twenty best-selling video games contain violence. Many of these violent video games have been accused of incidents that include crime, bullying, and behavior problems. As the popularity of violent video games increase, more people become victims of behavior problems such as depression, aggressiveness, and addiction. Although video games were intentionally created for entertainment purposes, through studies and experiments it has been established that they are factors of behavior problems because of the active interaction people demonstrate while playing video

The controversy over how violent video games may affect behaviors in juveniles is an unintended link between video games and violent behavior, which is unproven. Sales of video games have increased dramatically in the last decade, while juvenile violent crimes have declined. In the past, the disputed forms of media included dime novels, comic books, music, film, television and video games, but video games have the ability to entertain and educate. The basic type of media for juveniles is games, which entails interactive media. Video games are interactive media. Even though video games are produced and intended for children’s entertainment, the average age of video enthusiasts in the past few years is in the

According to CNN, 90% of America’s youth ranging from eight to sixteen year olds play about thirteen hours of video games a week (Saidi and Gross). Video games have become such a prominent part of our society and have affected viewers in a negative way through the countless violent acts portrayed throughout the games, promoting violent behaviors among the youth in our society.

Thesis: The research to be presented in this paper clearly and objectively indicates that adolescent boys that play violent video games frequently do in fact act out physically aggressive behaviors later in their lives.

When kids get bored they turn to their PlayStation four, Nintendo DS, or Xbox and play their favorite games. According to the journal of the American Medical Association, “Several peer-reviewed studies have shown that children who play M-rated games are more likely to bully and cyberbully their peers, get into physical fights, be hostile, and show aggression towards their peers.”(Carter 32) Video games are known as ‘time-wasters’ to parents, and worse, these games can corrupt the brain. Furthermore, when playing violent video games kids can attach the game into their personal life. Some games can teach kids wrong values. Playing violent video games can cause aggression, bullying, and depression in kids.

In today’s society, the average child will devote most of his or her time to playing video games. Research shows that about 38% of preadolescent and 41% of adolescent males use video games on a given day compared with only 16% of preadolescent and 7% of adolescent females (Calvert et. Al. 129). They would spend about 13 hours a week playing video games and around 89% of those games include violence and blood. In Jia-Kun Zheng article, “Priming Effect of Computer Game Violence on Children’s Aggression Levels,” Zheng mainly focuses on how violent and non-violent games effect children, ranging from age 9 to 12, aggression levels. In order to determine the effects, two experiment, referred to as Study 1 and Study 2, were done. In Study 1 the participants played two games and identified them as violent and non-violent. In Study 2 the participants played either the violent or non-violent game and after were tested on the way they responded to a series of questions. In the end they found that those who played violent video games had higher levels of aggression compared to the children who played non-violent video games. While there was no significant difference between girls who played violent video games and non-violent video games, there was a difference in the girls compared to boys – boys were more aggressive (Zheng and Zhang 1747-1755).

Video gaming has become a multi-billion dollar company, according to newzoo, worth almost $109 billion this year and it seems as if the new consoles and games never stop releasing. Are these greedy corporations the cause for violence in children? According to Anderson and Bushman (2002), each violent video game episode may reinforce the notion that aggression is an effective and appropriate way to deal with conflict. The Taylor Competitive Reaction Time Test is one of the most commonly used tests to measure aggressive behavior in a laboratory environment (flexiblemeasures.com). According to research by Anderson, Gentile, and Buckley video games can become problematic for children who spent more time on video games lower grades were achieved compared to their peers who played less frequently. Additionally, according to the above research, these children showed more aggressive impulses and were more likely to infer hostile intent when none existed.

Playing video games is a popular pastime for kids and teenagers, one that is causing much concern for teachers and educators. The most popular games generally are filled with violence and gore, whether they be about war, street life, or otherwise. All over the world, teenagers and children (79% of them!) fill their free time with explosions, gunfire, and fistfights, and it all takes place behind the relative safety of a screen and controller. It can become so addictive that they play upwards of eight hours a week. Though these people don't physically participate in the calamity that takes place in their games, there are real world consequences for their involvement in them, both physiological and psychological. The negative link between the excessive violent video game usage is clear, according to a recent paper by David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the family. The effects of playing these games include increased aggressive instinct, physical reactions such as increased heart rate, and lower happiness levels throughout the day.