In the United States, Ninety percent of adolescents between the ages of eight and sixteen play some sort of video game. They spend thirteen hours a week playing these games. According to CNN Health, if said adolescents are male that number is more than likely higher(Harding). The main question, however, is does the violence in these video games cause violent behaviours? Do prolonged hours to military like games cause adolescent youth to become and angry? Not at all. There have been many studies done to actually prove that violent video games have no effect on behavior.
Blood, gore, explicit content, use of drugs, intense violence, some might think this describes some drug war in a third world country but these are actual phrases the the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) uses to describe the Grand Theft Auto Series ("Harvard Mental Health Letter" ). In 2008, the Pew Research center stated that ninety-seven percent of youths ages twelve to seventeen played some type of video game, over half of which played video games with violent content. A separate study found that close to half of the video games out there rated by ESRB (See Figure 1 for an example of a rating)were considered violent and close to ninety percent of those games were rated for ten year olds and above ("Harvard Mental Health Letter" ). Given how popular these games are its no wonder that mental health experts find themselves being asked by parents what effect do these games have on their children.
Hundreds of studies have been done to determine whether violent video games will really make juveniles more violent. Randomized experiments were used in several studies to examine the short-term effect of violent video games (Anderson and Berkowitz et al. 90). In these studies, children were randomly assigned to play violent or nonviolent video games and then were observed when given an opportunity to be aggressive. The result was that children who played violent video games usually behaved aggressively.
There have been numerous studies, but none have proven a correlation between poor behavior and violent video games. Source B mentions many studies and researchers that have become “concerned,” but never mentions any concrete evidence of fault in video games and behavior. It specifically recounted of a study by the American Psychological Association that did not find a link between video games and engaging in violent behavior. This link remaining absent takes away much of the argument against video games. In any case, the concerns raised on this segment of the entertainment enterprise are not justified due to a lack of
This article is a very useful source. Is useful because it answers the question, “Do violent video games cause an increase in aggression.” The question is answered thoroughly by the author because they cited recent studies, examples, and peer reviewed or scholarly sources that all concluded that violent video games cause an increase in aggression. The author is objective because they countered their argument by stating that
Prolonged scenes of massive violence, graphic sexual content, and animated blood are examples of statements that the Entertainment Software Rating Board uses to depict the content in over fifty- five percent of the video games rated yearly. The debate of whether the aggressive nature of these video games influences youth violence in our country has been heatedly battled for decades. Since the mid 1980’s, it has been suggested that high profile cases of violence are due to an aggressor’s excessive video game use. However, much like a cold case the type of connection between video game use and youth violence remains without a definite answer. Most believe that video game use negatively influences child aggression acts in our country. Others firmly declare that video games provide a realm of opportunity for child development. Ultimately, it is impossible to say that video game use affects every child the same way. New studies suggest that video games do not affect every child that plays a game. Although violent video games are innocuous for the majority of adolescents between the ages of twelve and eighteen, the effects of these games are aggravated in those with pre- existing antisocial or depressive traits.
“Approximately 90 percent of kids in the U.S. play video games, and more than 90 percent of those games involve mature content that includes violence.”-(Time Health). The link between violent media and aggression in video games has also created a spawn of research studies that has gone back and forth on the issue of whether
It is agreeable that there are some correlation between teenagers playing video games and how it affects the youth mentally. Heavy consumption of violence video games does indeed stimulate a change reaction in the brain waves, but there is no hard evidence stating that those changes causes teenagers to act aggressively and violently. On the contrary, it is a popular beliefs that violence video games does indeed causes teenagers to displayed unpleasant behaviors and actions because that is what they learned and observed from the games. Therefore, parents should limit and regulate the amount of time their teenagers are playing violence video games so that they can protect their children from negative behaviors.
Violent video games are undoubtedly a legalized drug to children and teens, numbing their thoughts and reprogramming their minds. Like a drug, it desensitizes them, and makes them more prone to violence. This idea of violent video games was not a phenomenon until the later 20th century, and evolved from racing into enemies, to free-for-all drug abuse and sexual/physical violence that most youth know and play today. These games have a detrimental impact on teens, making them eat more, become more aggressive, and wash away their morality. Although some may try to argue with reality, countering that its helps them socially, similar to the idea of teens taking drugs, violent video games reduce their overall health and need to be taken care
Kirsh, S. J. (2003). The effects of violent video games on adolescents. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 8(4), 377-389. Retrieved from
In the United States up to 97% of kids ages twelve to seventeen play video games. Many believe that people these ages shouldn’t be playing video games because they can be violent. The violence in these video games are thought to desensitize kids to violence and make them more likely to commit juvenile crimes. These thoughts and beliefs are false, because violent video games do not contribute to youth violence.
For years, the media, teachers and various types of scientists have made the topic video games and the possible influence it has on child and teen aggression. The spark up of the controversy all started with the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. Since then, most, if not all instances similar to that have thought to be linked to videogame violence, which in turn has led to numerous studies about this topic.But be that as it may the link between violent video games and adolescent aggression is far from being proven fact, however we cannot jump to the conclusion that violent video games build adolescent aggression.
Many people claim that violent video games increase aggression, however, this is not true. There has been an enormous amount of research done looking for any links violent video games and violence acts committed, and researchers haven't found any. Dr. Christopher Ferguson, a psychology professor at Texas A&M International University, cited data from federal criminal justice agencies showing that serious violent crimes among youths have decreased since 1996, even as video game sales have increased. Some research shows that almost over 97% of American boys own or have a violent video game in the there house. That's almost a 50% increase from
Video games don't make kids violent. First, There has been less arrest rates. In the article it states that the arrest rates are 38% below the 1980s. Most attacks aren't caused by violent video games. Con 4 it states that the 41 attackers they studied was 27% from movies, 24% from books, 37% from their own writings, and 12 from violent video games. People who play video games play them to release stress and anger. 61.9% of boys played to help them relax, 47.8% because it helps them forget their problems, and 45.5% to release stress or anger. Video games do not make you as
Video Games have come a long way since their first introduction into the main stream. With video games becoming more sophisticated and using advanced technology, it seems as if video games are closing in on the gap between games and reality. However, as video games become ever so life-like it brings up the question of if the violence associated with video games is having a negative consequence. There have been many accusations over the years over the harm video games are causing children and teenagers. Experiments have been conducted trying to associate a link between video games and aggressive behavior. Even the media has been known to point fingers at video games for the cause of children
Many of the young people of today’s generation have played video games; whether it is Candy Crush, Flappy Bird, Mario, Sonic, Call of Duty, Minecraft, or Skyrim. Almost every electronic device is capable of running games. As advancement in technology increases, the video game industry will also advance. More and more of the next generations are bound to be affiliated with video games. There is a debate whether video games cause people to be violent, especially in adolescents. Do video games really cause violence? There have been many researches done to come to a conclusion to this question. Not only did Armadi Tansal write an essay to help answer this question, but there has been an online
Ah yes video games are huge icons of culture and identity for the people of the newest generations but games aren 't usually digital rainbows and love but some revolve around violence in their our ways, so as you would expect these games deeds don’t get away without criticism and opposition to some degree. Are violent video games a major cause of violent and aggressive behavior in those who play them? Are they contenders in influencing behavior and even shootings from the violence done within these digital fronters? The issue has been a big debate among concerned people of the world and video game advocates for many years now. Some argue that violent video games do the opposite of increased aggressive behavior and likelihood to commit crimes in which games can actually help stop such, but is this always the case? Some critics also blame these games for numerous issues at hand like school shootings, bullying, and violence towards women, but are they the real causes? There are many studies within this debate for both side of the issue and interesting finds in violent video games. The video game industry is a huge million dollar industry and violence tends to be in a lot of them however.