Negative Effects Of Violent Video Games

For example violent video games allow players to unleash any type of anger they have onto the game instead of acting out aggressively in the real world. A peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that teenagers, especially boys, play video games as a way to control themselves when it comes to their emotions. 61.9% of the boys who were studied said they played to help them relax, ' 47.8% because 'it helped them forget their problems, ' and 45.4%p played because it helped them get their anger out. Teenagers can use these games to experience fantasies of power and fame, to explore what they accept as exciting and realistic environments to work through angry feelings or relieve stress. The games can serve as a substitute for actually rough and aggressive play. Also many studies fail to look for other factors that can contribute to why teenagers are aggressive, such as family history and mental health, plus most studies do not follow children over long periods of time. Video game experiments usually just have people playing a game for a few minutes, which is not how games are played in real life. Most teens end up playing their games for hours. What is not addressed in most studies that are against video game violence is the majority of well-adjusted teenagers who are also playing those same games, and are showing no signs of any kind of aggressive

A huge controversy in today’s society is violent video games and their behavioral effect on the children and adults who play them. Violent video games have been blamed for bullying, school shootings, and even violence towards women. Many have fought that violent video games desensitize players to real-life violence, and that they are teaching the youth that violence is an acceptable conflict-solving strategy. Other sources have stated otherwise. The 2004 Secret Service has stated that only one-eighth of attackers have exhibited interests in video games. Violent Video games do not cause violent behavior or behavior problems because it has not been proven that there is a link between violent video games and behavioral issues, playing video games provide a safe outlet for aggressive and angry feelings and reduces violence in young children, and violent juvenile crime has actually gone down since the violent video game popularity has increased.

Over the past few centuries,video games have become a great leisure and hobby among kids of all ages and cultures. With the advancement of technology, video games have advanced highly in its realism and genres. This high type of advancement brought the video game industry to a multi-billion dollar industry. However, with realism, comes negative effects as well. Ever since the creation of violent or “mature” video games, there has been a constant debate on whether it will increase violence in the player. Although, not all video games are violent, and just increase skills in a player such as hand-eye coordination. Nevertheless, there is research going on for the link between violent video games and youth violence. The question is which event happens first in the sequence, do violent video games aggravate a person’s violent behavior, or does a person get rid of their anger through playing violent video games? Either way, violent video games are not beneficial to our society.

Moreover, many kids deal with violence and can’t control it. As a result of having issues with violence some people play video games to let their violence and anger out. People need to understand that “ [b]ut overall, violent crime is down in the US-indeed, as violent games have become more popular, violent crime has fallen." (Erik Kain 1) The more popular the game is studies show violent

In today’s society there has been an ongoing debate regarding the effects of violent video games and the development of today’s youth. Many people believe that the violence in video games promotes aggression. According to Doctor Brad Bushman’s article, "Do Violent Video Games Increase Aggression?" he claims that violent video games leads to aggression because it is interactive process that teaches and rewards violent behavior. Yet others believe that this not the case. Gregg Toppo of the Scientific American, writes in his article, “Do Video Games Inspire Violent Behavior?” that video games are not a significant issue because teenagers know how differentiate between reality and fantasy. Because of the controversy surrounding this topic, I decided to research the question, “Does exposure to violent video games cause aggressive behavior among teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18?” Initially before performing any extensive research on this subject, I hypothesized that violent video games do cause aggressive behavior. I then proceeded to study different scholarly works that both supported and opposed my hypothesis. What I learned from those works eventually gave me a more complete understanding of the topic and allowed me to take a more educated stance.

Video games have created controversy in the United States and around the globe since they first arrived. Some games depict acts of violence, such as gunfights, fistfights, and even show acts of terrorism. People say that these violent video games cause violent tendencies and put vicious thoughts in the heads of mass shooters, but the research shows otherwise. Experts have studied the effect of video games on violent thoughts in teens, and controversy surrounds the topic. However, upon analyzing the data, the information becomes clear. Video games do not cause violent tendencies and have no part in mass shootings.

With todays market, if someone were to walk into any game store across the country, they would realize that any child with parental approval can attain these games, making it virtually easy for anyone of any age to play violent games. If we combine the 2009 study as well as this jaw-dropping statistic, we can easily see that most kids will grow up more violent than the previous generation, making today’s world full of danger and crime. Moreover, we can also see how indirectly, violent video games can cause teens to become more aggressive. According to a study conducted by Brad Bushman on violent video games, kids who played violent video games and were offered M&M candy to eat while playing ate almost three times as much candy compared to kids who played non-violent video games under the same circumstances. Not only does this show the physical health effects of these games, but by processing this information, one can see that it shows a foundational fact that kids show less restraint overall when playing violent video games, whether in candy or violence. To conclude this study further, Bushman measured direct aggression through having teens in both criteria play a game where they would blast someone else through noises with different volumes and lengths. The results showed that violent video gamers blasted their “partner” with louder and

Violent video games have been a popular pass time for American teenagers ever since the first ones were released. The most popular of these games are Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat, and Doom. It has become a popular belief that these games are directly linked to violent behaviors in our youth. Numerous scholars have set out to determine the validity of these assumptions through vast surveys and studies in America. All of these scholars share the belief that violent video games affect the minds of teenagers in some way, but they do not necessarily agree on whether the effects are constructive or deconstructive in the development of young minds. Russell Laczniak, author of Parental Restrictive Meditation and Children’s

The link between violent video games and increased aggression in players is most studied and established in the field, but it still requires more research in order to conclude that violent video games are turning people into real criminals. A more comprehensive study, taking a bigger sample size of varied age groups and gender is required in this area to overcome the gaps in research.

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.

The relevance of violence in video games in the United States today is currently being discussed as a concerning topic in congress. Many people argue these video games influence individuals to commit crimes and lead to mass shootings. The arrival at a decision to ban the production and distribution of M-rated video games in America has come to a standstill. Research has proven that violence in video games has many positive and negative effects on the brain, but the severity of these effects does not compare to overall aspect of violence in video games. Ferguson admits “...there is not enough evidence to prove that violence in video games is directly related to aggressive behavior” (Ferguson, ). Because there is no proven evidence, congress is at a standstill on its decision to ban these video games until they are proven to have a negative influence on society. News media continues to persuade the masses about their opinion on the subject and most of the time their evidence is false or one-sided. The people deserve the truth about extreme video games and until research accurately proves the effects of these video games, people will believe the opinion of others. The evidence suggests that extreme video games involving violence offer players a form of catharsis, along with enhanced cognitive skills,

The kids that played the violent video games showed more aggression, but that does not mean they are violent (Etchells). The kids are given more freedom and control in the games, so when they are not playing they just have extra energy that can be seen in their emotions commonly (“Do…). Video games help kids regulate their emotions, serving as an emotional outlet that children could plug into and release their emotions easily (“Do…). Children with mental health issues are also not affected by violent video games as proven in a study by Dr. Ferguson (Patterson). Dr. Ferguson states “ We found no evidence that violent video games increase bulying or delequent behavior among vulnerable youth with clinically elevated mental health symptoms.” (Patterson). Doctor Ferguson went on to describe it as a “cathartic effect” because the children that showed aggression became calmer after the trials (Patterson).

Many experiments that blame video games for increased aggression and desensitization to violence do not account for factors such as family history and mental health. It's questionable to claim that video games alone could turn a previously upstanding teen into a delinquent. Previous experiments often relied on only ten minutes of playing followed by a questionnaire to establish increased regression levels. With such limited data, it's easy to make rash assumptions. A three year study conducted by psychology professor Christopher J. Ferguson saw the effects of violent video games on aggression vanish when adjusted to how the games are played in real life. (3) In fact, over time, video games seemed to actually help players

Over the years, the popularity of computer and video games has grown. Specifically violent video games make up more than 50 % of the top selling games. These games include violent themes that involve guns, crime, blood, and gore. There is an ongoing belief that these types of games are to blame for the many acts of violence in society and have encouraged America’s youth to act out in aggression. Several organizations, such as the PTC (Parents Television Council) have moved to discourage the development of violent games while also pushing for stronger regulations when purchasing such games. There is also debate among parents and concerns on how games can negatively influence their children. So is there a direct link between video games and violence? The truth is video games do not encourage violence in society based on several factors which include scientific studies, statistics on crime, and prevention measures adopted by game publishers.

Violent video games in particular are extremely popular in the United States. Many of these games are designed for adults but wind up in the hands of children. We have to ask ourselves what impact violent video games have on the adolescent brain. Two lawyers debate in the Case of Brown vs. Entertainment Merchants Association, US Supreme Court (2010). Prosecutor Steven F. Gruel argues that there is a substantial amount of evidence to make the conclusion that violent video games cause adolescents to act in a violent manner (Gantt and Silfe).  Defense Attorney Patricia A. Millett argued that the evidence claimed by Gruel is inconclusive, and his claims are false.