Parents A Choice For Children : Parents Making A Choice

Thousands of teens in the United States play violent video games everyday, for hours on end. Teens and children playing violent games are now accepted as a part of life. They sit in front of a screen and watch blood and gore, with no emotions and without cringing. The games become increasingly more violent, as the age that children begin to play these games drops, from twelve to ten to eight. Now, we have six or seven-year-old children playing games rated M, for 17 and older. Teens should not be allowed to play violent role-playing games because it teaches them that violence is acceptable, that it is fun to be violent, as well as desensitizing them to violence.

The effects of both violent and non-violent video game playing can be determined by the amount of time playing the video game and by the content of the games being played. The content of the games being played could definitely have a factor in how a child performs in school, and how aggressive they are towards peers and teachers. Obviously if a child is playing hours upon hours of violent video games, this can lead to them acting out violence and having no consequences for it. If a child took the time that they played video games a week and used that time to be engaged in reading, homework or even a creative activity we’d have less issues with our children’s school performances. Parents should really be monitoring how long their child is playing video games, but this doesn’t always happen. A child who plays video games for long periods of time could also build up a social wall, become a loner. It is important for children to interact with other children in order to help develop their social skills, which without will make it very difficult to make it in this world. At the age children start playing video games, it is hard for them to distinguish what is reality and what is not. So in some cases the violent acts in video games could make the child believe the world is a scary place.

The topic of whether or not minors should be allowed to purchase violent video games containing violent content is very popular in current years and there are many arguments to support either side of the debate. I personally believe that minors should be allowed to purchase video games with violent content. In this essay I will argue why I feel this way.

It has also been revealed in studies that exposure to violence in video games can produce violent behavior, and possibly even lead to violence at school or home. The resolution of this problem is not easy, but one short-term explanation is for government guidelines for game sales. If the government makes retailers keep track of which games are being sold to young kids, then children would not be able to buy violent games. Because video games have a rating system, it would only be needed for retailers to guarantee that minors and young children are unable to buy games with a rating greater than their age limit. I do think that as parents we need to focus on what we let our kids see and the activities they participate in. The debate about whether video games have a negative or positive actions depends on one’s philosophical perspectives. Parents need to reexamine their method on how their kids should interact and engage with video games. This good vs. bad approach might be comfortable, but it also seems to be out of touch with the kinds of thinking that we consider through to be in the highest attention of our kids. Is this exactly how we show our kids to ponder about things? I do not think so! We insist that they learn to be at ease with some level of

Even though some of these games can be taken too far, it isn’t reasonable to blame the games for the fault of some players. Furthermore, because children are being raised in such a violent society already, the games should not be considered a dangerous or bad outlet for

Video games shoulder the blame when discussing the delicate minds of children and what they are exposed to. The name of their game: Desensitization. A virtual reality which enables adolescents to relate to or live through a fictional character can undercut the violence some of these games let the player experience. “First person shooter (FPS), Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games and fighting games largely favor intense battles with temporary or no unfavorable consequences”(Philips 2009). Some games allow the user total freedom, including the ability to run over, shoot, and dismember pedestrians for points. The impact may vary between aggressive behavior and social ineptitude; either which still requiring a nominal amount of exposure to highly explicit depictions by this form of entertainment. In addition, not to be left out is the possibility that a lack of sufficient interaction from parental figures resulted in the reclusive or aggressive behavior of a child to begin with(Jones).

Many parents go through the same cycle in regards to dealing with their children. Kids come home from a long day of school and want a distraction from all the knowledge they consumed that day. However, a parent does not always have the time or even the ability to entertain their kids, so while they remain in the kitchen finishing preparing dinner, their children sit on the couch and engage in video games. Obviously, each parent wants what is best for their child and worries about the effect of all these violent video games corrupt with shooting, punching, blood, gore, and of course, death. Which is exactly what leads them to this question. Researchers at Ohio State University asked parents, media researchers, pediatricians, and psychologists of their opinion on this matter and here is what they observed: 66

Contrary to popular belief, not every parent cares about games beyond their ability to keep their children happy. This thought process results in children being exposed to games not appropriate for their age. In some cases there may be reasons; whether the both parents work and have little time to be with their children, whether some parents are simply uneducated in video games and its influence on their developing minds etc. Young minds are similar to sponges, absorbing much of the information they receive and replicating what they see. They need to be set by example. It is not the violence portrayed in video games which strikes the issue, but more the language used. Violent actions are grown out of as the child matures, but language sticks with that child for life. Younger children often use the people around them as a basis for their actions, so television and video games are no exception. Games rated M, MA or R generally utilise strong course language which is generally why they are deemed not acceptable for a younger audience. When a child is playing video games online, they are exposed to hundreds or thousands of individuals of whom have no intention to stop cussing because a younger child is listening, that child may then adopt the phrases others say because they believe it is ‘cool’ to say. Educating children is essential, but parents are

"You can not judge a book by its binding" said the author Lester Fuller. This is not what most adults do to every M rated game. They don't look into the games, they just say "No!" to the teen/kid who is asking for it. For 24 years games didn't have ratings, so why do we need them today? The main reason we have ratings on video games is because of protests by adults blaming growing violence and abuse on video games. The funny thing was, they didn't give a shred of proof, the protests were just based on assumptions. The child may miss wholesome and beneficial experiences if not allowed to play these games. Unless adults actually start looking into M rated video games, a kid will miss wholesome experiences and will continue to be slow to flourish.

I don’t think children should be allowed to play a rated M game. “Most experiments into the effects of violent video games are done with college students. Researchers divide them into two groups. One group plays a violent game, the other a non-violent video game. Then researchers measure how students in each group feel and how they behave. You can't give young people guns and knives to see whether they'll kill each other after playing a violent video game, so scientists have come up with other ways to measure emotional responses.” This game will make children adore violence. When I have kids I wouldn’t let them play rated M

In the 90’s there was even enough media attention to video game violence that the United States Congress had a hearing on issuing age appropriate labels, much like in movies, to video games to warn parents of the contents of a game. Each of these matters have only helped further tarnish the reputation of video games, and draw worse misconceptions about them.

In the latter half of his first argument, Roberts boldly claims “Violent video games equate to violent behavior, especially in children whose brains are not fully formed yet” and “a game rated MA (Mature) doesn’t stop a kid from playing it,” yet there is utterly no evidence supporting these poor claims. In reality,according to the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s official website, a majority of parents check the video game rating before purchasing it for their child (ESRB). Robert draws a hasty generalization in hopes that readers will gloss over such details and ignorantly agree with Robert’s meaningless and false claims.

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.

Many parents in today’s society are adamant about their teenagers refraining from playing violent video games. Specifically, parents worry about their children playing mature-rated video games that feature blood, gore, vulgar language, use of drugs, and intense violence. Quite a few of these parents believe that their children can be heavily influenced by these brutal video games, which will in turn raise their teenagers to become violent, aggressive, and criminal minded individuals. In hindsight, these parents have good reason to protect their offspring from being mentally harmed by what they interact with. This idea that parents believe that their children will develop criminal behavior and become violent individuals is actually a common misconception that many parents hold to be true. In fact, there have been studies that have shown the benefits of youth playing these violent video games and how it positively affects their mental skills and brain development.

Aimee Tompkins (2003) claims that children are being affected by everything what they see around them in the youth, and people, who see violence in the youth, always tend to be more hostile and less responsive to images of violence. That 's why parents try to border children from any possible negative influences. But they often do not even realize that by buying to child a game console, they put them into the risk. Since most video games contain violent character. According to statistics given by the ‘Children now’ organization (2001), 89% of the top-selling video games have violent character and serious violence is contained in half of them.