The Effects Of Video Games On Children Essay

Besides the violent contents, video games have several positive aspects. Video games can push children's

“Violent video games increase aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, and aggressive behaviors and decrease empathic feelings and prosocial behaviors” (Gregory Ferenstein). Gaming devices not only desensitize us, but it heightens our chances of going out and committing acts of violence. Such as, James Holmes because of the games that he played (Call of Duty, Advanced Warfare and etc.) he believed that for every person he killed; he would receive a point for doing so. “There are definitely games kids shouldn't be playing, she said, for example those where hunting down and killing people is the goal)” (Anne Harding, CNN). After playing these games, many kids feel as if the real world is like a game and killing people to earn points is rewarded. Video games have changed our America to believing that death and violence should be rewarded, but with a twist and that includes handcuffs and a prison

Other effects may also include physical and mental aggression. Some signs of these effects taking place are increased violent thoughts, violent verbal outbursts, irritability, as well as bi-polar type mood swings that usually seem over aggressive for the topic that is at hand. A study showed "Spending large amounts of time playing these games can create problems and may lead to: Poor social skills..." (Children and Video Games: Playing with Violence). Video games maybe attributing to an already rapidly growing problem in America. Social interaction skills, sites such as Facebook and Twitter are depriving our upcoming generations of social skills needed to be able to prosper in the world they will be sent into when they are on their own. In this modern society we live in today, if we cannot socialize and interact with people efficiently our job choices are reduced drastically from say, wanting to be a doctor down to creating website domains, or taking take-out orders over the phone at a fast food restaurant.

(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.

games, the violent content in most of them can lead to a rise in aggression. Video games include

Video Games cause social isolation, for example a 15 year old boy in Sweden pass out after playing World of Warcraft for 24 hours straight, he passed out because he started experiencing social withdrawal, the kid was lacking contact with other humans, and his body’s response to the problem was to pass out. On an extreme level, Ruya Cunningham, a college student spent twenty hours a week playing video games, she eventually “dropped out of school, stopped exercising, and even stopped bathing” (Marcovitz 70). Later on, Ruya Cunningham developed depression, but she kept playing video games because she was addicted to the game. When people are addicted to a game, there is a spiraling vortex sucking the gamer away from society and from sanity. As a consequence of playing violent video games, many teen gamers struggle with real world relationships, this is because they form close virtual relationships with people they meet online. A man in Wisconsin has formed a tremendously close relationship with a group of guys he plays online with, he discusses politics with them and they send each other Christmas gifts even though they do not know each other (Marcovitz 70-72). Video games can also affect the players mental and their physiological state.

One of the biggest factors that video games have impacted is peoples health. Video games have good and bad factors to peoples health. For example some problems that video games have impacted are obesity, aggressive behavior and cognition, sleep deprivation and many others. They have also impacted the problem of addiction. One would figure out after researching this subject that just being a male gender increases addiction of video games. Video games can also be a healthy and therapeutic. Games also change how people think and how peoples brain works. They have enhanced peoples visual skills and actually make it easier to create new sensorimotor skills. Peoples thought process have also been impacted because of video games. People that play action video games are proven to have faster decision making but as accurate as people that do not play video games. Video game players interpret the world differently than non video game players. Nolan Bushnell once stated, “Video games foster the mindset that allows creativity to grow” (Colzato). This quote is stating that video games promote creativity and help humanity grow and become more creative in our world. We need creative people in our world to build buildings, become art teachers, and many more jobs. One might be surprised to learn that after researching this subject on how dramatically video games impacted the human

    The initial argument I mentioned about video games is probably the one you hear about most often. How many times have you heard a set of parents say that their child is rotting away in front of a video game. Well, there is actually some truth to that. Children who show addictive behavior in regards to video games have also shown symptoms that are typical in addicts of other sorts (Bavelier, Green, Han, Renshaw,  Merzenich, & Gentile, 2011). Some domains that are affected by this type of behavior include behavioral, social, academic, occupational, and developmental (Bavelier, Green,

Video games can improve visual skills and brain function. Video games increase spatial awareness. When playing different video games eyes are focused on a video game a person are more likely to gain different eye strengths after training the brain. Action video games train the brain to better process certain visual information. When people play action video games, they’re changing the brain’s pathway responsible for visual processing (Masnick 1). Video games change brain functions. Researchers today are reporting that first-person-shooter

I feel the effect that video games have on children has been a very topical and debatable subject since they were introduced in the 1970’s. I feel it is important because if video games were damaging for children most video game companies would lose their biggest fan base and it would be very damaging for an economy for example in 2012 the entertainment software industry added over 6.2 billion dollars to US GDP. In the US the computer game industry directly and indirectly employees more than 146,000 people. The average salary for direct employees is 94,747 dollars, resulting in a total national compensation of 4 billion dollars also direct employment grew at an annual rate of more than 13 times the growth of the U.S labor market (9% vs. 0.72%) between 2009 and 2012. Many people have researched this economic question and some have been very biased on both sides but this isn’t surprising when you look at the last social phenomenon rock-and-roll or the “devil’s music” to some. Any home that has access to video games (88% of households) I feel the parents will be conscious to how much their children play video games and the effect it has on them. So I have aimed for my research to help parents gain an insight to the effects of video games, signs to look out for and helpful recommendations if they are worried about

Video games are also another form of entertainment that can promote violence. Many children spent most of their time in front of a TV playing video games. Video games have become a more recent trend. Many games consist of cursing, shooting, beating, and killing humans and monsters. The most games played are games that include killing and slaughtering other creatures and sports games that also have aggressive behavior. Video games have a stronger effect on children than watching television because the players take a direct and active task in the violence. The violence in these games can give them the idea that violence is an acceptable way to deal with problems.

Around different countries all over the world, thousands of people are playing video games. From five or six-year-olds, all the way up to 40 or 50-year-olds. Ever since video games were first created, people have been fascinated with them, and spend hours upon hours playing them. It may be common to hear people say that videogames are a waste of time, video games rot your brain, or video games cause you to become violent, heartless criminals. This may be true in some cases; however, though it may not be known to most people, there are many good effects of playing video games. Positive effects of playing video games include: better hand eye coordination, faster reaction time, and time and resource management skills.

Excessive video game playing has been a problem with today’s youth they have had more influences over the youth than ever before. That brings to my attention a question, how do video games affect the youth of our society? Excessive video game playing, especially violent video games, can lead to youth violence, a decrease in academic success and many other negative things. I realize that some parents believe that they can be good for children, I agree but I also disagree in some cases. Some parents allow their children to play video games to keep a social life and to learn how to use strategies. This is true in some cases but not in all cases. For instance, other children that play video games alone and are in their rooms constantly can

“Life is a video game. No matter how good you get, you are always zapped in the end” (“Video Game Quotes” 1). Over time researchers, psychiatrists, and parents have often wondered how damaging violent video games can be to the youth in society. This is an important matter to people with children in their personal lives or work environment. These games have become a large risk factor for aggressive behavior in children. Researchers have been saying that video games do affect adults as well; however, they have even more effect on younger brains in early development. Video games have negative effects on childrens’ behavior. Some effects that video games have are reduced academic performance, aggression, obesity, and emotional disorder.

Controversy about video games continue to escalate between parents and gamers, regarding the psychological effect of simulated, realistic, and 3D violence on the minds of young children and growing teenagers. Yet, research shows that video games contribute very little to today’s everyday violence, despite complaints and concerns that games influence a child’s normal behavior. Technology is a way of life in today’s world, computers are used by toddlers, adolescents, and adults alike. No matter what career path a person chooses, the computer plays an essential role in the job. The more our technology progresses and as our industry grows stronger, computers and electronic entertainment will grow to be found everywhere around the world. This includes videogames.