The Influence Of Teennagers In The World

Many people believe that violent video games play a big role in the violence we see in schools today. Gaming plays a large role in children’s lives and have begun to

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.

“According to data recently released by The NPD Group, in 2012, U.S. video game software sales reached $6.7 billion (174.8 million units) and computer game sales were $380 million (13.2 million units)” (Improving Economy). To many, the violent video game industry has turned all adolescents into mass murderers. However, they’re absolutely wrong. Very seldom do adolescents who play violent video games commit acts of violence, and the ones who do usually have a mental disorder. Instead of blaming the tragedies that occur on violent video games, the news media should explain to people that a large percentage of young males play violent video games, indicating that the two are uncorrelated. They should alternatively research other possible solutions to the crisis. In lieu of negatively affecting people’s lives, video games could potentially improve their lives!

Did you know that according to Dr. Bret Conrad, the majority of gamers believe that video game violence has few, if any harmful effects on them personally? Well, many people today play games with simulated violence ranging from games like “Killer” to games like Grand Theft Auto. One example, “Killer”, takes place in multiple New York City high schools at the end of the year. It consists of two teams, each student is assigned a person to shoot and they have to shoot them before they are shot. The students have to use water pistols to shoot their person. Once they are killed, their game is over. While some agree that games with simulated violence are perilous for teens, games with simulated violence are beneficial for teens because they help kids with problem solving skills, keep them busy and helps them help others.

The story line behind some violent video games includes games in which players earn points by carjacking taxis, scoring drugs from cursing thugs, and mowing down pedestrians.(see http://www.feedmag.com/vgs/duncan.html>) Some cartoonish tag lines in some sadistic video games include : -- "As easy as killing babies with axes" and "More fun than killing your neighbour's cats". This kind of themes definitely influence the players, especially the younger ones, and inflict violent tendencies on them. It is no wonder, that this killing mania in violent games was seen to seep out into the actual world when a high school junior opened fire in his school cafetaria in Littleton, Colorado, killing two of his classmates. The gunman was reported to be an ardent fan of Quake and Doom, some rather violent video games. More proof of the relationship between video games and violence is revealed by a study which clearly reveals how this kind of entertainment affects our lives. Greater details of the history of how high school students turned gunmen in Columbine High School are given, which shows that the effect of video games in their lives was a major source of influence in doing what they did best.

As the level of violence in video games increases, so does the level of concern for those who play them. Some people are quick to blame school shootings on games just because the kid played a “violent” game. “The topic of videogames and violence can be compared to the chicken or the egg question, which came first, violent games or violent behavior”(Violence and Videogames). However most kids in mass shootings tend to have easy access to guns and are mentally unstable.

Because social media, television, and video games are full of violence and aggression, parents need to think about their child’s use of these things. Additionally, children need to be involved in numerous things because within the world today there are numerous labels that could be put upon a child’s head. Therefore, children need to socialize with their peers face-to-face rather and through a video game or “Snapchat”. Children need to spend less time on the screen because “[evidence] shows that children who experience different pursuits over the course of their day – from sports and music to an after-school job – are happier and healthier for it” (Elizabeth Englander Professor of Psychology). Therefore, if parents encourage their children to get a job or participate in a certain hobby, their children may become happier. Parents also need to know who their child associates with because one’s peers can often lead to their destruction as a person. Therefore, there are numerous things parents could do in order to prevent their child’s emotional health from disintegrating. This is important because the psychopaths that often shoot up schools are emotionally

Columbine High School events that happened in 1999 was two of the high school teens who were a lot of time exposed to violent video games. Due to this incident 12 students and one teacher were killed (Vastag 1822). As this incident suggests that which is also observed, with regard to the sale of video games with a loud voice, one side is also supported it or opposed, there is not explain to virtual violence does the impact for children. (Vastag 1822)“Little kids do imitate video games, but the question is whether it leads to real world violence,” (Vastag 1822) said Juliet Van Eenwyk, PhD, who studies the issue for the Washington State Department of Public Health, Seattle. 2001 literature review by Dr Van Eenwyk and colleagues Lillian Bensley

Arguments concerning social media’s affect on children often being with television. Experts on the other side of the argument claim that television leaves a negative effect on children that leads to obesity and violent behaviors. Manfred Spitzer writes “After 6 months, children in the intervention school had a lower BMI and behaved less violently during break times…” (pg. 1388). Not only are the effects written by Spitzer possible but experts also argue that children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others. Children may be more fearful of the world around them and they may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways towards others. The violence exposed to children through media doesn’t cease to exist with only television. Video games are often blamed for violence crimes in children and youth as well. Craig A. Anderson, a psychologist along with others concluded in a 2010 review of video game violence showed that “evidence strongly suggest that exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect and for decreased empathy and prosocial behavior.”

It seems that violent video games can not only turn an at-risk child up to a dial on their behaviors but also low-risk children into a school shooter (Mozes 5). Video games have also been put on the radar as to one of the root problems of minors committing violent acts. “If a child began playing violent video games at a young age, then he might think that violence in real life is the same as the game violence and that it doesn’t have a real impact on others” (Gilad 29). While kids play violent video games, they’re not only playing for fun. They are analyzing the which changes their behavior and actions due to thought process for example, “They start to expect people to behave more aggressively toward them, and they tend to see aggressive solutions as being more appropriate for solving problems”(Mozes 5).

As social media continues to expand and change, the unswerving usage of video games in children and adolescents has also augmented. These video games permits its youth to explore a new form of entertainment and communication in a way to expand their knowledge over certain interests, trend or insights. As the consistency of these video games develop, growing concerns of prospective issues such as behavior, academic performance, and their physical functioning may reflect negatively among children and adolescents (Cesarone, 2013). As the expansion of these video games occurs, and more violence is reflected upon them, many numerous disastrous results can be developed over the years that reflect the negative effects of these violent video games.

Kids at young ages are playing video games that involve drugs, murder and things that are extremely inappropriate for younger ages. Many studies have been done to try to prove that some of the modern days aggression stems back to video games. Many universities have done research on this topic. A doctor at the Oxford Internet Institute, Andy Przybylski, said, “ The fact that the study had not found a link between video games and real life aggression did not mean it does not exist but academics are divided about the possible effects.” Everyone has a different opinion on this subject, but studies sway more to saying yes, it does cause aggression. If you put a violent video game in front of a child and they are exposed to the type of language and action going on in that game, they soon will believe it is okay to act like that. Video games are not good for your mental health. Today there are so many mental disorders, are some of these maybe caused by video games? So many people have bipolar, schizophrenia, paranoia, anxiety, and depression. Could they be caused by games that show murder, and lifelike situations? Some of these games are so lifelike people start to feel as if they are real. For one instance, the game slender man, made two young girls feel as if it was real, they ended up killing one of their friends so that “slender man” would let them come live with him. Not all video games are bad,

“Recent contents analyses of video games show that many as 89% of games contain some violent contents” (Gentile, Lynch, Linder, Walsh 3). More than half of video games being sold around the world contain some form of violence. All of the violence involved in the video games being played by children is a pattern leading to aggression. Aggression can be caused by many things; however, violent video games are the main cause of aggression in young adults. “If a child began playing violent video games at a young age, then he might think that violence in real life is the same as the game violence and that it doesn’t have a real impact on others” (Gilad, Alto 1). Thinking that violence in the virtual world is the same as in the real world is the first step to showing aggression. Aggression in children caused by video games is the biggest effect parents and researchers worry about. Violent video games teach children that shooting and killing people are

In today’s generation, electronics have become a popular tool for entertainment. In particular, playing video games has become an increasingly popular pastime for adolescents. According to the American Psychological Association, 97% of American adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 play video games (Scutti). However, there are many controversies surrounding the idea of playing video games. In today’s market, video games often contain violent themes, such as killing or stealing. This would include many shooting games, strategic games, and role-playing games. It is a popular belief that these violent themes can negatively influence adolescents by encouraging violence. With an increasing number of adolescents spending hours a day gaming,

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.