The Influence Of Video Games On Teenagers

“Firstly, video games can serve as a central activity for interpersonal interaction, providing an activity for friends to participate together (like playing cards or engaging in physical recreation). Secondly, online video gamers can promote interaction with others across the game network and establish new friendships and thirdly, video games and their characters can provide a source of pseudo-social relationships for the game player” (cited in Barenthin and Van Puymbroeck, 2006).

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.

Video game effects are relatively new in modern society. Even though these games are often entertaining, the content of the game has been increasingly more and more violent as technology becomes more prevalent. The popularity of violent video games has caused an increase in controversy. Parents and experts feel that some games are just too violent and they demand the government to regulate the sales of these games. However, violent video games do not cause an increase in aggression, in adolescents. The forceful plan by the government is caused by an exaggeration of the effects of violent video games and this plan are indeed pointless.

True or False: Violent videogames cause children to become more aggressive. Sorry, that was a trick question. Despite much bandying of statistics and loud talking by critics on both sides of the argument, the real answer is that there is no real answer—at least not one that’s been proved scientifically (Zipp). Video games are an appealing target for a public figure in search of a crusade. Movies and music have energetic advocates, but it’s hard to find anyone who will defend games for their artistic value, or even on the grounds of freedom of expression. Usually the strongest argument made for games is that they are harmless fun (Koffler).

Media has portrayed violent video games as the root cause for violence and school shootings, but is it really? Violent video games are predominate in the industry of gaming with consumers being primarily children. Furthermore, as the sales of video games increase studies have shown that violence has actually decreased in younger consumers. There are many studies performed on children to truly test these accusations made against video games and violence. Many people believe that playing video games will lead you down a path of anger and evil, but this isn’t the truth at all playing video games doesn’t have to lead you to becoming a villain to

A Michigan State University study found that boys and girls who play video games tend to be more creative. A study of 500 twelve year olds found that the more kids played video games the more creative they were when it came to drawing and writing stories. About 72 percent of U.S. households play video games and this is the first study linking video games to creativity. This study was extremely important because it could give developers a desire to design games that maximize the development of creativity in their games so it can transfer to the gamer in an optimum way. With the ever growing pace which video games are transforming the gap should lessen between video games and technology. Eventually, video games should be used for positive as an education resource, rather than just a time waster. Another study showed that those who played video games spent less time reading and doing homework, but didn’t spend less time with their parents and friends. This study was done in order to assess the ways video games are related to academic and social outcomes (Jackson 2011).

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.

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

“High-school students who report spending more time playing video games or who report spending more money on video games had poorer grades in English classes” (Gentile, Lynch, Linder, Walsh 2). All young minds that play video games longer than the average time start to show a poor performance in school. These children start to think more about the video games they are watching and playing every day, rather than doing their homework and studying for tests.

•With the recent violence across the world in schools, once again a concern has been stumbled upon in regards to whether or not video games can impact an individual’s demeanor, specifically in children and teenagers. However, when the concern is about children and violent video games, one thing is a sure fact: If parents keep getting these types of games the children will keep playing them, and companies will keep profiting from them and will keep producing more. In today’s society more than sixty-eight percent of our youth is addicted to video games. Most of these games are bought by parents or relatives not knowing that these could be detrimental for the child’s psychological development. Many games are based solely on violence; most games are about killing each other and promoting more violence by using expletive language.

“We cannot and will not ban the creation of violent video games. But, we can prevent the distribution of these disturbing games to children, where their effects can be negative.” (Kohl, Herb). Nowadays most trending entertainments are revolving around electronics technologies such as virtual reality, video games, and media. As the technology becomes more sophisticated and advanced, most violent video games are becoming more realistic and make the player feel part of the battle and killing the enemies. It is undeniable video games have their own positive side for adults who play responsibly, but they have several disadvantages, which can hurt children's behavior, mental development, and school performance.

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,

Video games have been accused of contributing too many acts of violence or aggression for decades. What the media misses is that video games have many benefits we haven’t found in any other media. Society should stop being afraid of video games and instead start looking forward to how we can best use them to benefit ourselves and our children. Anyone who doesn’t understand why needs only take a quick look at our society. Per a survey, “90% of children in the United States play video games and 70% of heads of households play video games, too. That leads to the average age of video gamers to be 33 years old” (Bavelier 21). Society is changing and non-gamers are being left behind. Playing video games have good effects on our brains such as improvement in basic visual processes, improvements in attention and vigilance, improvements in executive functioning, improvements in job-related skills, and improves thinking process.

For more than 30 years, video gaming has been a popular activity amongst many of America’s children. With over $63 billion (Reuters, reuters.com) worth sold each year, video games are here to stay. While much controversy has arisen over the subject, video games have benefited the United States of America and its citizens to a great degree. For example, the military and CIA use gaming to train soldiers (Davidson, www.ehow.com), and classrooms use video games to teach students. The potential is infinite. Some studies demonstrate video game usage improves certain mental functions. However, when exposed to violent video games, some people develop to antisocial and aggressive behavior. In order to understand the potential benefits

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.