The Negative Effects Of Violent Video Games On Kids

For many people in America, they think violent simulated games have no effect on how they act. But, they do affect humans negatively. Research has shown that when playing violent simulated games, people are negatively impacted in the way they behave. Violent simulated games are an unbeneficial activity for people, and this is why it’s important for people to stop being engaged in violent simulated games. Violent simulated games contribute to making the violence seem okay, and harmless, wasting time, and unhealthy behavior.

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.

Violence in video games has been proved to raise the aggression on video gamers in the short and long term, whether it’s in their language, attitude or actions. Also video games not only cause this but they also decrease prosocial behavior and empathy (Anderson, 2010). Violent video games have been one of the main reasons why students decide to shoot everyone in an educational institution like the well known Columbine Massacre in 1999. “[They] liked to play Doom (a computer game) in the afternoons”,“No one can say for sure why...theories including...violent video games (Doom)” (Rosenberg, Unknown). As we can see very clearly violent video games

“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!

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.

The article, “The Truth About Video Games and Gun Violence” by Erik Kain discusses how video games and gun violence correlates. The author opens up with someone by the name of Aaron Alexis who resorted to gun violence while playing video games that contained violence. There is a violent video game that scares parents and behavioral experts. There has been a debate on whether people who play video games later have violent behavior. Throughout the years, video games continue to show images portraying violence.

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.

While violent video games have increased as a form of entertainment, an issue has begun to form on whether violent video games have a negative impact on children and adolescents. Steven F. Gruel (2010) formed an argument about the negative impacts of violent video games on children. The purpose of this paper is to critique Gruel’s argument by finding flaws and strengths using the methods of claims without data, overgeneralization, failing to cite sources, and considering alternative explanations.

Additionally, although violent video games might expose children to violent behavior, the amount of violence are not as great as the ones in movies and television. The news is filled with stories of war and murder, and nearly every movie contains some forms of violence. Plus, these two media are different from games in a very important way because they involve real people, not computer-generated characters. One of the social psychological science faculties in

“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

Because of new technology, contemporary youth is exposed to extreme and intense content each day. In video games, kids fire virtual guns at people. They see it as a victory to have the most kills. Parents should avoid exposing their children to violent video games because this desensitization to brutality leads to dehumanization of others.

Video games such as World of Worldcraft and Call of Duty, have become prevalent across America. These games allow the average American boy to act as if he was a fantasy character or allows him to feel as if he was a military personnel on a killing spree. World of Worldcraft and Call of Duty are extremely violent and addictive video games. It was said that the Columbine killers stated that they got their practice from playing video games. When there are games such as Gran Theft Auto where you get points for raping and pimping women, it numbs the mind to the despicable acts of the video game. When boys that regularly play violent video games are confronted, they have a much higher chance to become increasingly aggressive (Gentile, Lynch, Linder, and Walsh). The children who play video games also have a smaller chance of succeeding academically.

Violent video games are some of the most popular games for their realistic graphics, complex storylines, and overall carnage. Children soon find themselves playing them daily to access new items, achievements, and missions unlockable in the game. However, this motivation can quickly slide into obsession and, in many cases, addiction. This kind of obsession causes lasting effects on the child’s brain. The citizens of Slaughter, Louisiana tragically experienced this in August of 2013 when “an 8-year-old boy intentionally shot and killed his elderly caregiver after

“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

Violent video games such as “Call Of Duty” desensitizes a child from violence. The child is usually isolated for elongated periods of time playing violent games. Thus forth, the violence weakens the child’s ability to empathise to the pain of others. The players in the video games don’t care if somebody gets hurt so why should they. In the article “Violent video games can desensitize players and increase aggression” it says “that twenty minutes of playing violent video games for three consecutive days lowered empathy and increased aggravation in children. It is plausible to conjure that for mass murderers their rage and the violent fantasy of video games lead to planned shootings in real life”(Drinka, 2013). Video games such as “Call of Duty” teach children how to shoot/ operate certain high tech guns. With visuales becoming more and more realistic it is easier for the child to plan a mass