Video Game Violence And It 's Affects On Youth

It might be claimed by some scholars and game players that the statement about gaming is unhealthy and can lead to violence is unproven. “The author examines the lack of scientific validity of the studies that insist upon a correlation between violence and video games” (Radford, 2005, p.3). The scholar said that those conclusions about the connection between video games and violence that several researchers had found were just tentative. The studies of researchers were accused for being biased in seeking evidence of the video games’ negative side. However, this argument is no longer correct as one of the most reliable studies proved the strong relationship between enjoying violent video games and the increasing in desensitization, aggressive thoughts and behaviors among young people (Bickham, 2006). In this study of Dr. Craig A. Anderson of Iowa State University in Ames, he and his colleagues looked at whether children and teenagers with playing violent video game habits could engage in aggressive behaviors three to six month later. The result of the study is children and teenagers with the stronger intensity of playing violent games did become more aggressive than their peer with the less playing. To

Video games have become a common pastime for children and adults of the modern world. However, there is widespread concern that children are becoming violent due to these virtual realities. There is a large amount of “grey area” in this subject, where the lines between right and wrong become blurred by confusion and misinformation mixed with uncertainty and big business marketing. The virtue of video games is being discredited or shunned by people who are against violent ones. A study was performed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison pertaining to the benefits of video games ("University of Wisconsin-Madison; Study Finds Violent Video Games Provide Quick Stress Relief, but at a

One of the main causes that make individuals more violent in real life is playing video games. Most violent video games show violence as a positive thing not a negative one. When aggression occurs in a video game, the player is not punished but awarded. This shows them that violence is okay and that if they try that situation in real life, they will also be rewarded. “In a study of video games, in 98 percent of them aggression went unpunished” ( Studies have shown that children that play teen- mature rated games for least 40 minutes a day may witness over 180 incidents of aggression per day or 5400 incidents per month. In video games, the violent is shown up close. This is a

Many studies have shown how harmful the effects of media violence can be for over 60 years, and some recent studies have shown that there may even be a direct correlation between a one’s emotions and their exposure to the highly concentrated violence in video games. It is also known that over 85% of video games today have at the very least some type of minor violence, and about half of video games contain serious violent actions (Carnagey, 2007). This is the reason why video game violence research and literature is growing so rapidly and new studies are being reported nearly every month (Krahé, 2011). This fascinating research as well as literature explains the need for further studies on what the effects of violent video games are. This research is especially useful for new video games and the age restrictions for them. Parents will benefit a great deal from this research, helping them to better understand how violent video games may affect their children’s emotions.

Today our world is surrounded by technology and new inventions that make our lives better. Some of the most popular of hobbies among children and teenagers are video games, but what many people don’t know is that they are bad for them. Violent video games in particular have been proven to not be appropriate for the age groups that play them and to have a negative effect on school, social behavior, and increase aggression.

Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and Halo are all video games that most would consider being violent. Whether it is stealing cars or shooting down the enemy it can clearly be seen that the characters in these video games are not setting the best example for the people who play these games. This leads many to wonder if these violent video games can alter the way that people view things as right and wrong. Does playing more violent video games cause one to act more violently than someone who does not? Even though many of the violent video games out there say that they are for mature audiences that does not stop parents from buying these violent games for their children and adolescents. This leads to many people in the scientific community to look at whether violent games can lead to an increased amount of aggression in children and adolescents.

“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.

Video games have been around for years and have become increasingly more popular with today’s youth however, most people may think that video games are just games that children all over the world engage in but, what about violent video games? The amount of video games, especially violent games that children and teens are investing most of their free time has grown exponentially. This fact has led to many psychologists wondering whether or not violent video games are on the same wavelength as aggressive behavior. Furthermore, in 2010 a California law was calling for restrictions on video game sales to minors and psychologists Steven Gruel and Patricia Millett debated if violent video games had a correlation with aggression before the Supreme Court. In order to back up their evidence, their argument they used psychological and neuroscience research, both of which are prevalent in their field of psychology.

There are some studies to suggest that playing violent video games may be harmful to children and adolescents. These types of games may effect peoples’ sensitivity to violent situations. This could be due to the development of more realistic graphics in media, which leads to greater feelings of presence within the games (Lull and Bushman, 2016). In addition, children and adolescents learn primarily through observational learning. While playing violent video games, they are taking in a lot of aggressive information, which may affect them over time.

Video games have become immensely popular since their introduction in the 1970’s. The video game industry has since evolved into a leading player in the entertainment industry, and video games of all genres have become a popular pass time activity for children. However, according to a recent study, as many as 89% of these games have violence as a dominant theme. Potential harmful effects of the violent content of video games have been scrutinized over many decades. Views expressed in the debate over whether violent video games create aggression are often extreme, either idealizing or vilifying video games. Some studies suggest video games can provide an escape from school work and social activities and they may offer opportunities to display

Parents and government officials alike believe that extensive participation in playing violent video games can cause psychological harm and influence aggressive behavior. Does it really? Many psychologists challenge this idea by using scientific research for backing. There has been much controversy over the topic and a lawful debate in California over who is allowed to have access to such vicious content. On the yes side(damage occurs and behaviors are influenced) of the argument is Steven F. Gruel, who stresses the importance of regulating the release of negative or “damaging” media, specifically violent video games, to minors. On the opposing side is Patricia A. Millett, who believes there is no concrete correlation between violent video games and aggressive behavior or cognitive damage. Neither is right or wrong because a great deal of psychology is built upon theories that have been strengthened through extensive experimentation. Nonetheless, studying the effects of violent video games on psychological health and behavior can help narrow understandings of how what humans perceive influences how they think and behave.

Currently, a popular opinion in America is that video games are bad for individuals. This idea stems from the idea that violence is a socially learned, and thus playing violent games can help learn violence in adolescence. I decided to write my paper on this topic because I grew up playing video games, both violent and non-violent, and still play video games. In my experience, looking at myself and my friends who play video games, I never saw a correlation between video games and learned violence. A journal published by the American Psychology Association written by Christopher Ferguson makes the argument that while video games have negative effects, they also have significant positive effects. However, journals from the Journal of Adolescence, Pergamon Press, and a different journal from the American Psychology Association make claims that video games can have negative effects on adolescence in the form of learned aggression. I believe that it is important to discuss this topic because more and more adolescences are playing video games and the effect of these video games on the development will be very important as time goes on.

There have been multiple studies and research cases, in recent years, that point the finger at violent video games as the cause of increased aggressive behavior in children. These studies claim to provide irrefutable evidence of the influence violent video games have on impressionable young people, such as increasing aggressive behavior and violent tendencies. But in all the research and studies done on the effects violent video games, there have been two recurring factors, a predetermined outcome of negativity, and a lack of long term, solid evidence to support their results. Violent video games do no increase aggressive behavior in children, as these studies would like to lead you to believe. These studies are asking the wrong question in the pursuit of a desired outcome. Aggressive children are simply more likely to play violent video games. Video games are not the first medium of entertainment to be put to this test either. With “a traditional game console in 51 percent of U.S. households” we would be experiencing bedlam nationwide if the findings from these studies were in fact true (North). In addition, for every “reputable” study that concludes violent video games cause increased aggression, there is a study against it showing the flaws in the research, or proof of bias on the part of the researchers, proving that a predetermined outcome was expected. Some of the studies even had researchers on the teams voice their disapproval of the outcome because of a perceived

Since the rise of video games in the last decade younger kids are spending a lot of their time on games. One problem with children having access to video games is the bloody and gory violence some games contain. With children growing up playing these violent games it raises a question that most parents wonder, do violent video games make children more aggressive towards others? There are results from studies and incidents in real life that prove violence in video games does influence certain children. Violent video games do increase aggression in children who are already aggressive in nature but do not have a negative effect on most children.

With the rise of technology also comes the rise of video games especially violent video games. Video games in general generate billions of dollars per year. The industry is worth $21.53 billion. This shows just how immensely popular video games are. From 1976’s Death Race (the first violent video game) to 2017, violent video games have since surpassed what is identified as violent. Today, almost half of E-rated (for everyone) video games contain some type of violence. A staggering amount of video games are being played by young children. About 97% of children ages 12-17 play video games. (“Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?”). It’s impossible to have this large number of children playing violent video games without considering they are to a certain extent affected in harmful ways by these video games. Children who play violent video games show signs of anger issues, inability to distinguish the real world from a fantasy world, and a satisfaction when doing harmful actions both in the real world and while playing video games.