Video Games : Addiction Or Benefits?

Video game addiction takes place all over the United States, there is an estimated 72 percent of American households who play video games (Scientist Douglas A. Gentile, Ph. D) and an estimated nine percent of the youth in the United States are addicted to video games (Douglas A. Gentile, Ph. D). Researchers are developing ways were video game addicts can become less involved with video games, they are doing this because of all the problems associated with video games (Addiction Expert Bakker). Video game addiction can relate to other addictions in this world people do things to change the way they feel, people play video games to change the way they feel. There is harm associated with being a game addict also. Children who play four to five hours per day have no time for socializing (Addiction Expert Bakker) and that can affect them in their future. In older addicts, continuous gaming can ruin relationships and, also affect their social behavior as well. After being a video game addict for so long you can start showing signs of addiction which include, playing for an increasing amount of time, gaming to escape real-life problems, anxiety, or depression, and, also feeling irritable when trying to cut down on gaming (Addiction Expert Bakker). Being an addict can be a serious situation because, computer games have negative impacts on children’s health and behavior. The computer games that include violence can lead to the mental disorders, poor health, sleep, loss of awareness

Modern day society often depict video games to have a negative influence on young people. However, playing video games is more beneficial than people would think. Playing video games have many advantages, such as they help increase and develop cognitive functions, mental health, and more often than most they are educational.

People have tried to paint video games as the cause of the horrific atrocities that occurred through the years, such as the Columbine High School massacre. Christopher J. Ferguson wrote an article arguing that there are groups of people who are anti-video games and have funded purposely-fraudulent research suggesting there are negative effects to playing video games for their own self-interest (30). To the contrary of the faulty research, statistics have shown that video game sales have risen dramatically from about 75 million units in 1996 to a peak of around 250 million units in 2004. Meanwhile, serious violent crimes committed by the youth have decreased significantly from around 175 crimes in 1996 to less than 100 crimes in 2005 (33). “As

This article focuses on the relation between video games and violence. The young men who opened fire at the theater in Aurora, the Columbine High School and in other massacres had one thing in common. All of them were video gamers who acted out their violent digital fantasies. The author is of the point of view that although all the culprits in the above cited instances were video gamers they were mentally imbalanced. Video games do have an effect on gamers but it’s a very short term effect. A video gamer can be aggressive for a couple of minutes but he cannot sustain the aggression for a longer duration of time. Violent video games help the gamers in venting out their frustration in a harmless way. According to Craig Anderson, a psychologist at Iowa State University, acts of extreme violence like school shootings cannot be attributed to a single factor. Other factors like being bullied or being socially isolate can have bad effects too. He is of the

Video games have changed drastically since the beginning of their popularity in the 1970’s. Due to advancements in technology video games have changed from arcade style games such as Brick Buster and Pac Man to Grand Theft Auto and Call Of Duty. The games have transformed from mindless entertainment to virtual reality violence. In the United States now about 91% of children between the ages of 2 and 17 play video games (NPD Group, 2011). These video games have many positive and negative effects on children’s behavior and social skills; however, do the risks outweigh the benefits?

People have been playing video games since the late 1970s, but it wasn't until 1999 that we began to question the consequences and influences associated with younger players. Karen Sternheimer's article "Do Video Games Kill" is about the controversial idea that video games are responsible for mass school shootings.

Playing video games is a popular pastime for kids and teenagers, one that is causing much concern for teachers and educators. The most popular games generally are filled with violence and gore, whether they be about war, street life, or otherwise. All over the world, teenagers and children (79% of them!) fill their free time with explosions, gunfire, and fistfights, and it all takes place behind the relative safety of a screen and controller. It can become so addictive that they play upwards of eight hours a week. Though these people don't physically participate in the calamity that takes place in their games, there are real world consequences for their involvement in them, both physiological and psychological. The negative link between the excessive violent video game usage is clear, according to a recent paper by David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the family. The effects of playing these games include increased aggressive instinct, physical reactions such as increased heart rate, and lower happiness levels throughout the day.

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.

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

Video games have come a long way since the days of Pong. Advances in technology have allowed games to present state of the art graphics and surreal like qualities to its consumers; from four star simulated battle scenes to enhanced real live fire shoot outs. With all these innovations added to violent video games it attracted the visual needs of our teenage youth. Although video game violence has been blamed for high profile school shootings, video games and its creators should not be held accountable for these tragedies because there is not enough credible evidence to absolutely link video games to outburst of violence amongst juveniles.

In the year 2016, more than 10 million copies of Grand Theft Auto were sold. Grand Theft Auto, among other video games focus on illegal crimes. For example Grand Theft Auto, frequently makes references to drugs, murder, and robbery. Even though video games are much more violent than they were in the 1990’s, video games over the years have managed to make an impact on American culture. Some ask why violent video games are such a concern for America? Well according to Times Magazine,“The average U.S. gamer age 13 or older spent 6.3 hours a week playing video games during 2013.” With people becoming addicted to video games, others begin to worry if videogamers will start to blur the line between the virtual world and reality. In the book Columbine, the author David Cullen states media reporters, partially blamed video games for the Columbine Massacre. “When he was eleven, id Software released the video game Doom. Eric found the perfect virtual playground to explore his fantasies.” (Cullen,114) The shooters Dylan, and Eric before the Columbine Massacre fantasised about murder, and in the video games they played they were allowed to be killers. Although, media reporters stated that videogames, were a reason the Columbine Massacre occurred, David Cullen addresses that video games had nothing to do with the shooting. Although, video games had no effect on the Columbine Massacre, other shootings such as Sandy Hook has been linked to them. As video games grow in popularity and

Lately, it seems that there has been an abundance of horrible mass shootings and brutal violence in our world. In today’s seemingly dangerous world, parents are yearning to protect their children from getting involved in these savage crimes. Now, a great deal of people, especially parents, accuse violent video games as the cause of this growing epidemic. The controversy of video game induced violence has a long history, but it didn’t appear in the spotlight until the disturbing Columbine shooting in 1999, when the gunmen were said to have been addicted to violent video games. Since 1999, there have been more mass shootings and vicious crimes that have been accursed on video games. While siding with the belief that video games create violence

Video games and their impacts have been hotly debated for a number of years, particularly violent video games. Games such as Grand Theft Auto appear to promote everything from carjacking to randomly murdering an innocent bystander just because you can, sparking debate that seems to renew itself every time a new game is released in the series. The most general form of this argument simply asks if video games are good or bad for their players. On one side, there is the belief that video games, and particularly those that are violent, are bad, especially for children. On the other, it is believed that video games are relatively harmless in the long run, and potentially even beneficial. The importance

Video games have created controversy in the United States and around the globe since they first arrived. Some games depict acts of violence, such as gunfights, fistfights, and even show acts of terrorism. People say that these violent video games cause violent tendencies and put vicious thoughts in the heads of mass shooters, but the research shows otherwise. Experts have studied the effect of video games on violent thoughts in teens, and controversy surrounds the topic. However, upon analyzing the data, the information becomes clear. Video games do not cause violent tendencies and have no part in mass shootings.

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