Video Games : Video Game Addiction

The ideas of video games and computer entertainment are often met with a concern for children or society. The belief that a violent computer or video game could have negative everlasting effects on individuals has coexisted since their creation. All across the globe many forms of computer entertainment have been blamed for the alleged increase in aggressiveness, violence, and addiction in both children and adults. While those who are in closely related fields may see the benefits from such technology many still forgo the positive applications of this so-called entertainment. Since the mainstream appearance of computer entertainment multiple organizations have devised beneficial methods in order to help educate parents and end-users on the material

It is debated around the world that videogames have a great influence on violence in the youth, more specifically in adolescents. It is a controversial topic because of the fact that in the past five years there have been many severe acts of violence with an adolescent in the middle of it. Although this true, I disagree with this statement. There may be a correlation between the two, but I do not think that video games make kids violent. In this essay I will voice my opinion on the worldwide debate of whether or not video games are the direct cause of violence in young adults.

One of the big issues that is growing in todays’ society is Violent video games effect negatively on youngsters. This issue is growing because many of these games are featured aggressive elements that lead youngsters towards violence. For most players, video games are fun but also violent games take over the lives of some player. Since the world of video games was started in the 1980s, the video games still getting new level of popularity in this world. Most people are getting really addictive of these violent video games. The first important reason why violent video games are dangerous for children is that they spend their most time on playing video games and don’t pay attention in real world. After a while they start to live in fantasy world. The second reason is violent video games caused mental disturbance in children. Because children spent their most of the time on playing video games, they are most likely to skip school and have poor grades. The most important reason is that violent video games can effect on children’s behavior. These games leads towards aggressive behavior that can be dangerous for others.

From the past till now, video game never loses its popularity, from Gameboy to Wii, and from NDS to LOL, millions and billions of people are obsessed with this imaginary world. Some of the video games are created for educational purpose, however, most are created for the people who wants to escape from reality. “In a national Harris Poll survey of 1,178 American youths (ages 8-18), ISU Assistant Professor of Psychology Douglas Gentile found nearly one in 10 of the gamers (8.5 percent) to be pathological players.” ("Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) ") Not only the statistic shows the high rate of addiction towards video games, terrible consequences of the addictions are more than enough to be served. For example, an extreme case of an Chinese kid called Xioyi suicide because he lose in one of his game on December 27, 2004; where he left a note that said he wanted “to join the heroes of the game he worshiped.” Video game has the potential to ruin a person’s life, as well as their family, or even the

Advances in technology have forever changed the way that children play, communicate, and view the world. Have you ever told your child that it was time to turn the video game off, or to put away the cell phone? Of course you have. Did they become upset, aggressive, or even depressed? These are warning signs indicating a potentially dangerous addiction. Addiction is characterized by the intense need for a substance and the experience of withdrawal symptoms when that substance is taken away (Rauh). Video games fill the player with strong feelings of pleasure and fulfillment. When considering the effects that video games have on your social, academic, and financial life; when do these fun technologies morph into a dangerous addiction?

Today, the internet and computer gaming have taken on a large following. The negative effects of these games and the internet on the basic population are deplorable. Many people, especially teenagers use this as an unhealthy escape from reality and in place of human interaction. Although, it is argued that these games may offer a positive impact on one’s life skills, it is quite obvious that the increase of gaming and internet use brings both acts of violence and even addictive behavior.

CNN, Samantha Bresnahan and Will Worley in their article, “When Video Games Become an Addiction”, argue about how and why video games become an addiction. They support their claim by first talking about video game addiction in the US, then about who mostly get addicted and in what age it is more popular, and finally why video games are addictive. Bresnahan’s purpose is to explain video game addiction in order to find a solution for it. They establish a hopeful tone for the readers.

An epidemic is beginning to sweep this nation. In this modern society, a majority of children, teens, and some adults are showing signs of what some experts refer to as video game addiction. Many professionals have differing opinions on the addictive nature of video games, but it does not take an expert to see that children are no longer playing outside, toddlers have learned how to operate pieces of technology that are challenging to some adults and cry when they are taken away from them, and some adults jeopardize their health every year by risking malnutrition and heart disease all in the attempts to play video games.

In recent years, technological advances have introduced many new forms of entertainment, one of the most popular being video games. Since their introduction, professionals and parents have become concerned with the addictive power that video games can have on people, particularly children and adolescents. Today, concern has shifted from the addictive effects of video game playing to the possible effects that they have on players’ aggression levels. As defining aggression as any thoughts or behaviors related with the intention to cause harm. Many scholars have been researching videogames' effects on children. The most popular aspect of videogame research is whether or not games increase aggression.

Since we live in a technology age, technology is being formed into entertainment for people of all ages such as video games and television. Although, these forms of entertainment are a good way to stay informed, they can also be corrupting different ages Behavior differentiation has been an all-time high for children all over the U.S, and many researchers have found the reasoning to why these changes are happening. This is tied behind the non-socially acceptable behaviors to violence and type content that is put out through technological entertainment (Carnagey, N. L., Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J., 2007). Video games today are made completely different then many years ago; in today’s world you could find a gaming console in every household. Most games today try to connect you into a game mentally, which will overall try and make you a part of any type of game. The visual effects of video games unfortunately stay with a child as they grow up, children may think that what they have seen are could be perform in society. Different topics will be addressed throughout this paper such as how violence and aggression can be influential in the real world, the different effects video games can have on the brain, the negative effects of violent video games on behavior, how addiction of games can lead to other serious addictions, concerns on social development

In today’s society, the vast majority of adolescents spend their free time indoors. Many of those hours are enjoyed playing video games, a habit which teenagers will never hear the end of from their parents. “These games will ruin you”, they say, “It makes you angry and violent”, they say, but does it really? Media often portrays videogames as detrimental to mental health, and this topic is especially scrutinized today because of the sudden popularity of the recent public mass shootings and gun violence; however, past and more recent studies show that this is absolutely not true. In fact, the positives of gaming seem to massively outweigh the negatives.

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.

Thesis: Violent computer games have been causing aggression, naughtiness, assaultiveness and defiance in teenagers and in children as well.

Studies performed by scientists, psychologists, and doctors worldwide to examine whether the violence in video games has a direct relationship to the outbreak of aggression in adolescents through young adulthood. Data was collected in Singapore over a three year period by interviewing the subjects of the study. Part of the study was asking questions to adolescents that played video games about how much time was spent on weekdays and weekends playing video games. More questions asked during the yearly interviews were about the gamer’s favorite game and was the game violent. The final questions each year where if they had feelings or thoughts about hitting someone and if it was

The long-standing controversial issue of the correlation between aggressive video games and violence committed by adolescents has been debated and researched since the early 1980’s. The video gaming business has become a multi-billion dollar business which has great influence on our society. Due to the financial gains and the technological advances, video games have become more realistic over time. Some current popular video games are so realistic that many perceive them as simulations. These so-called simulations are nothing more than just a game with advanced graphics. Often times, video games are described as only having negative effects on today 's adolescents, but this is not true. Research has documented many positive effects as well. Some people view video games as just another opportunity for adolescents to release their aggressions, however, it can also be a learning tool in multiple ways. The technological evolution is making video games more attractive to potential gamers and thus has become a part of a lifestyle, rather than just a cool invention.