Video Game's Violent Effect on Youth

“Evidence that the negative effects of playing violent video games can accumulate over time and cause people to view the world as a hostile and violent place, said study co-author Brad Bushman, a professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University” (Preidt). With that people tend to think and act hostile when playing those types of games. “Playing video games could be compared to smoking cigarettes," Bushman said. "A single cigarette won't cause lung cancer, but smoking over weeks or months or years greatly increases the risk”(Bushman). With this statement it's true when it comes to the first time when playing violent video games that it won't do any hurt at all but when you constantly play violent video games you just are setting yourself up for mental changes. As for mental changes I mean by the way people think about events that happen in real life such as a shooting or something along those lines, people won't be affected because they’ll think those are normal. As for all of this violent video games do a lot more mental damage than people

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

Another point supporting violent games is backed up by a study Journal of Adolescent Research. This study concludes, “Kids use games to experience fantasies of power and fame, to explore and master what they perceive as exciting and realistic environments, but distinct from real life, to work through angry feelings or relieve stress” (Casey). Another theory is that violent video games might cause guilt. Research shows that gruesome video games can induce a feeling of guilt that could have a positive effect on kindness, civic engagement, and prosocial behavior (Casey). By making kids feel bad, they may want to do something kind to feel better

“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!

Over the past few centuries,video games have become a great leisure and hobby among kids of all ages and cultures. With the advancement of technology, video games have advanced highly in its realism and genres. This high type of advancement brought the video game industry to a multi-billion dollar industry. However, with realism, comes negative effects as well. Ever since the creation of violent or “mature” video games, there has been a constant debate on whether it will increase violence in the player. Although, not all video games are violent, and just increase skills in a player such as hand-eye coordination. Nevertheless, there is research going on for the link between violent video games and youth violence. The question is which event happens first in the sequence, do violent video games aggravate a person’s violent behavior, or does a person get rid of their anger through playing violent video games? Either way, violent video games are not beneficial to our society.

There is overwhelming scientific research that suggests that playing violent video games are harmful to children and adolescents. The scientific evidence has uncovered several areas in the development of children and adolescent that are negatively impacted because of the exposure to and playing of violent video games. Some of the key areas that are negatively affected include brain activity, stress levels and behavior.

Besides the violent contents, video games have several positive aspects. Video games can push children's

Violent video games cause dangerous and, aggressive thoughts to appear, and may make people act out in violent ways causing them to become harmful to their surroundings. In addition to making the player aggressive, violent video games are also linked to criminal activity. According to the article, "Do Games like 'Grand Theft Auto V' Cause Real-World Violence?", “The Aurora shooter, James Holmes, the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, they’re all described as essentially being addicted to video games” (Kain 1). Becoming addicted to video games, like these people, can reflect in actions, making gamers dangerous. On top of causing aggression playing violent video games, “Increases the likelihood that a person will commit a violent crime, like murder or assault” (Carey 1). Playing violent video games is harmful to the player and, their surroundings because they can have sudden outbursts causing harm to others. Video games, especially addictive, and violent games, are linked to criminal activity and, make people addicted, and harmful.Some people think that if they distract children with enjoyable video games it will cause them to be too distracted to do anything else, like violent behavior.

First off, the type of video game does not matter in causing violence as much as the amount of time spent playing does. As stated in a study by the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University, ”Those children who spend more time playing games might be slightly likelier to be hyperactive and to get into fights. But violent video games seem to have no effect on behavior, according to British researchers”. So videogames, both violent and non-violent, when played for too long, can lead to more aggression.In the same study, it’s stated that “The researchers found that the 22 kids who played video games the most each day were the likeliest to have behavioral problems, exhibit hyperactivity and have trouble academically, although the effects were "quite small in magnitude,” So, even though there were behavioral changes in

As technology as progressed, more people, especially youth, take part in playing video games. There has been an steady increase of video game usage because of the fact that video games have become more life-like and realistic. While they have become more realistic in aesthetic ways, they have also become more violent in content as well. Games like Call of Duty

“What happens if an intruder gets in the classroom?” or “ Will I ever be the intruder?” Violent Video games are dangerous to humans in so many ways. One way that Violent Video Games affects humans is how they wash away emotions and sympathy for other people. Even though the shooting and killing is in the video game, they also stimulate a violent behavior and can lead to violence later on. Studies have shown that many shooters (mass or single) or adults who seek violence, have played multiple, or even just one, violent video games. Violent video games affect the left and right side of the brain. Children who play violent video games

Violent video games can contribute to violence, especially in youth. Violent video games expose players to real-life violence. Video games are becoming more and more realistic. Violent video games teach youth that violence is an acceptable way to solve arguments or fights between people. These games encourage killing and fighting enemies. Some games kill zombies, shoot people, and fight to the end of death. Playing violent video games increases mean behavior and triggers anger, especially in kids that have major behavior or mental problems. Violent video games have been blamed for bullying, school shootings or attacks, and violence towards girls.

People should not play violent video games because they cause aggression in the short term. “The researchers took 47 undergraduate students and has the students play 15 minutes if Morbat Kombat. Afterward the team told the players about a student that did not like hot sauce, but they had to fill a cup and the students would have to drink it. Sure enough the Mortal Kombat players put more hot sauce in the cup for the student to drink” (Carey 1). This is clear evidence that the violence in video games can trigger aggression in the short term. In the article “Do Games Like ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ Cause Real World Violence?” “Nick Allen describes the shooter's darker side which saw him playing violent video

The topic of violence in video games has been a highly controversial conversation for many years. According to a 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation study, 10 hours and 45 minutes on average are spent per day using technology among all 8- to 18-year-olds, which is over a 2 hour increase over the past five years (Rideout et al, 2010, 2). Exposure to violent video games is significantly linked to increases in aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and delinquency and decreases in prosocial and helping behavior (Anderson, 2004, 118), consistent with the General Affective Aggression Model. This model predicts the short and long term effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior. Many experiments have proven this, though there are some researchers who think that the results may be flawed and that the research needs to be corrected.

“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