Violent Video Games Essay

A study published in Psychology of Popular Media Culture is proof of this theory. In this study, it is stated that 90% of pediatricians, 67% of parents, and 66% of researchers agreed that violent video games can increase child aggression. In addition to this study, a statement by six leading national medical associations, including the American Medical Association and American Psychological Association, stated, “Well over 1,000 studies - including reports from the Surgeon General's office, the National Institute of Mental Health, and numerous studies conducted by leading figures within our medical and public health organizations - our own members - point overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some

There have been numerous studies, but none have proven a correlation between poor behavior and violent video games. Source B mentions many studies and researchers that have become “concerned,” but never mentions any concrete evidence of fault in video games and behavior. It specifically recounted of a study by the American Psychological Association that did not find a link between video games and engaging in violent behavior. This link remaining absent takes away much of the argument against video games. In any case, the concerns raised on this segment of the entertainment enterprise are not justified due to a lack of

This article is a very useful source. Is useful because it answers the question, “Do violent video games cause an increase in aggression.” The question is answered thoroughly by the author because they cited recent studies, examples, and peer reviewed or scholarly sources that all concluded that violent video games cause an increase in aggression. The author is objective because they countered their argument by stating that

The first body of evidence that supports the claim that video games do not cause violence in reality is that “almost all boys and most girls play video and computer games, including games with violent content” (Olsen, Kutner, and Warner 56). This would suggest that if all children play violent video games and video games did in fact cause children to act violently, then all children would be violent. As absurd as this suggestion is, when the claim came

Since violent video games, like Mortal Kombat, were created, adolescents who play these games become more aggressive than before. To me, playing violent video games is unsafe for these people since they have the negative influence on these people. I believe that researching on that topic would help us get the sense of what problems to avoid. I wish to know what are the possible effects of violent video games on adolescents’ aggression. The independent variable is violent video games, and the dependent variable is adolescents’ aggression. My hypothesis is that adolescents who play violent video games become very aggressive than those who don’t. For this essay, I would like to present the findings from each article that will answer

There has been much debate on this subject, largely between researchers against the media's availability and possible influence and the game players who feel the connection simply doesn't exist. To answer the question, we'll look at both sides of the issue, and hopefully come to a middle ground. We will begin by looking at the arguments that support increased aggression in children as a result of these violent games. After that, a look at the other side, the side that many young gamers support themselves. It's going to be difficult to reach any common ground between the drastically different sets of opinions, but it's time to begin nonetheless. If you're ready, "Press start to continue..."

Does playing a video game make you prone to commit real-life violence? This question has been an issue since the very early 90's when violent games like Doom and Wolfenstein were released, but only in the last half a decade or so (mainly since the incident at Columbine, Colorado, 1999 – when it was revealed that the teenage shooters were avid video game players) has it really come to the majority's attention. The key issue that both sides can't agree on is whether people should be allowed to play violent games or not. I think both sides agree that extremely violent video games should not be played by young children, who have a harder time separating reality from fiction; also, the media does indeed only report one side of the

Media has portrayed violent video games as the root cause for violence and school shootings, but is it really? Violent video games are predominate in the industry of gaming with consumers being primarily children. Furthermore, as the sales of video games increase studies have shown that violence has actually decreased in younger consumers. There are many studies performed on children to truly test these accusations made against video games and violence. Many people believe that playing video games will lead you down a path of anger and evil, but this isn’t the truth at all playing video games doesn’t have to lead you to becoming a villain to

Furthermore, no one is using video games as any sort of indicator of possible future violent behavior. The blame only comes after a major violent incident. Partially, this is because of how ubiquitous gaming has become. A study in 1996 showed that 98.7 percent of children, regardless of gender, had played video games, with violent games being particularly popular with males (93 percent had played fighting game “Street Fighter II” alone.) That was just in 1996, meaning the number has surely grown since then. With that many people playing video games, it’s almost impossible to find a crime that can’t be blamed on video games with the “They played games, that must be the cause” argument. In truth, the only useful indicator of potential future violence (as reported in a 2007 Secret Service report) was the person in question saying they wish to perform violent acts.(Ferguson)

According to the article “Shooting in the Dark” author, Benedict Carey, states that studies today on violent video games show no concrete evidence on actually long term negative effects on gamers. Mr. Carey is not a researcher or scientist but is a veteran writer of neuroscience, neurology, and psychology. Throughout this article he gives factual evidence and quotes from scholarly sources such as doctors and researchers in the fields of behavior and psychology. The author gives ample explanation on evidence used from his sources to give the optimal understanding to the reader of the results and/or findings given by the sources. The article connects to the modern age of gamers with examples from big name video

Did you know that seventy-one percent of American teens play video games? Violent video games have a negative effect because they teach children and teens that violence is the way to solve real life problems. The following paragraphs will go into details on how they are bad, how they are good, their bad effects and their good effects.

Findings supporting these claims also show that with an increase in violence comes other negative health risks such as an increased likelihood of substance abuse, sexual activity, and obesity(Denniston, Swahn, Feldman, and Romero). Media use, and subsequent exposure to violent content is extremely prevalent among 8 to 18 year old children who spend, on average, 7.4 hours a day using media or computers and 80% of teens have some type of gaming console(Denniston, Swahn, Feldman, and Romero) These claims and the amount of media children are exposed to were concerning enough that the American Academy of Pediatrics started making advisory statements about violent video games and media being health risks for children in 2001. (Hall, Day, and Hall) Since then the link between violent games and violent behavior in youths has been researched across many “population groups”(Denniston, Swahn, Feldman, and Romero). The second theory revolves around any positive effects that might be gained from playing these games (Hall, Day, and Hall). Stating that these may offer “safe” outlets for negative emotions and thusly allowing players to be more emotionally balanced. (Hall, Day, and Hall)

Playing video games does not cause violent behavior. Don’t get me wrong, some video games show horrific acts of violence. “A recent survey found that 92 percent of U.S. kids--ages 2 to 17--play video games, and their parents bought 225 million of them last year to the tune of $6.4 billion.” (Sider 79).What’s here to argue is that violent video games do not cause violence among children, but the blame for violence should be on the individual and people who should have taught the individual better. If kids are not able to see the difference between reality and fantasy, then they really can’t be blamed for committing acts they see in a game and then imitating, not fully understanding the consequences of doing it in the real world.

Since the late 1990s there have been a continuous increase in the standard of lifelike violence in video games. The emergence of "first person shooter" really changed the how the player felt like they were actually in a battle. This intensified the gameplay and engaged the player a lot more in the game. With new features that are even more recent like Virtual Reality you get a full 360-degree view of any game you play and you get the feeling that you are actually in the game. There are two sides to the argument of violent video games effect on children. Steven F Gruel represents the people that believe yes, violent video games are harmful to children and cause increase in aggression, poor performance in school, and damage to higher level thinking. Patricia A. Millett represent the people that believe no, there is no correlation between playing violent video games and an increase in aggression. Both Millet and Gruel use serves to discredit each other's belief. They both make great points for each side of the argument, but Millett specifically discredits all of the evidence that Gruel uses to prove his point. Millett also has her own evidence that is more reliable and valid and shows that there is no correlation between violent video games and increase in aggressive behavior.

Eddie Makuch stated that "Finding that a young man who committed a violent crime also played a popular video game, such as Call of Duty, Halo, or Grand Theft Auto, is as pointless as pointing out that the criminal also wore socks.” (Makuch, 2014). According to Background on the Issue (2016), 97% of children in the United States play video games. This contributes to the development of domestic video game industry, with more than half of the top-selling video game companies promoting violence (Background of the Issue, 2016). The release of the video game "Death Race" marked the start of violent video games in 1976. This gave way for many more violent video games to be generated once the manufacturers took away Death Race. Games like Night Trap, Cluster Revenge, and Murder Combat begin to surface. (citation) Violent video games have many negative effects and influences on children. Playing violent video games may result in children beginning to show more aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, and teach children that violence is an adequate way to resolve their conflicts.