...Video Games and Aggression in Children Video Games and Aggression in Children Video games cause violence and aggression in children. This is a popular misconception that many people share. The fact is, according to federal crime statistics, the rate of juvenile violent crime in the United States is at a thirty year low (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010). This comes at a time when video games are more popular, more violent and more realistic than ever before. The idea that video games expose our youth to a level of violence that will in turn lead to aggression and violence is simply false. Many people believe there are more likely causes of aggression and that video games are merely a scapegoat. I will argue that playing video games can actually have a positive effect on children, and that environment, personality, and lack of parental involvement are responsible for violence and aggression in our nation’s youth. In today’s world there are numerous reports on television and in newspapers and magazines about video games causing aggression and violence in children. Numerous politicians and watchdog groups claim that video games are leading our children down a dangerous path. This is entirely untrue. Since the early 1990s, video games have exploded in popularity. Conversely, in that same time period, violent crime rates in the United States and Canada have plummeted (Ferguson, 2008). Christopher Ferguson, a licensed psychologist and professor who researches...
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...talking to you about age restrictions in violent video games, and why they should be raised. After students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire in their Colorado high school in 1999 -- shooting 20 people and killing 13 -- Linda Sanders filed a lawsuit. Her husband was a teacher at Columbine and among the dead. The media revealed that Harris and Klebold played a lot of violent video games, including "Wolfenstein 3D," "Doom," and "Mortal Kombat." Linda Sanders named multiple video game publishers, including Sony and Nintendo, in the suit as well as Time Warner and Palm Pictures since the shooters had apparently watched "The Basketball Diaries," in which a character uses a shotgun to kill students at his high school. In today's ultra-violent media world, it appears there's plenty of blame to go around. But is it legitimate? As of 2001, roughly 79 percent of America's youth played video games, many of them for at least eight hours a week Beyond the obvious issues of concern, like "what happened to riding bikes around the neighborhood," there are bigger questions. Many people wonder how this type of exposure to violence as an adolescent effects social behavior. The rise in dramatically violent shootings by teenagers, many of whom apparently play violent video games, is helping the argument that video game violence translates into real-world situations. But other people aren't convinced and insist that video games are a scapegoat for a shocking social trend that has people scared...
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...Article Rebuttal: Do Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence? Caren Evans XBCOM 275 Mr. Abel January 30, 2014 There has been much controversy over whether or not violent video games contribute to youth violence. The opposition may point out studies, such as playing violent video games desensitizes players to real-life violence and is responsible for the increase in bullying. In 2007, 32 percent of students aged 12 to 18 reported being bullied at school, compared to only 5 percent in 1999 (Dinkles, Kemp, Baum, and Snyder, 2008). However, this does not show a direct link between youth behavior and violent video games. According to many sources, such as the Bureau of Justice Statistics; Entertainment Software Association in 2005, violent crimes declined as video game sales increased. In 1996, video game sales neared 4 billion dollars and the violent crime offences was approximately 3.75 million; however, in 2003, video game sales was approximately 7 billion and the violent crime offences were just under 2 million. There have even been controlled studies in which Paul Levinson demonstrated the lack of linking violent video games to youth violence and pointed out some fallacies. The example that Levinson used in 2007 was a controlled study. Two groups of kids, chosen at random to ensure the groups were equivalent, participated in a video game study. One group played a violent video game, while the other played a non-violent game. This study gave the kids the chance to play...
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...Violence is not something new to the human race, but it is an increasing problem in modern society. In his essay “Hate Violence? Turn It Off,” Tim Goodman argues that if parents or other adults object to a television program, they should change the channel or just simply turn off the television. I disagree with Goodman’s argument. Turning off the television or changing the channel is not enough. What happens when the adults are not there to supervise their kids? What about other influences that promotes or shows violence? What then? Can a concern, such as violence be simply turn off or change? When children are young, the television already begins to have an influence in their life. If we were to look at any typical family household, we...
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...Do video games make children and teens violent? Many feel that violent video games are affecting our children and teens. Are video games really a factor in children and teen violence? I think not. Video games are definitely not to blame for children and teen violence. A factor that could cause violence is poor parenting. Violence is the expression of physical or verbal force against self or other. It is also a form of control that includes emotional abuse (Oxford Dictionary). Violence goes back to ancient times. In Roman times a popular form of entertainment was gladiatorial combats. Gladiators fought either to the death, or to first blood, with different weapons. They also used animals, where they combined them with gladiatorial combat. Video games first came about in the 1970s, but it was during the 1990’s that violent games truly came of age. Starting in the 1980s video game producers experimented with what the public would accept in video games. It became clear that games sold better if they contained more violence. In the mid 1980s, children averaged about 4 hours a week playing video games, (Media Violence-Opposing Viewpoints Series) including time spent playing at home and in arcades. By the early 1990s, home video game use had increased and arcade play had decreased. While some studies claim that violent entertainment may be linked in some way to violent behavior, many other studies contradict that assertion. There have been approximately 200...
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...Do Violent Video Games Make A Person Violent? Violent video games have been evolving for years. The first violent video game to ever be released was Death Race made in 1976 (Suddath). This game brought a controversy that would follow all video games for years to come. Although many people say that violent video games cause a person to become violent, many people will argue that violent video games do not cause a person to be violent. Both sides of the “violent-video-game” argument, examples to both points being made, and who should not play violent video games will be analyzed or examined in order to determine the effects of gaming. First, many people believe that violent video games do not cause violence. People believe that violence in video games is the cause of violence, but most video games depict and reflect the real world (Rynne). The world is full of violence, and it was full of violence long before video games started to make their way to popularity. People will counter this point and say that violent video games bring stabbing, shooting, running people over, drugs, alcohol, theft, etc… into people’s lives, but if a person turns the television to a news station, he/she will see all of the same things. War games depict wars in other countries, Grand Theft Auto reflects how people in bad neighborhoods can act, and medieval games give people and understanding about the past. People will say that because of these games mass murders will evolve; for example, Sandy...
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...Nick McIntosh Do violent video games lead to real violence? This topic has been tossed around quite a bit lately since unfortunately there has been a string of ridiculously violent acts lately. Some would say it all dates back to 1999 when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire in their Colorado high school slaying 13 people. It was revealed that both Harris and Klebold both were into playing violent games, like Mortal Kombat, Doom, and Wolfenstein 3D. As of 2009, roughly 91% of America’s youth play video games [source:Yahoo News], so should we all hide and be in constant fear? Probably not, in the 50s kids who exhibited bad behavior were often condemned because of comic books. I know comparing “bad behavior” to something like a shooting spree is ludacris but our ultra violent media world has always made a fantastic scapegoat. Let me provide you with some real life examples other than the Columbine shooting, just so you can develop your own opinion and further ingest the topic. Devon Moore an 18 year old killed 3 officers June 7th 2003, no criminal history. The report shows that he was cooperative as the officer booked him on suspicion of stealing a car. He then snapped and went on his rampage, after the dust had settled it was reveled that Moore played Grand Theft Auto for hundreds of hours, which is primarily a cop killing game. The Attorney Jack Thompson, a long time crusader against video game violence, is bringing the suit. “What we’re saying is that Devon...
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...equally terrible, can be blamed for violent video games, like most school shootings. But are video games at fault for these horrific events? No, they are not, in all cases, is is mental health or parenting, not video games. There was shooting where the shooter claimed he spent hours honing his skills on Call of Duty, well let’s take a look at video games in general. There are cooking games, Mario games, football games. Do cooking games really make you better cook? Do Mario games really make you eat mushrooms and break magic blocks? Does playing an NFL game really make you a good football...
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...Daniyar Sarzhanov Lacie Meier ENC 1102 5 April 2015 Are Violent Video Games Killing Children? It is a misconception that video games make people violent. One might not usually think of the positive sides of playing video games. However, many examples prove that video games can be beneficial. A lot of people are led to believe that video games make people violent and cause crimes. Even though millions of people are playing violent video games, mass killings are still a statistical anomaly. Politicians and the media utilize the controversy of violent video games for their own interests rather than those of the public. Video games are a form of creative expression and should not be demonized or used as a scapegoat for our population’s deeper mental traumas. Video games have positive effects. A study conducted by Shawn Green & Daphne Bavelier from Center Visual Science, University of Rochester, show that people who play a lot of action video games benefit from improved “hand-eye coordination and visuo-motor skills, such as resistance to distraction, sensitivity to information in the peripheral vision and ability to count briefly presented objects, than non-players” (“Action video game modifies visual selective attention”). Video games that incorporate advanced motion detection, such as Microsoft’s Kinect or Sony’s PlayStation Move, provide both physical and mental exercise. Furthermore, a study conducted by Doctor Cheryl K. Olson, co-director of the Center for Mental Health...
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...In society today video games are huge industry. According to the Technology, Entertainment, Design website TED.com more than half a billion people play video games at least an hour a day. Some people agree that video games make kids violent, but there is evidence that they do not. The ways that video games are played cause people to get to know new people and to be happier in certain situations. There are some people with video games to affect them negatively but the majority of players are not violent because of video games. Video games do not make kids violent because they are completely fantasy; they are used as a relaxation tool and also for fun and competition. For thousands of years people have always liked at fantasy to escape from real life. Fantasy had been in different forms like art books movies and other medians as technology improved video games have now become a part of fantasy in people lives. Other forms of fantasy such as movies, and books had violence in them and have not caused people to be violent. Why world video games make people violent? People were always able to recognize that fantasy was not real neither the violence therefore they should be able to make the same distinction with video games. For video gamers games are another world. They are escaping from real life and coming into a place where you can do anything you can't do in real life. Even with so many wonderful thing a gasket can do and how much time you spend you still realized that it is...
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...December 2014 Are Gamers Really a Threat? Within the last fifteen years, the video game industry has grown exponentially and is now arguably one of the most robust industries in the entertainment world. Video game sales have more than quadrupled in this time as well, which accounts for this multibillion dollar industry. Inside this enormous industry, hundreds of genres span the base of the industry but a few genres make up the core. Within this core are game categories, such as FPS (First Person Shooters), which have some aspect of violence to it. The popularity of these violent video games has risen greatly within the last 5 years. In 2008, from the age group 12-17 in the United States, 97% of them played video games, and 10 of the top 20 best-selling video games in the United States contained violence (ProCon.com). These violent video games are attributed to the cause of increase in school shootings as well as increases in domestic and youth violence. Critics of these violent video games argue that the because the violence is encouraged to do well in the game through reward, that the player becomes desensitized towards the violence and will teach children that violence is an acceptable way to resolve conflicts (ProCon.com). Video game advocates claim that the research is deeply flawed because there has been no link between video game violence and that of social violence. Many argue that the game actually relieves anger and aggression in a safe outlet (ProCon.com), as well as...
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...Psychology 324 Assignment: Does Media Violence Cause Aggression? 1. INTRODUCTION The question of whether media violence causes aggression has been a topic of debate for decades. The innovation and creation of the television, computer and radio has altered the manner in which individuals acquire information regarding the world around them, including views on how violent the world is (Busman & Anderson, 2001). With the average American child being exposed to eight thousand murders and one hundred thousand acts of violence via television by the time they graduate from elementary school, it is not surprising that many critics of media violence are of the opinion that it leads to aggression (Bushman & Anderson, 2001). However, if one studies the reviews more carefully, it can be seen that there is no real scientific evidence that media violence causes aggression (Freedman, 2002). Numerous articles, experiments and studies have been published either supporting or opposing the question. In this essay two such articles will be explained, namely “Media Violence and the American Public” (Bushman & Anderson, 2001) which supports the idea that media violence causes aggression and “Villain or Scapegoat? Media Violence and Aggression” (Freedman, 2002) which opposes the idea that media violence causes aggression. 2. DEFINING MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION Media Violence is defined as the graphic representation of physical aggression by a human or human-like persona towards another individual...
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...The Misconception of Juvenile Video Game Violence The Misconception of Youth Video Game Violence A teen walks into a school with loaded weapon in hand. A young boy steals a vehicle and drives recklessly causing severe harm to others. A young girl sets her house on fire with family members inside. What do these seemingly uncommon crimes have in common? Each juvenile in these examples has played violent video games. Our media that covers these violent crimes is quick to make that point known. Often times they also erroneously blame the playing of violent video games as the root cause of these crimes. Research suggests that violence in video games does not contribute to violence in today’s youth because juvenile crimes have declined as video game popularity has increased; they in fact provide an outlet to express aggression without causing physical harm, and juvenile violence has been more commonly linked to exposure of family violence. When looking at research from the FBI, crime rates involving juveniles over the past 30 years have declined. In fact, in most violent crime categories the crime rate among our youth is at an all-time low (Butts, J. 2013). At first, this information may be hard to believe. It shouldn’t however, because violence among youth commonly ends up making headline national news. For this reason, we end up being exposed to the details on many of these youth related violent crimes. This can make it difficult to put actual facts into...
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...noticed that in all news outlets the rise in violence amongst the youth of the United States is out of control. Whenever a rise in violence happens people are always looking to blame someone. Back in the 1950’s Elvis and Rock and Roll were to blame. In the 1960’s and 1970’s it was blamed on drugs. Now in the age of information technology the new scapegoat is the video game entertainment industry. To understand video games and it’s inception we must first know the history of it’s predecessor, the computer. People believe that computers and the information age are a new concept, but most would be surprised that computers have been around since 1936. Mr. Konrad Zuse created the first programmable computer that would change the world forever in the decades to come. The real turning point for the history of computers came in 1983. The first home computer was created. This allowed people the flexibility to purchase and work from home. There were video game systems out in the 70’s, but it wasn’t till 1983 that it really hit mainstream. That was the year that Japan released the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It took the entertainment value of computer games with the graphics of the computer to create the perfect combination. Arcade consoles were wildly popular and Nintendo realized a niche in being able to bring that entertainment home to the consumer. This would create a new form entertainment that would help change the face of the video game industry for years to come. The Nintendo...
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...Are Video Games really to Blame for Violence of Children? Kid violence and video game violence: Is there a correlation? When a child commits an act of violence, there are times when video games are brought into the equation of the cause. Sometimes, depending on the nature of the crime, violent video games are being blamed directly for the violence of children. There has been research done to learn more about the effects playing violent games on children’s behavior. Since children learn through repetition, repeatedly watching acts of violence over and over again will have an adverse effect on a child’s mind. While the debate continues of whether violent video games are the cause of child violence, one thing that is certain is that parents need to be educated about the effects that playing unsuitable games can have on their children. Cases that seem to show a link between violent video games and children’s behavior are countless. In Jacksonville, Florida, a little girl accidentally shot herself with her father’s handgun (Warford). When Action News asked the little girl’s mother, Lachrisha Holmes, how the little girl even knew what to do with the gun, her mom replied, “I walked past my son and saw her on the computer and they were playing game called ‘Maria Wars,’ they were disassembling a gun” (Warford). Holmes said that she isn’t blaming video games but wonders if that is how her daughter learned what to do with a gun (Warford). In Marble Falls, Texas, a thirteen-year-old...
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