...Head shot! That guy was destroyed! I know I wonder sometimes what is happening to our youth today. With so much gun violence especially in the community where there are disadvantage children. Who do we blame and what contributes to the way of how they think. I believe the media, which includes music, television, and video games do impact their behavior and actions. Some games do have educational content yet majority of them promote negative theme such as the abuse of drugs and alcohol, the killing of people and animals, disrespect for authority and the law, foul language and obscene gestures, criminal behavior just to name a few. Kids, typically boys, love the games that blast and shoot things. These are just some examples of the conversation...
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...Violent video games cause violent behaviour so they should be banned With computer technology quickly evolving gamers are now able to have a much more realistic experience when playing video games than they would get 5 years ago, and with these major improvements we have also seen a rise in the popularity of games which can be described as violent, disturbing and brutal. This rise in popularity has also lead to some controversy. Experts and especially parents believe that some games are way too violent for kids to be exposed to and think that something should be done to regulate the sale of these kinds of games. Gamers (including kids) believe in none of this, in fact they may even sometimes see violent video games were the must beat, attack and kill their opponents as a way of releasing violent urges, is this not a great way of releasing your anger, in a digital world? If parents don’t think so then there are many other, although they may include destroying the house or causing fist fights in the playground. Personally I view violent video games, not just as a way of distracting myself and having fun, but I also find it kind of therapeutic, I am able release all the anger and anguish which tends to built up over the day, for me it is an essential necessity. Besides this, video games have other positive aspects; your kid may be forced to master a certain ability which he/she needs to overcome and obstacle which they didn’t have before. For example, in the ‘Tom Clancy’ games teamwork...
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...Video Games and Violence When it comes to recreational fun, many people to turn to video games to entertain and occupy their time. Although there are mixed feelings when it comes to playing video games, marketers benefit from consumers because they provide such variety of entertainment. Research states that video games can cause the player to become prosocial, antisocial, and demonstrate different forms of anxiety (Greitemeyer and Osswald, 2011). Positive video games can develop prosocial thoughts and actions. Prosocial behavior is defined as the willingness to helps others, cooperation, volunteering, donating, and sharing. Players who were exposed to positive video games have been viewed to demonstrate exceptional behavior versus those who played neutral or violent games. Super hero video games may urge a player to help others in need, and video games that deal with shopping or cooking may urge the player to donate or cooperate with others (Greitemeyer and Osswald, 2011). However, research shows that visuospatial cognition can develop, and this will also lead to better communication and social skills. In other words, the world the player is seeing, he or she will adapt to it (Ferguson, 2007). Yet, there is more research that defines the results of violent video games rather than non-violent ones. Violent video games can develop antisocial thoughts and actions. Antisocial behavior is known to harm or have no consideration of others. These types of games can...
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...Violent Video Game Advertising: Is it ethical? Mary Ashley Badgett Communication Ethics November 6, 2013 Violent Video Game Advertising: Is it ethical? Section I: Summary Controversy over violent video games resurfaced in 1999, when two armed high school students instantly became killers of their peers. On April 20, 1999, at a Colorado high school, known as Columbine High, two students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire, shooting 20 people and killing 13. The media revealed that Harris and Klebold constantly played violent video games, including “Wolfenstein 3D,” “Doom,” and “Mortal Combat.” Following the allegations of the Columbine case, it was announced that the rapid use of violent video games perhaps caused the tragedy to occur (Columbine Massacre). Is it ethical to advertise video games that display violence and encourage violent behaviors, specifically on television networks such as Nick and Cartoon Network, channels subjected to children? According to the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, advertising has a pervasive influence on children and adolescents. Per year, young people on an average view more than 40,000 ads on television alone, not including the types of advertising one could be exposed to in magazines, on the internet, or in school. “Video games carry ratings, and supposedly no one under 16 is able to buy a "mature" game, but the Federal Trade Commission found more than two-thirds of underage teens could buy such...
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...Violent Video Games: Aggression formed from Entertainment The future of entertainment revolves around technology. Video games have become more and more realistic. The main consumers for violent video games are teens. These games encourage killing and fighting enemies. More ways of playing violent video games are created each year, but most of us have this question in mind. Do violent video games influence young people to act aggressively? I've played violent video games since I was 15 years old. I've seen all the blood, gore and many violent actions through the gameplay. Overplaying video games can have many disastrous effects on teens, although limiting the gameplay can have multiple positive effects on their futures. Overplaying can incite young players to act violently. Repetitive killing can train them to act aggressively. Most video games are just killing if the player does these actions too often he can subconsciously learn those actions and become violent himself. Playing too much violent video games can make the player think violence is fun. Violence seen in “video game play is active whereas watching TV is passive” truly sums up the basis of how influential one playthrough can have on teens. (Bushman) When the game is played the teen can associates violence with entertainment. Also for performing violent acts the player always gets a reward. If the person plays the game too much they can develop the habit of being aggressive for fun. In some way if the game is played...
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...media of The United States of America, often makes parents hesitant on how little to how much they would be comfortable with their children being exposed to. The problem is that in this nation, it is practically impossible to talk about curbing a youths’ contact to media, sex, and violence, without addressing contentious and passion stimulating questions about morality, artistic liberty, the place of government in media guidelines, and the freedom of speech that the First Amendment warranties us with. The marketing of sex and violence includes the content of expressive media creations themselves, including movies, television programs, videos, video games, and music. All of which, our children are regularly unprotected from on a daily basis. Many people such as Susan Linn, author of, “Marketing, Media, and the First Amendment: What’s Best for Children?”, has great apprehension about how much children should be able to view. She states in her article, “For people like me—concerned about children’s exposure to media violence and about precocious, irresponsible sexuality even as...
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...Violence is something that teenagers, adults, and even children are familiar with today. It occurs throughout our nation and world. It can destroy families and lives. It can even kill someone, literally or mentally. We see violence through bullying, video games, and abusive parenting. There are bounteous causes for violence. Some people become angry and take it out in violence, while others just want to fit in. Whatever the case, violence is never the answer. As the Dalai Lama once spoke, “Through violence you may ‘solve’ one problem, but you sow the seeds for another.” I personally don’t have much experience with violence. As the youngest of 5 and the only girl though, you can imagine the bickering that takes place in our household. Although my brothers and I fight constantly, I can’t really say that any of their violent actions have scarred me or even physically injured me too much. They tantalize me and sometimes even hit me, but not to the point where I’m in severe pain physically or emotionally. Violence can be identified through any physical behavior involving force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. We overhear about and see violence on the news, on TV and in movies, in books, in homes, and in schools. Violence can be caused by differences in opinions, race, ethnicity, age, height, weight, religion, gender, income, and...
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...Brainwashed and Not Understanding Gustavis Martin Liberty U APA Everyday our children are becoming more and more exposed to negativity as a result of the media and electronic devices. Most parents do not realize the danger our kids are placed in from this mass exposure. In today’s society our children can be brainwashed excessive time listening to certain music on the radio, watching certain television programs and playing some types of video games and other social media outlets by wanting to emulate what they see, read and hear. Much of this is leading to hazards to their mental and physical health. It is really an epidemic which can only be stopped by parents and other responsible adults gaining an understanding of the technology and devices our kids use, and learning what should be censored. [pic] So much of the music on the radio contains large amounts of cursing, with the lyrics requiring to be beeped out. This situation is worsened with our kids listening to these same songs on their iPods, mp3’s, Zune, etc. A majority, if not all, of the music on the devices will have cursing, derogatory sayings, and violent references that parents and other adults would not want their children to hear on a regular basis, but continue to let them do so mostly because of a lack of knowledge about how to use this technology. Though rap is not the only genre of music which frequently includes these concerns, it is a prime example. It is stated...
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...Media Violence as an Instigator of Aggression and Violence You are what you watch. Easy to say, and not too difficult to imagine either. A little over a decade ago, two boys who later became household names in America, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School in Colorado and went on a mass murdering spree where they killed 12 students, 1 teacher and injured 23 others before shooting themselves. While their motives behind doing so can not be ascertained, one possible contributing element which did surface was the influence of violent video games. At the risk of oversimplifying what is possibly a complex psychological mindfield, Harris and Klebold did enjoy playing a game called Doom, which is licensed by the American military for the purpose of training soldiers to kill effectively. Harris had customized his own version of this game and put it up on his website, which was later tracked by The Simon Wisenthal Center. This version of the game had two shooters with an unlimited supply of weapons and ammunition, and their targets lacked the ability to retaliate. A class project required them to make a video of themselves similar to the game, and in it, they dressed in trench coats, armed with weapons, and conduct the massacre of school athletes. Less than one year had gone by when Harris and Klebold played their videotape out, in real life, and became the protagonists of the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history (Anderson & Dill 772). ...
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...normality of Media Violence was the main focus of this survey. Choosing to study Media violence was very important because it plays a huge role in society and it also poses a threat to public health in as much as it leads to an increase in real-world violence and aggression. Researchers have shown that fictional television and film violence contribute to both a short-term and a long-term increase in aggression and violence in young viewers. This is very important to look at if someone is learning about families because as a child goes through its first couple of years of developmental stage, this is where that child gains habits. In this case if a child has a habit of watching violence on TV they are highly prone to expressing that in real life as they grow up. This was done surveying 50 people in total. In this study I was looking more so on boys and what they thought about the violence they see daily. It has been proven that boys are more gamers than women (although not in all cases). I recorded all the answers and completed a percentage for each of the questions I have provided for the reviewers. I then took those percentages and situated them into statistics. Once I have obtained this data, my method of showing the relationship between my independent and dependent variable was that I prepared pie charts and graphs to examine my one main question; Are there any relationships between observing violence in the games they are playing and observing real life violence and does it change...
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...Violence in video games and the effects on youth Bilton Lands Com 156 5/26/13 Violence in video games continues to get worse, but what does this mean for the youth of today? As the violence in video games gets more graphic people continue to wonder if the youth of today can understand the difference between fantasy violence and real violence. Some experts believe it is up to the parents to teach the difference between fantasy violence and real violence (Cullotta, 2012). With more and more video games coming out, this is getting harder and harder for parents to be able to shield youth from. But does this mean that the violence is really an issue? There are studies out there that show, as video game sales go up, violent crimes continue to go down (ProCon.org, 2013). “Exposure to violence in media, including television, movies, music, and video games, represents a significant risk to the health of children and adolescents. (ProCon.org, 2013). Does this help prove that it is just video games that causes the violence in youth? ProCon.org continues to go on and say, extensive research evidence shows that media exposure to video games, can contribute to aggressive behavior and violence, along with nightmares and the fears of being harmed. Craig Anderson PhD. the director of the center for the study of violence, states through ProCon.org that there is a significant link between violence in video games, and the behavior which causes violence in youth (ProCon...
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...Effects of video games on society The future of entertainment revolves around technology. Video games become more and more realistic. Gaming is now mainstream. And if there is anyone who doubts this, the figures speak for themselves. By age 21, an average person in a developed economy would have spent more than 10 000 hours playing computer games (http://memeburn.com) — this is comparable to the total time we spend at school. The main consumers for violent video games are in fact teens and people in their early 30s. More ways of playing violent video games are created each year, but most of us have this question in mind. Do violent video games influence people to act aggressively? Overplaying video games can have many disastrous effects on people limiting gameplay can have multiple positive effects. Overplaying can incite young players to act violently. Repetitive killing can train them to act aggressively. Most video games are just killing if the player does these actions to often he can subconsciously learn those actions and be violent himself in theory. In a study two groups of kids were asked to play violent video games more than another group. The group who had more exposure to the game was more violent than the one who did not play as much. (CNN.com) Playing too many violent video games can make the player think violence is fun. When the game is played the teen can associates violence with entertainment. Also for performing violent acts the player always gets...
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...Media Violence – Friend or Foe Denise Zurawski Ashford University Media Violence – Friend or Foe Psychologists are concerned regarding the amount of violent behavior that children and even adolescents watch in their own homes through TV programs, video and computer games, even the music that they listen to. Children as well as adolescents are susceptible to these acts of violence that they witness, believing that this is the way of the world. Too much violence in a show or movie may have them believing that such behavior is acceptable and even normal. Observing too much violence in any form can have children as well as adolescents believing that this is a precise interpretation of real life. The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that “American children between 2 and 18 years of age spend an average of 6 hours and 32 minutes each day using media (television, commercial or self-recorded video, movies, video games, print, radio, recorded music, computer, and the internet)” (Media Violence, 2001). A significant part of this media disclosure includes acts of violence, which if believed, could very well be acted out by our youths. Research has shown that when children watch media violence, especially if the characters (the bad guys) are portrayed as attractive and not held accountable for their actions, children may be adversely affected, and act out the aggressive behavior seen on TV. As stated in one article the authors note, For decades, researchers have studied...
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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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...Media Violence and Children CHAPTER 7 Violent Video Games: The A COMPLETE GUIDE FOR PARENTS AND Newest Media Violence Hazard PROFESSIONALS Douglas A. Gentile and Craig A. Anderson Hazard Edited by Douglas A. Gentile In creating this electronic reprint, we have attempted to keep the style, pagination, and format as close to the published form as possible. Nonetheless, some errors may have occurred. If you discover a substantial error, please contact Craig Anderson using the following email address: caa@iastate.edu. Please note that this electronic reprint is provided as a courtesy. Please do not post or distribute this reprint in any fashion that may violate the copyright of the original publisher or the authors. Thank you for your interest in this work. In 1972, a new form of entertainment became commercially available with the release of the video game Pong. In Pong, two players tried to "hit" an electronic "ball" back and forth. From these humble beginnings, a revolution in the entertainment industry was born. Interactive game revenues are now significantly greater than the domestic film industry ("Industrial Strengths," 2000). Worldwide video games sales are now at $20 billion annually (Cohen, 2000). The PlayStation video game console, which began as a side project at Sony, now represents $6 billion of the company's $20 billion in annual sales (Cohen, 2000). It is reasonable to question whether video games may have similar effects...
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