...Violence and Video Games Aaron Kanoski Strayer University CIS 324: Computer Ethics July 24, 2012 Professor Rebecca Stephens Abstract This paper will discuss the different theories of links between violence and video games. Those who try to censor video games or make them illegal point to the theories and studies that show a tenuous link. Those in the video game industry and activists for free speech and artistic freedom out right refute or offer other reasons for the supposed link. Violence and Video Games There is no solid evidence that a link between violence and video games exit. Video games have been blamed for school shootings, violence toward women, excessive bulling, and just about any violent massacre by a young person. Critics say that violent video games desensitize children to violence, rewards them for stimulating violence, and that violence is an acceptable response to conflict. Advocates for video games say that a majority of the research is deeply flawed and that causal relationship between violent video games and social violence has not been found. Once considered just a fad of the 1970s, video games are now a 40-year-old media powerhouse that has entered the cultural mainstream. Video games are no longer considered just a children’s toy. They have become a major cultural force and artistic medium. Video games are now played in form or another, on or off line, by a majority of people around the world. In the US alone, during 2008, 97% of all twelve...
Words: 1857 - Pages: 8
...1100 Do Video Games Lead To Violence? What am I being asked to believe or accept? In this article, Do Video Games Lead to Violence, the argument being made is that video games either leads to violence or does not lead to violence. There have been arguments that video games cause psychological and physiological problems in children that result to violence. An opposing argument believes that video games do no cause violence and more research is needed to ensure that video games cause violent activities. What evidence is available to support each side of the argument? The evidence available to support each side of the argument is that researches found that playing video games increases aggression in young adolescents. In addition, more realistic video games increase physiological arousal. Video games also make children adapt to the interaction in the game rapidly. Evidence available to support that video games does not influence violent behavior is the little evidence between the contacts to violent video games to violence in real life. Olson, one of the researchers, believes that violent video games is not connected to how the media says it is. There is no legit evidence that playing video games causes aggressive behaviors. What further evidence or information would help me to evaluate the two sides to the argument? Further evidence that supports video games leading to violence are the experiments researches have done. The experiments demonstrated that playing video games...
Words: 626 - Pages: 3
...Steele Video Games and Violence The video game industry has become a very lucrative industry since their humble start thirty plus years ago. Today a large amount of people are devoting countless amounts of time playing video games with violent storylines. Research shows that spending vast amounts of time playing video games that contain a large quantity of violence intensifies aggressive behavior, attitudes, thoughts and affects. Video game violence correlates directly to aggressive attitudes and behaviors of the people who are exposed to violent stimuli, whether meditated or not. 1972 was the introduction to what we know as the multi-million dollar video game industry. The history of the video games spans over three eras (1977-1985) the Atari Era, (1985-1995) the Nintendo Era, and (1995-present) the Play Station Era. Video games during the Atari era contained little violence and that violence was quite intangible. With the advancement of computers it enabled development of more complex and violent video games during the Nintendo era, resulting in the popular game Mortal Kombat that was the first fight game that involved player interaction. We are currently in the third era the Play Station era and it has been significantly enriched by the advancement in computer technology and the switch from game cartridges to CD-ROM. Video games substance has radically changed since the Atari era. According to Carnagey & Anderson (2004) “content analyses of video games show...
Words: 767 - Pages: 4
... The effects of video games and violence Violence is not measured by playing video games. All studies do not show a link between video games and acts of violence, but research does show an increase in aggression. (Fournis & Abou, 2014) There have been debates about how violent video games trigger violent, aggressive behavior. (Fournis & Abou, 2014) Violent video games can impact a person’s behavior, have positive effects and negative effects on adults or kids. Violent video games can impact a person’s behavior. “Data showed an increase in aggressive moods or thoughts and hostility after playing violent video games and suggested impairment of prosocial behavior” (Fourmis, Abou, 2014, p.1). Violent video games reward players for increased violence, which enhances violent behaviors. When playing video games with violence, people repeatedly kill people to get what they want. Resulting in aggressive or violent behavior. “Playing a violent video game even for 20 minutes led individuals to become less sensitive to real violence” (Fournis, Abou, 2014, p. 1). The positive effects of playing video games are the mental skills required to play the games. If played correctly video games are used as leisure time entertainment but when people play video games that involve violence some people tend to forget the games aren’t real. Other positive effects are the ability to process knowledge to include reasoning, perception, and intuition. Video games offer problem solving...
Words: 582 - Pages: 3
...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...
Words: 11640 - Pages: 47
...The Influence of Violent Media on Teen Violence Back to over two thousand years ago, Socrates once wrote: “Our youth now love luxury, they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders, and love to chatter in place of exercise.” Truly teenage rebellion has been around for a long time. Teenage is one of the most dynamic period in our life. People change the most while they are teens, both physically and emotionally. Unlike adults, teenagers may not be aware the consequence of their rebellious acts. When it comes to extreme act of rebellion it becomes violence. Teen violence comes in many forms and vary degrees. For example, verbal abuse, bully, physical fight, gang violence, and assault with or without weapons are the most common violent behavior among teenagers. Teen violence is a growing concern in our society. People often hear teenagers bullying, teenagers involved in violent crimes on the news. According to Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, about 20% of high school students report being bullied on school property in the U.S. in 2009 (8). One third of students had been in a physical fight in the last twelve months (6). For many teenagers, violence is a way to release anger and express freedom. All parents want their teens away from violent behavior. Before we can find solutions for the youths, we need to figure out why is teen violence happening? What makes teenagers turn to violence? There’re always have different and more than one reason that...
Words: 1171 - Pages: 5
...| Violent Video Games | | | | Violent Video Games INTRODUCTION: Concerns over the effect of violent video games on today’s youth have been debated since the late 1970’s. School shootings, criminal behavior, bullying, and violence towards woman have all been blamed on violent video games. Electronic media plays an important role in the emotional development, social behavior and intellectual functioning of children and youth. Many video games are very helpful for children to facilitate medical treatment, increase learning, and promote pro-social behavior. However, there are also video games that include aggression, violence and sexualized violence that have a negative impact on children. After the 1993 release of Mortal Combat, Congress contemplated regulating the sale of video games. The video game industry responded by voluntarily establishing the ESRB, (Entertainment Software Rating Board) to create a ratings system. The rating system was based on the content of the video game. The controversy over violent video games resurfaced following the Columbine High School shooting in Jefferson County, Colorado on April 20, 1999 (procon.org). According to procon.org, in 2008, 298.2 million video games were sold in the US, totaling $11.7 billion in revenue. Six of the top ten best-selling video games included violence, with four of the games carrying a "mature" rating recommended for persons aged 17 and older. AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR: Video games often reward...
Words: 2095 - Pages: 9
...exposure to violent acts. Unfortunately, violence is one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Over sixty percent of television shows being shown in prime time contain some form of violence. There are two very opposite sides of this issue. The media who market the violent television, video games and other forms of entertainment argue this is safe entertainment and the others argue that violence promotes violence Current research tends to agree with the proponents who argue that violent media is associated with aggressive behavior. Risky behavior by children and young adults can include violence against others, lack of remorse for consequences. The type of faulty thinking creates stressors in children which can lead to the onset of many different symptoms. Children who view media violence are more likely to have increased feelings of hostility, decreased emotional response to the portrayal of violence and injury that lead to violent behavior through imitation. An example here would be the television show Jack Ass. There have been several accidents related to young men attempting stunts that are done on the show. The act of imitating what they have seen on a television show causes injury to themselves or others around them. The Academy of Pediatrics says “More than one thousand scientific studies and reviews conclude that significant exposure to media violence increases the risk of aggressive behavior in certain children, desensitizes them to violence and makes...
Words: 1933 - Pages: 8
...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 a violent video...
Words: 747 - Pages: 3
...Research Paper Violent Video Games: Where Violence Comes From Whether or not violent video games cause violence among people is a highly debated top-ic in society today. Do video games, such as “Grand Theft Auto”, “Saints Row”, “Call of Duty”, “Doom”, and many others, cause violence in society today? Yes, violent video games that are being freely released to just about everyone in the public are one main cause for violence in the world. Violent video games are causing people to commit violent crimes, have hostile behaviors, the games are showing people how to kill and get away with it, and lowers chances of people taking a nonviolent solution to a problem. Many people are addicted to video games in general; many people use video games as an escape from the “real world”. Social scientists have been studying and debating the effects of media violence on behavior since the 1950s, and video games in particular since the 1980s. (Carey Benedict) One wide spread occurrence is people who have committed violent crimes often have been found to have played in the past or are playing violent video games now. In Adam Lanza’s basement, he’s the person in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, law enforcement re-portedly discovered a “trove” of violent video games. (Ryan Jaslow) Apparently the 20 year old spent hours alone, playing with the windows blacked out, honing his computer skills. (Ryan Jaslow) Many researchers have found that, after a violent crime, these criminals and murders...
Words: 1547 - Pages: 7
...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...
Words: 2294 - Pages: 10
...Introduction There has been a rapid increase in violence in over the past few months with 19 murder record and 12 of them related to gun violence according to Today newspaper. It has been consider by the public and some government ministers that this increase is due to the constant exposure of violence in video games. The relationship between violent video games and the rise in gun violence is one for some serious debate and considerable amounts of research. The debate about if violent video games can lead to real life acts of gun violence has come to the forefront due to the recently increase of video games that encourages the players to commit illegal acts. Still, the question reminds, do violent games encourage gun violence, or is there no effect? First, Gun violence is violence committed with the use of a gun (firearm or small arm). It may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal gun violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, and suicide, or attempted suicide, depending on jurisdiction and a video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device such as a TV screen or computer monitor (definition Wikipedia). To determine if there is a link between gun violence and video games we must first look at who actually plays these games and why there are so popular. Video games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Grand Theft Auto V and Halo...
Words: 963 - Pages: 4
... Do violent video games contribute to youth violence? There was a time when children were always playing outside during sunny days, but that was until video games were invented. Video games provided people with countless hours of entertainment at the comfort of their own home. People enjoyed it because it was a temporary break from reality. People played video games so much that it raised a lot if concerns. One of the concerns is violent video games affecting children’s behavior. Violent video games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty have often been blamed for school shootings but do they really affect children’s behavior or are these just hasty generalizations? There are different studies saying that violent video games affect children’s behavior. One study says that there has been an increase in bullying cases because of mature video games that are sold to children. Psychologists say that children may think that violence is a solution for their problems. They will think that the world is a hostile place and violence is normal. ( Harding,2009). Some kids may also develop trust issues and become aggressive to protect themselves. Christopher Barlett, a psychologist at Iowa State University wanted to test if students become more aggressive after playing a violent video game. He made 47 students play Mortal Kombat for 15 minutes. Afterwards, he tested whether they became more aggressive or not. There were compared to a group who played a nonviolent video game. Obviously...
Words: 765 - Pages: 4
...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...
Words: 1499 - Pages: 6
...“Violence in Video Games” Video Games are something that are on the rise in today’s world. They are increasing economically and politically. Video games are something that can be enjoyed by all ages. They are a fun, fantasy TV station you get to create for yourself. Even though they are for everybody, they are targeted more towards teens. The most popular games out today are shooting and fighting games, which incorporate violence. The definition of violence is behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. People may say that these video games incorporate this term called “violence”. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. Violence is visible in Video Games, but may not fuel teens to be violent in reality. First, Violence is something that has been in this world a long time. It is something that, no matter what, will continue to happen in this world we live in. Like before, violence is a behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. There have been a lot of instances of violence in history. Not just any kind of violence, but violence that people could not imagine happening. The Columbine Shooting is a great example of this so-called “violence”. This horrific event involved two young teens that had previously been bullied in school. The bullying they went through caused a built up anger that they eventually had to release. These two teens unleashed their built up frustration...
Words: 1111 - Pages: 5
