Is Simulated Violence Causing Dangerous Behavior?
It has been argued for years, does simulated violence make people more violent? Many people have different opinions and are pretty split on the subject. Jay Hull, who is part of Dartmouth College claims, “Play of these Mature-rated, risk glorifying games was associated with subsequent increase in sensation seeking … hanging out with kids who smoke cigarettes … and thinking one would like to try drinking and smoking.” (Barclay). This quote demonstrates that when people play these violent games, they look for more rebellious activities. While our video games are growing in details and realisticness, so is the violence. Once we find ways to simulate something, we go overboard with the idea. Right now, video games simulating violence have been
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Many who play video games will agree, it’s easy to get addicted. Even more so is that you could get emotionally connected to that game. Those games, especially violent ones, can be an outlet of aggression for those who feel more angry. However, what happens when this outlet does not fulfil the satisfaction of letting out aggression anymore? What if someone went out into the real world and did the actions in their violent games? As you can see, this could totally happen and this is why games that simulate violence could cause aggression in some people (DO VIDEO GAMES CAUSE VIOLENCE?). This evidence shows that even if people play violent games to let their aggression out, it may not do the job and they could go do crimes out in the real world. People who do these crimes inspired by video games usually do this to let out their aggression or do it because they enjoy it. Another piece of evidence is that those who are addicted to violent games have more aggression. According to Forbes.com, “The Aurora shooter, James Holmes, the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, they’re all described as essentially being addicted to video games.”
The main argument of this article is that video games have a direct link to short term and long term aggression. The author presents this argument by providing studies from peer reviewed articles that all conclude that video games do cause an increase of aggression. The main point of this article is to answer the question, “Do violent video games lead to aggression.” The article is about the effects of violent video games leading to aggression. The author uses recent examples, like the Sandy Hook and Washington Navy Yard shooting. In both of these examples, the author cites that both shooters had a history with playing violent video games. The author uses a study which selected individuals to play violent video games for a certain period of time. The study would then compare the results to a group who played non-violent video games. The study concluded that violent video games cause a direct link in aggression due to humans reenacting the actions the characters within the video games perform.
People say that role playing games with simulated violence are diverting for kids. Others argue against the subject and say that the games are to perilous for kids. Having the kids play these games maybe helpful, but in some situations it hasn’t. “Many similar studies have found the same thing: a dose of gaming makes people act more rudely than they would otherwise, at least for a few minutes after playing.” These people could just be acting that way because of something that is going somewhere else, not because the game.
Dylan klebold, Eric Harris, James Holmes, and Adam Lanza. What do all of these men have in common. To start, they all committed mass shootings killing or injuring from 20 to 84 people. According to Eric Kain in the article “Do Games Like 'Grand Theft Auto V' Cause Real-World Violence?” they all were described as being addicted to video games. Over the years we have all heard from one person to another about videogames being harmful, but are they right? Today video games are as bloody and violent as ever and their violence may be fueling the urges of crimes in the real world. Violent video games can cause harm in the real world and to the people who play them. From suggesting that violence is acceptable, causing aggressiveness in players, and being above all harmful to those with mental illnesses. Violent games as certainly causing a great deal more harm than good.
Violent video games do not cause mass shootings. There are over 150 million Americans who play video games today. There may seem like there are a lot of crimes, but compared to the amount of kids playing violent video games, the number is minuscule. From 1982 to 2016, there has been 71 major mass shootings. Out of those 71 shootings, only 10% were teenagers (“Journal of Adolescent Health”). A study from Psychiatric Quarterly found that violent video games have absolutely no impact on the tempers in people 18 and under.
On more than several occasions, studies have been done to prove whether or not simulated violence is a good experience for the users. The media may think the opposite, that violent video games link to real-life shootings. An example of this could be when Grand Theft Auto V had been released, an event may of been linked under false accusations from those who want the problem to no longer persist. Having these big industries indicted by media causes further concern from parents who do not want their children to be surrounded, much less involved with simulated violence. It is in fact thought that children who play more competitive video games tend to be involved with more aggressive activities at school. All of this just continues to bring up the question as of whether or not we should blame the creators or the media. Violence is everywhere in the world, it should be the adult generation’s job to make sure their children are prepared, and video games might be a cheaper, faster alternative.
In an article published by the APA for Harvard Health Publication, Dr. Christopher Ferguson, a psychology professor explained, “other researchers have challenged the association between violent video game use and school shootings, noting that most of the young perpetrators had personality traits such as anger, psychosis and aggression that were apparent before the shootings and predisposed them to violence.” He continued to say, “these factors make it more difficult to accept the playing of violent video games as an independent risk factor.” (Harvard). Violent video games can sometimes give an aggression outlet in the virtual world as opposed to real life.
Video games also play a big role on promoting violence. Even though most adults don’t play video games, our children do. And if we let our children play violent video games, wouldn’t you say that they are going to become violent? Kids learn by their surroundings. So playing a video game that teaches them about punching and kicking others they will do the same with their friends at school. And then we ask ourselves why the kid next door took a gun to school and shot his best friends?
Violence in video games has been proved to raise the aggression on video gamers in the short and long term, whether it’s in their language, attitude or actions. Also video games not only cause this but they also decrease prosocial behavior and empathy (Anderson, 2010). Violent video games have been one of the main reasons why students decide to shoot everyone in an educational institution like the well known Columbine Massacre in 1999. “[They] liked to play Doom (a computer game) in the afternoons”,“No one can say for sure why...theories including...violent video games (Doom)” (Rosenberg, Unknown). As we can see very clearly violent video games
Violent games are often played by kids, and kids are the main group of people who have desire to win. So, this mentality causes them get more and more angry, which may directly led to crimes. It is easy to have a casual effect after losing a game. That could makes people want to play another round, until they addicted into games. Children are still growing, and they start another game because they lose the last game, and this cycle will make the children more addictive. If games play more, they will feel immersive, it will give people a fake impression, and will affect the children 's growth. Also it influencing people’s time, this may cause children have less time to feel our planet, the outside world. Some of them are limited by violent video games, because they already addicted by those games. Secondly, violent behavior in reality is often caused by violent video games. People who likes to play violent video games are easy to get confused about reality and virtual. People are very focus when they play games, games could let people feels they are the character in the game. It could make people get angry, and once they finished their game, back to reality, they also may still think about the game, and want to have a chance to experience it, whether the result is as same as the game or not, and this could lead them to have a strong violent behavior in reality. Violent video games may change
Studies have shown that people with constant exposure to violent video games have higher levels of aggression but are unsure if the video games are causing it or if the kids are playing the games because of a preexisting interest in violence. While most people consider violent video games to be dangerous because they show kids how to commit violence, I personally think the main problem is it desensitizes kids to morbidly serious things like guns and bombs. Bruce Bartholow, an associate professor of psychology at MU, says “The brains of violent video game players become less responsive to violence, and this diminished brain response predicts an increase in aggression.” However another study from Dr. Andy Przybylski at Oxford University’s Internet Institute says, “The fact that the study had not found evidence of a link between violent games and real-life aggression did not mean it does not exist but academics are divided about the possible effects.” So the link is most likely there but it has yet to be proven and differentiated from the effects of other types of video games. A big argument against this is that violent video games are extremely common and school shootings are extremely
Video games have become a major occupation of majority of the youth these days. They spend hours on end concentrating on video games, some of which are apparently very violent, yet this is actually the whole idea. Coming from the horse's mouth is an argument in support of video games coined from a video programmer's point of view, stating that violent video games allow people to do what they can not do in reality- virtual reality. ( http://www.theroc.org/roc-mag/textarch/roc-15/roc15-08.htm ) For instance, someone said to be having a bad day could use a violent video game to release stress by shooting down a couple hundred bad men than actually taking an AK-47 and spilling down a few brains down the
I have been playing video games for as long as I can remember. I started out playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Nintendo when I was six and now I play a variety of games for the PS3. These games include Need for Speed, Madden NFL 16, Call of Duty, and Grand Theft Auto 5. What I am basically saying is that I have many years of experience with violent video games, but I have never been in a situation to where I thought it would make me more aggressive toward anyone. If anything I calmed me down. After a long day at work or even after a small argument with my girlfriend I would go to my room and play my games, it was a stress reliever for me. I have never been in any fights nor have I been arrested for any violence in my life. According to Cheryl Olson, Lawrence Kutner, and Dorothy Warner, “Playing violent video games reduces violence in adolescent boys by serving as a substitute for rough and tumble play. Playing violent video games allows adolescent boys to express aggression and establish status in the peer group without causing
“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
Playing violent games can and does stir hostile urges and mildly aggressive behavior in the short term. Adolescents spend so much time on their video games, putting thoughts of shooting, cursing, and extreme acts of violence in their head. Children who are so attached to the video games do not realize they are playing for so long. Unsurprisingly, as video game sales increase, shootings around the world are
You go to the store with your child and he or she asks for a video game. You walk to the video games section and your son or daughter picks out a game that has extreme violence. You think to yourself “Should I get that game or should I get a game that doesn't have Violence in it? Violence in games can make you react violence less severe but, it does not make you a killer or a psycho. Video Games can make you learn about different things but won’t make you insane and antisocial. Kids could play violent video games to burn off steam then in real life. Let’s look a little closer as of why I think violent video games do not cause youths to become more violent.