Informative Speech About Video Games

I decided to research the negative effect video games have on people.Video games, especially violent ones, have become increasingly popular over the last several years. Kids will sit in front of a television for hours straight playing the same game. In these games, they kill humans, zombie, animals, and more. I’ve always wonder what effect these violent games have on people. Staring at these aggressive video games for so long can’t be a good thing. Kids find video games so addictive; they can’t put them down. This is why I decided to research this topic. To find out the different ways these games can affect people.

Video Games have come a long way since their first introduction into the main stream. With video games becoming more sophisticated and using advanced technology, it seems as if video games are closing in on the gap between games and reality. However, as video games become ever so life-like it brings up the question of if the violence associated with video games is having a negative consequence. There have been many accusations over the years over the harm video games are causing children and teenagers. Experiments have been conducted trying to associate a link between video games and aggressive behavior. Even the media has been known to point fingers at video games for the cause of children

In today’s society there has been an ongoing debate regarding the effects of violent video games and the development of today’s youth. Many people believe that the violence in video games promotes aggression. According to Doctor Brad Bushman’s article, "Do Violent Video Games Increase Aggression?" he claims that violent video games leads to aggression because it is interactive process that teaches and rewards violent behavior. Yet others believe that this not the case. Gregg Toppo of the Scientific American, writes in his article, “Do Video Games Inspire Violent Behavior?” that video games are not a significant issue because teenagers know how differentiate between reality and fantasy. Because of the controversy surrounding this topic, I decided to research the question, “Does exposure to violent video games cause aggressive behavior among teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18?” Initially before performing any extensive research on this subject, I hypothesized that violent video games do cause aggressive behavior. I then proceeded to study different scholarly works that both supported and opposed my hypothesis. What I learned from those works eventually gave me a more complete understanding of the topic and allowed me to take a more educated stance.

Technology is an important aspect of change in our world. As time goes on, we are introduced to more and more technology every year, which includes media such as video games. The increase of technology has also increased and improved the world including ways of communicating and distribution of information. More often used outlets of media are those used for entertainment purposes, like television, internet and video games. The ones who are most likely to engage in these media outlets are millennials and the most recent generation Z, because they have been introduced to these outlets from a young age. In fact, a study found that children spend around 9 hours a week playing video games (Polman, de Castro, & van Aken, 2008). It is evident that video games are progressively becoming more violent in nature, and with children spending as much time as they do playing video games, there are questions that must be asked, is the violent nature of video games effecting today’s youth? And if so in what ways?

Since the 19th Century, video games had been perceived as an exciting aspect of the media landscape and has experienced a lot of expansion in recent years. It had also changed the way people communicate to each other. Various studies have shown that violent content in video games desensitizes players, especially children and teenagers, to a real-world violence. Most teenagers who play violent videogames find it to be exciting because it shows empowerment. It is kind of ironic to tell how gaming can get children and teenagers to play videogames. A lot of people say that gaming has a negative effect. However, gaming has a positive effect. Our definition of gaming is when a person plays a videogame by him or herself, with another player, or a group of people. Despite the fact that gaming can lead to violence, in reality, most games are not violent and can be enjoyable when played with other players or

•With the recent violence across the world in schools, once again a concern has been stumbled upon in regards to whether or not video games can impact an individual’s demeanor, specifically in children and teenagers. However, when the concern is about children and violent video games, one thing is a sure fact: If parents keep getting these types of games the children will keep playing them, and companies will keep profiting from them and will keep producing more. In today’s society more than sixty-eight percent of our youth is addicted to video games. Most of these games are bought by parents or relatives not knowing that these could be detrimental for the child’s psychological development. Many games are based solely on violence; most games are about killing each other and promoting more violence by using expletive language.

Author, Steven F. Gruel, argues that there is an overwhelming amount of science and research that supports the claim that video games that are violent are indeed harmful to human development (Gruel 2010). It affects their development by causing them to act more violently. He begins by discussing that over time, usage of violent video games among youth has

“According to data recently released by The NPD Group, in 2012, U.S. video game software sales reached $6.7 billion (174.8 million units) and computer game sales were $380 million (13.2 million units)” (Improving Economy). To many, the violent video game industry has turned all adolescents into mass murderers. However, they’re absolutely wrong. Very seldom do adolescents who play violent video games commit acts of violence, and the ones who do usually have a mental disorder. Instead of blaming the tragedies that occur on violent video games, the news media should explain to people that a large percentage of young males play violent video games, indicating that the two are uncorrelated. They should alternatively research other possible solutions to the crisis. In lieu of negatively affecting people’s lives, video games could potentially improve their lives!

Video games have become very influential on children and adults (Stafford, 1999). With violent video games humans are more prone to act aggressively, to have aggressive thoughts and become numb towards violence (Harding, 2009). Apart from these they are

Video games are well known as violent and gruesome and sometimes even dangerous. The reason why that is because video game companies can do whatever they want because they have so much money and power. These big gaming companies bring out games that people would enjoy playing give an example Call of Duty, they come out with a new Call of Duty every year to make things interesting for gamers at home. The creators of Call of Duty this year was

Austin Grossman once stated,” Video games are a huge, incredibly popular, world-transforming medium.” The question is, does this powerful source have a positive or negative influence? With the many benefits, that out rule the negative effects of violent video games, like increased intelligence, enhanced social skills, and strong friendships, the choice becomes clear. Although some may think violent video games have negative effects, the positive effects are more prominent.

Video games have created controversy in the United States and around the globe since they first arrived. Some games depict acts of violence, such as gunfights, fistfights, and even show acts of terrorism. People say that these violent video games cause violent tendencies and put vicious thoughts in the heads of mass shooters, but the research shows otherwise. Experts have studied the effect of video games on violent thoughts in teens, and controversy surrounds the topic. However, upon analyzing the data, the information becomes clear. Video games do not cause violent tendencies and have no part in mass shootings.

Controversy about video games continue to escalate between parents and gamers, regarding the psychological effect of simulated, realistic, and 3D violence on the minds of young children and growing teenagers. Yet, research shows that video games contribute very little to today’s everyday violence, despite complaints and concerns that games influence a child’s normal behavior. Technology is a way of life in today’s world, computers are used by toddlers, adolescents, and adults alike. No matter what career path a person chooses, the computer plays an essential role in the job. The more our technology progresses and as our industry grows stronger, computers and electronic entertainment will grow to be found everywhere around the world. This includes videogames.

Since the first video games were developed in the 1950 – the gaming industry haven’t looked back since. Throughout the century video games has gone through a huge development where the entire planet spend more than 3 billion hours a week playing video games. In the speech “Online Harassment and Cyber Mobs” Anita Sarkeesian, who is a female gamer, talks about the stereotypes of gaming. The type of people who don’t think women should be a part of the gamer world. A world, which is dominated by men and where online harassment of the other gender is something we see everyday. This is the stereotype Sarkeesian talks about and this is the stereotype she tries to get rid of.

“Life is a video game. No matter how good you get, you are always zapped in the end” (“Video Game Quotes” 1). Over time researchers, psychiatrists, and parents have often wondered how damaging violent video games can be to the youth in society. This is an important matter to people with children in their personal lives or work environment. These games have become a large risk factor for aggressive behavior in children. Researchers have been saying that video games do affect adults as well; however, they have even more effect on younger brains in early development. Video games have negative effects on childrens’ behavior. Some effects that video games have are reduced academic performance, aggression, obesity, and emotional disorder.