Video Games and Violent Video Games' Effect

Other effects may also include physical and mental aggression. Some signs of these effects taking place are increased violent thoughts, violent verbal outbursts, irritability, as well as bi-polar type mood swings that usually seem over aggressive for the topic that is at hand. A study showed "Spending large amounts of time playing these games can create problems and may lead to: Poor social skills..." (Children and Video Games: Playing with Violence). Video games maybe attributing to an already rapidly growing problem in America. Social interaction skills, sites such as Facebook and Twitter are depriving our upcoming generations of social skills needed to be able to prosper in the world they will be sent into when they are on their own. In this modern society we live in today, if we cannot socialize and interact with people efficiently our job choices are reduced drastically from say, wanting to be a doctor down to creating website domains, or taking take-out orders over the phone at a fast food restaurant.

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

Even federal government research has failed to find a statistically significant correlation between increased aggression and violence in video games.

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 game effects are relatively new in modern society. Even though these games are often entertaining, the content of the game has been increasingly more and more violent as technology becomes more prevalent. The popularity of violent video games has caused an increase in controversy. Parents and experts feel that some games are just too violent and they demand the government to regulate the sales of these games. However, violent video games do not cause an increase in aggression, in adolescents. The forceful plan by the government is caused by an exaggeration of the effects of violent video games and this plan are indeed pointless.

Violent video games have been around a long time. The problem with video games came from a video game in 1976 called Death Race where gremlins were getting ran over with a car and then they turned into tombstones. It was also a problem because some seemed to believe that the gremlins resembled stick-figure humans. Some people argue that violent video games has caused violence towards women, increased bullying, and even school shootings. Critics even argue that these video games make players violent, reward them for the violence, and teach our young that violence is a satisfactory way to handle our conflicts. There are a few video games that I’m familiar with that made the top twenty-five of all time, Battlefield, Mad Max, Mortal Combat, The Call of Duty Series, the Grand Theft Auto Series, and more. The list gets longer and longer but I just added the most popular ones.

For years gaming industries have been aiming towards entertaining people of all ages, especially children and adolescents. However, the definition of entertainment has changed drastically, from playing dodge ball outside to watching and playing video games in which people pretend to annihilate each other. Video game violence attracts and addicts young players, by affecting their behavior, and their development of social skills, to even affect their ability to differentiate fantasy from reality. The short and long term effects of violent video games affect not only the ones playing them, but also the ones viewing the violence.

Violence, killing, blood, and drugs are just a few of the things kids see on their games everyday. These things impact a child more than we realize. Many parents do not limit their child’s screen time, or monitor what they play. According to, Pamf.org, “Part of the increase in aggressive behavior is linked to the amount of time children are allowed to play video games—and daily media use by children is increasing significantly.”. Media especially video games affects the behavior of people in society.

Playing video games for hours at a time in one day, every day of the week can lead to another major problem, gaming addiction. Youth may become obsessed with the game and think they have to beat it before they do anything else and never want to leave their rooms because they want to consistently play the game. Dr. Russell A. Sabella states in his article on Education.com that: “for most people, computer use and video game play is integrated into their lives as a balanced manner. For others, time spent on the computer or video games is out of balance and has displaced work, school, friends, even family”(Sabella). Becoming addicted to video games can cause a lot of problems in the family because some parents like to have family dinners and they have to literally fight with their kid to get

The first reason why violent video games are bad is because it can become addicted. Addictions involve unhealthy attractions that keep up with regular daily responsibilities such as forgetting to do school work, homework, and chores around the house. Another bad thing that addiction causes is that children and young teens interact less with others. They rather be antisocial and hang out less with friends, in order to play a video game on the Xbox, PS3, or computer. Teens who are obsessed with video games and play for long periods of time can often go an entire day without leaving their room to eat, use the restroom or to bathe. The study found that “88 percent of the nation 's children ages 8 to 18 play video games. With 45 million children of that age in the country, the study would suggest that more than 3 million are addicted "or at least have problems of the magnitude" that call for help, Gentile said” (George). The effects of this behavior can be serious danger to their overall health.

Video games have become immensely popular since their introduction in the 1970’s. The video game industry has since evolved into a leading player in the entertainment industry, and video games of all genres have become a popular pass time activity for children. However, according to a recent study, as many as 89% of these games have violence as a dominant theme. Potential harmful effects of the violent content of video games have been scrutinized over many decades. Views expressed in the debate over whether violent video games create aggression are often extreme, either idealizing or vilifying video games. Some studies suggest video games can provide an escape from school work and social activities and they may offer opportunities to display

Video games are almost always present in any house that is home to an adolescent child. While video games are popular among people of all ages, adolescent children are usually the most involved. An article was developed by three members of the Psychopathology department at a university in the Netherlands. While addressing the use of video games the statement was made that “Today, in the United States, 91% of children between the ages of 2 and 17 play video games”(Granic, Lobel, Engels). Children may spend countless hours sitting in from of a television screen, participating in the electronic activities. While there are many different genres of video games, perhaps among the most popular are those that contain a high level of violence

At a young age, the brain is only developing by learning and applying it to their everyday life. Life styles are reinforced by what is taught to a young child, therefore, the daily presence of violent video games may harm their young minds. Many studies show multiple experiments from young children, to older men on the topic of violent video games. Researches say that violent video games do affect the brain, physically and changes a person emotionally as well.

The technology usage in the United States has grown greatly over the past decade. Video games continue to change in several ways as well. All video games have ratings on them and when I was younger, my parents would not allow me to buy a game that was above my maturity level. Gun violence around has made an uphill climb around us as civilians. The fun that these games produce make it hard for crimes to commence. Violent video games have no effect on gun violence.

When a child wants to play a video game, it is up to the parents to decide if the game is too violent or okay for their child to play. Many studies have researched into this topic and provided many examples of side effects, like being more aggressive and antisocial, or enhanced motor skills and reflexes. In recent years, those who oppose violent video games have influenced many parents and government officials to try and censor or ban violence in video games. Because violent video games do not cause any harmful effects in children, they should be considered safe for all.