The Effects Of Violent Video Games

Submitted By manjit13
Words: 1038
Pages: 5
Open Document
Repeated exposure of children to violent video games leads to aggressive behavior, feelings of hostility, and disruptions in academic achievements.

Violent games first appeared in 1970’s but it was not until 1990 that violent video games fully emerged. At this time the manufacturers of video games first experimented to see if the public accept violence in video games. It gradually became clear that most of the best-selling contained high levels of violence, and even today many of the games that sell the most are the ones that contain bloodshed in them. Prominent examples include the Call of Duty series, wrestling games, and other games related to gang wars.

Violent games are popular with people of all age groups, but the way each age group reacts to the violence is different. Children often try to imitate characters in video games, which has led to many incidents ranging from minor injuries to death.

Academic research has linked violence in video games to aggression and feeling of extreme frustration. In order to see the effects of violent video games on behavior a study was conducted on children and one hundred fifty male college undergraduates from the faculties of psychology and communication at a large midwestern university.

In the first experiment five video games were used including one nonviolent children’s game, two violent children’s games and two violent games rated T.

It was found that the subjects who player the violent games had higher scores in state anger ( ). The data collected from this experiment also revealed that the subjects who played violent video games were more hostile afterwards that those who played the non-violent video games.

Strongest counter-argument is that violent video games do not lead to aggressive behavior in most children, but there are enough documented cases to show that a small but significant number of children are affected by the violence, leading to a number of social and legal problems. For example there is a case of violence related to video games is the death of a homeless man at the hands of a nineteen year old named Steffen G. Steffen was playing WWE Smackdown vs. Raw a popular wrestling video game. He wanted to imitate the kicks and blows from the video game on someone. He was also motivated because, while playing, he lost every match. After losing yet another match, he left his house and found victim on the street who had been homeless for a few days. Steffen offered the homeless victim a place to sleep, but the victim refused. Steffen then kicked him down a stairway and started kicking him. He later confessed that he did so to find out how severely he could hurt someone. When the issue of the game was brought up, the company defended itself by saying that this game is just a simulation of a television show and did not simulate death. But the confession of the offender goes against the claim of the video game manufacturer and proves that the violence in the video game triggered Steffens aggressive behavior.

Another argument put forward to support that violence in video games does not lead to aggression is that video game violence is no worse than what is shown on to or in movies. But video games require player to actively carry out violent acts on screen, making them more harmful.

It is also said that the sale of the video games is regulate through violent video game legislation. In Illinois there is a law which states that a fine of $1000 will be imposed to the retailers that sell mature or adult-only-rated video games to minors. There is a similar law in Michigan that prohibits a person from selling or renting a violent video game to minors and if someone’s is found doing so they will be imprisoned for one year, a maximum fine of $5000 will be imposed or both. Similar laws exist in other states such as Louisiana, Washington, and many other populated centres. However these laws are not very effective.
Show More

Related Documents: The Effects Of Violent Video Games

Violence And Video Games

Violence and Video Games Trina Heyrman Eng/225 April Rivers June 14, 2014 Violence and Video Games When discussing all of the violent crimes that have happened in the United States over the past few years, there are several topics that keep getting thrown into the ring of discussion. One of the main topics, is the idea that playing violent video games will lead to children and adults being violent themselves, and make them more likely to commit acts of violence against themselves and others…

Words 1534 - Pages 7

violence in video games Essay

Stephen Herbermann Criminology 100 Violence in Video Games Violence in video games is an issue that has been increasing in severity over the past several years and is having a negative impact on those who play them, and on society as a whole. With new developments in technology, video games are becoming more and more realistic, making the gamer feel like they are actually in the game itself. However, this increase in realism is beginning to blur the lines between what is…

Words 1015 - Pages 5

Video Game Violence Essay

Video Game Violence “ Guns require a finger to pull the trigger.”­ Rick Perry. For some people like Adam Lanza and Seung­Hui Cho it was just a mixture of things such as mental illness, fictional video games, and most likely family issues. Video games are not always the main source of the problem, it’s a combination of fantasy and the real world. To begin with is the fact that Adam Lanza is mentally ill with and has violent masculinity. Here the Huffington Post says this statement about Adam and many more “Adam…

Words 344 - Pages 2

Video Games and Violence Essay

whether video games have a negative effect. The debate grows even more relevant today due to the games being more realistic and violent. The article goes on to say that video games in the short term stir hostile urges and aggressive behavior. Christopher Bartlett, a psychologist at Iowa State University, carried out a study which concluded that a dose of violent video gaming makes the players act more “rudely” than usual though only for a few minutes. However, as one plays the game longer, they develop…

Words 1128 - Pages 5

Video Game Violence Essay

Video games in modern society “Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock-n-roll.” (Miyamoto) The future of entertainment completely relies on the evolution of technology. Video games are becoming more and more realistic leaving little for the imagination to decipher which is most likely a reason that video games are being blamed for youth violence. For most video game players, the violence portrayed in video games is ineffectual so the isolated cases of youth violence should…

Words 1472 - Pages 6

Video Games and Violence Essays

Video Games and Violence Video games vary in the type of entertainment they provide, from educational purposes to extremely violent. Inevitably, with the large variety of games available, parents are facing the task of protecting their children from the more violent games that could have a negative impact on them. The debate over the evidence supporting the connection between video games violence and real world violence among experts is ongoing, however; both sides agree the parents play a pivotal…

Words 722 - Pages 3

Showalter: Video Game Violence

Psych 101 Showalter Video Game Violence To begin, I have a strong belief against video games that include violence in them. I believe that if children become accustomed to seeing murders, crime, and death almost every day during a video game then it will numb the effect of real murders, crime and death in real life. It becomes a routine for many to go home and sit and play violent video games like murdering innocent victims is not a big deal. In my experiences I have seen my friends and family…

Words 1014 - Pages 5

Video Game Violence Essay

Rosie Caporaso Period 4 1/28/13 VIDEO GAME VIOLENCE BANG BANG BANG, 3 shots are fired at my video game character. I ducked and avoided the third shot by a hair. I crawl to the trench to reload my M2 browning machine gun and check my surroundings. At the last second I see a grenade heading my way. I break away and jump into the tank beside me. BOOM a huge explosion rattles my ear drums. One of my comrades is about to get shot by the zombie. I raise the gun up, but its too late, he's blasted…

Words 822 - Pages 4

Violence in Video Games Essay

both negative and positive effects. Heated debates of whether video games have positive or harmful effects to those who play it more so young children and male adults have ensued. These debates have not been conclusive of whether video games have negative or positive effects on the gamers. Video games played from Playstation 3's, Xbox 360, laptops, and computers have made access to video games possible to the lovers of the game. Critiques, however, hold divergent views over the subject with those…

Words 1796 - Pages 8

Games: Media Violence Essay

It's in video games, movies, books, music videos, cartoons, the nightly news, on the web and even in commercials. Violence is literally everywhere in media. And it's becoming harder to avoid. With the explosion of the new advanced technology and the access of 24/7, we see at least some form of violence everyday. In the article, "It's Important to Feel Something When You Kill" Dave Grossman claims that "interactive violent games and media violence are teaching kids to kill everything that come in…

Words 342 - Pages 2