Video Game Violence Essay examples

Violent Video Games Position Essay Media is consuming our society. Television, Internet, iPods, Facebook, Gameboys, Wii, movies, and video games, does the list ever end? The first generation raised with this much media, can’t seem to get enough of all their connections and electronic devices. Among these electronic devices, video games have become a popular and huge competitor in the electronic industry. In fact, “the average eight to twelve year old now plays 13 hours of video games per week, while the average thirteen to eighteen year old plays 14 hours of video games per week.” (Video Game Addiction) This average is alarming considering that among the top twenty most popular video games in the United States, ten are considered violent. Violent video games are a major cause in violent behavioral problems with our youth today. There have been increased reports of bullying and destructive behavior in students from elementary, middle, and high schools. Many educators are accusing the growing popularity of violent video games amid youth. Educators have good reasons for making these claims. Studies show that when violence is rewarded in video games, players show increased destructive behavior compared to players of video games where violence is

Witt, 2 penalized. Violent video games have been known to numb players to real life violence. A study on youth having increased gaming exposure lead to reduced cognitive abilities in the brain. “Recent brain imaging data indicate that adolescents high in media violence exposure show abnormal frontal lobe function during the performance of executive tasks.” (Mathews et al., 2005) In the past fifteen years school shootings across our nation have increased. Many of these shootings have been connected to the perpetrators playing excessive amounts of violent video games. These games are teaching our youth inappropriate means of dealing with relationships, problem solving and violent conflict solutions. By becoming these violent characters, players learn that dealing with their problems in a violent manner is acceptable. Some may state that the problem is not violent games since youth that are inclined to be violent seek out violent entertainment such as video games. However, these violent games will ultimately just feed more into their anger issues. Our society should consider investing and producing more uplifting games that would promote positive behavior. Violent gaming encourages players to “associate pleasure and happiness with causing pain to others.” (videogames.procon.org) The two teens that shot thirteen of their fellow peers at Columbine High School, acted out their favorite video game known as Doom. These boys would play Doom for hours each day. During the shooting, in 1999, these teens mimicked the exact way the game was played down to the path that they took, to how they murdered the students. This is one small example of how kids are
Witt, 3 more likely to blur fantasy violence with reality. Today, there is even a video game that is a replica of the Columbine shootings. The participants act as the shooters. They follow paths around the Columbine High School and into various parts of the campus shooting students. This video is very controversial. The originators and supporters of the game feel it is educating people about what took place in our country. However, others feel appalled at the insensitivity and they feel it is “desensitizing” our youth.

After violent gaming, studies show it takes approximately four minutes for the intensity of angered thoughts in a child to reach a level of the average normal. It also takes at least five to ten minutes for a youth’s heart rate to come back to the rate baseline. It also has been proven that if blood exists in a video game, there is a calculable increase of stimulation in aggression. It has been theorized that players who play violent games will have less empathy

Show More

Violence And Video Games

violence in video games Essay