Video games are common forms of children’s entertainment. The current era cannot ignore the effect of video games among children. However, the range of effects for the videos is extremely wide. Although, the video games are meant for entertainment, they usually involve other experiences. Some of the games are violent, and they may expose the children to extensive effects. As a result of extensive exposure to violent video games, children are likely to develop hostility, fear, stress, as well as psychological trauma. However, there are positive effects of violent video games among children. To understand the appropriateness of the video games among children, it would be wise to analyze their effects and how they would come along.
At the rate at which the level of technology is growing in the world, it is impossible to prevent the children from playing the violent video games. The technology comes with a major merit among the children who play the games. The more exposed the children get to the video games the more technological knowledge they acquire. Technology advances every day, and it is commendable to have the children grow with the technology. The video games technology changes with the advancement in graphics (Dowd 40). Therefore, the children will get more knowledge on the available graphics improvements.
The other effect of the video games is enhancement of social skills for the children. Whenever, children engage in video games they provoke their minds, and they will tend to respond to the activities that they observe from the games. When they experience extremely interesting activities through the games, they will share with the friends. In that case, they will have an outstanding opportunity to flex their social muscles. Therefore, the video games are likely to make the children highly sociable. Social skills are crucial among children as they make them confident without fear of anything that may befall them Granic et al 72).
Video games are also famous of making the children highly aggressive. They are exposed to extensive violence that is as a result of aggressiveness. The aggressiveness in the video games is easily transferred to the children following their willingness and habit of copying the activities they view in the videos. Aggressiveness in one’s life is an essential life, and it is advantageous to the children if they get it at the tender age. It is a virtue that will assist them to become highly responsible people in their adulthood. The aggression that the children develop following the extensive exposure to video games is usually evident in school (Granic et al 73). The children with exclusive exposure to video games are likely to be more aggressive than the ones with minimal exposure to the video games.
Video games engage the minds of the children extensively. The children get to think extremely hard as they try new tricks by learning from the previous failure. As a result, the children will develop highly effective brains that can counter any challenge. They learn that mistakes or failure are parts of life. Therefore, they will learn the tricks that would help them in countering the challenges that would come their way. They will have to focus on certain issues that would seem to be influenced by mistakes. The children will learn the need to influence the difficulties that would arise on the way of an individual through extra thoughts (Dowd 46).
Video games are full of tricks that make opponents keep on playing. Understanding the tricks has the capability to make one of the players win easily. Therefore, the children will learn the trick of mastering the tricks that would make them win a certain game easily. They will have to use the tricks from time to time and depending on the competitiveness of the competitor. The tricks may also provoke the creativity of the competitors. Therefore, in the process the children may become highly competitive, and they are likely to employ the same creativity into their lives Granic et al 74).
The growth of the brain may be measured in terms of creativity, and ability to recognize changes in processes. As indicated above, the video games expose children to extensive creativity and ability to comprehend activities as they occur. Therefore, children with extensive exposure to video games are likely to develop in their brains in an extensive manner. They must be individuals with exclusive thinking capacity as their brain will continue to grow. Such children are likely to have a wide scope of thinking as they continue to engage their minds into provocative thoughts and activities (McLean and Mark 127).
Through extensive exposure into video games, the children are likely to understand violence and what it entails. There are various opportunities for the children to learn about the violent behaviors that human beings are likely to possess. Understanding what violent behaviors entail is a fundamental element among children as they would learn to avoid them. Also, they will be able to understand the friends or other people who may possess violent behaviors. As a result, the students are likely to avoid individuals who may be violent (Kirsh 381).They can easily assist an individual with violent behaviors on how he or she may recover from the violent behaviors.
There are different forms of video games. Therefore, the children who play the games engage in different activities in different environments. Therefore, the players must adapt to the changes in the environments. They must try to win over their competitor in the various atmospheres that they are exposed to as they play. It is a motivating element since the children will be exposed to different environments in their lives. For example, when the children attend school they change the environment. Since they are used to competing in different environments, the psychology behind their games is likely to influence their experience in a new environment (McLean and Mark 125). They are likely to perform well than other students who may not be used to different environments.
In addition, the video games are the source of entertainment for the children. Entertainment is an extensively crucial element in the life of an individual. There is broad joy that comes with exclusive exposure to the games. The children will in most cases find their joy in such activities. Entertainment is a method through which people seek their happiness. Since children need to be jovial to avoid stress that may make them have poor growth, the games would be comprehensively crucial (Ferguson 70).
However, despite the many merits that come with the games there are some negative elements that the children are likely to develop. There are numerous challenges, and it is wise to be aware of each of them.
The first negative effect that is likely to hit is addiction to the games. Following the attractiveness or the interesting bit of the games, children are likely to develop extensive addiction to the games. For uniformity in life, the child needs to balance the entertainment with the rest of the activities that he or she has to experience in life. Therefore, they must avoid excessive exposure to the games as they will waste much of their time (McLean and Mark 124). Addicted children are likely to lack time for other activities such as studying and enhancement of relationships with the family members.
The second negative effect of video games is that the children are likely to acquire the violent behaviors. The mind of a child is sensitive of anything that he or she observes or hears since it records it for future recognition. Therefore, when the children get used to violent video games, they are likely to develop violent attitude that would make it hard for them to exist peacefully in the family or society (McLean and Mark 124).
Also, the children are likely to develop physical problems following long periods of playing the video games. Following long hours of sitting, the children may develop backbone problems because of sitting in the wrong position. Since the children may be gazing at the screen for a long time, they may develop eye problems. The physical discomfort that the individuals experience may lead to headaches since the body is not in any movement that may allow proper blood flow in the body (Kirsh 379).
The children are likely to develop hostility as a result of excessive exposure to violent games. The games are developed with a hostility theme. There must be a character in the games who is more superior to others and who intimidates the rest of the characters. The children are attracted by the heroes in the video games, and they may copy every behavior of the character.
The video games are possible sources of fear among children. The fear mostly affects the spectators. Since they may not understand how the games operate, they may become fearful of the actions of the characters. Fear and intimidation may develop because of the exposure (Granic et al 71).
Although, the violent video games played by the children may have negative effects, there are merits that defend the reason children should play video games. The merits surpass the demerits making it reasonable to say that violent video games are significant among children.
Works Cited
Dowd, Nancy E. "Violent Video Games: The Effects on Youth, and Public Policy Implications." Handbook of Children, Culture, and Violence. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 2006. Print.
Ferguson, Christopher J. "Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can Violent Video Games Be a Force for Good?" Review of General Psychology 14.2 (2010): 68-81. Print.
Granic, Isabela, Adam Lobel, and Rutger C. M. E. Engels. "The Benefits of Playing Video Games." American Psychologist 69.1 (2014): 66-78. Print.
Kirsh, Sammy J. "The Effects of Violent Video Games on Adolescents The Overlooked Influence of Development." Aggression and Violent Behavior 8.2003 (2002): 377-89. Print.
McLean, Lavinia, and Mark Griffiths. "The Psychological Effects of Videogames on Young People: A Review." Aloma 31.1 (2013): 119-33. Print.
