Summary
The article assesses the effects of the video games on the social-emotional functioning in children and adolescents. This is so because video games are becoming a significant part of children and adolescent’s daily life and social interaction. The authors argue that there are over 90 percent children playing video games currently. The article illustrates a critical effect between playing video games and hostile behavior among children and adolescents. However, there are several debates about the magnitude of the effect and factors that contribute to aggression and social skills. The authors use various literature regarding the video games and adolescent socio-emotional functioning. They focus on the effect of the video games on social skills and problem behaviors of children and adolescents as perceived by parents. The research involved 114 parents of 4 to 17 year old children who recruited via social networking site.
Analysis
The article indicates that the video games have become part of the most cultures and play a critical role in entertainment in children’s everyday life. For instance, in the American culture, consumers spend about 4.5 billion dollars annually on video games and accessories. Therefore, the current increase in video games has resulted in researchers examining the effects of video game on several domains such as aggression, addiction, psychotherapy and school performance.
The article indicates that aggression and hostility is one of the effects of video games among children and adolescents. For instance, in America and Japan aggression behavior has been associated with playing violent video games. The research indicates that the violent video games are associated with increased violent behavior and decrease in empathy and prosocial behavior. The results of the meta-analysis indicate that playing violent video games is related to increased violence and decreased empathy among the youths.
Specific qualities of video games have been evaluated to establish their influence on violence in youth. The specific content such as blood or amount of violence seen in the video games can significantly impact aggressive behavior. The article indicates that adolescents who play more mature rated games are more likely to engage in bullying behavior or get into physical fights. The article indicates that the gender diversity has also negative effects of video games. This is so because it was found that playing video games was associated boys more than girls. The article indicates that playing video games can be a social norm for adolescent boys and so not related to significant health factors.
Conclusion
In a recap, I agree with the authors that there is a significant effect of the video games among children and adolescent. This is so because there is clear evidence that children who watch violent video games result in aggression or fights. This could be due to addiction or in order to practice what they see in these games. In additional, the video games have an impact on the social skills because children are decreasing interactions among peers. The interaction decreases because these children stay indoors gaming, which affects their social-emotional functioning. Although the article has analyzed the effects of video game well, it lacks consensus regarding the definition of video game addiction. This is so because it focuses on the impacts of the video games and excludes how these children and adolescent can result in addiction.
Work Cited
Aaron, Boyce, Thomas Schanding , Burridge Backscheider, and Keller-Margulis Milena. "Effect Of Video Game Play And Extracurricular Activities On Parent Perceived Socio- Emotional Functioning In Children And Adolescents." International Journal of Psychology 12 (2013): 29-49.
