Violent Video Games
Introduction
Video games have become common among children especially when dealing with teenagers most of whom have access to video games. Video games are part of the media environment in which children are exposed to that help in defining their overall connection to their environments. Exposure of children to pro-social video game content may help in promoting overall brain development among children, as it makes it easier for these children to experience that overall connection towards their surrounding environments. For a very long time, it has become important for scientists to study the impacts associated with exposure of children to violent media. One of the key aspects that have contributed to an increased exposure especially among young children is easy to access video games some of which glorify the theme of violence.
According to Cunningham, Engelstätter, and Ward (1258), the highest number of children exposed to video game violence is boys, as they tend to spend an average of two hours per day in playing video games compared to an average of one hour per day for girls. That means the impacts associated with video game violence become more conspicuous among children who find themselves experiencing an overall disconnection to their surrounding environment. The majority of the video games today promote negative vices including use and abuse of drugs and other substances, killing of people or animals without any consequences, and create stereotypic environments among other impacts. However, no conclusive evidence has been presented to outline the impacts on what researchers believe to be the connection between video game violence and real-life violence among children.
Background Information
In the United States, approximately 97% of children between 12 and 17 years are exposed to one or more video games, which has helped in growing the video game industry in the country. Different parts of the world project differing views on what to expect from exposure to video games among children. Currently, the United States video game industry is worth approximately $21.53 billion acting a clear indication of the increased uptake of video games as part of children’s mode of enjoying their leisure. A survey conducted in 2014 indicated that approximately 62% of the top 50 most selling games in the United States contain scenes that support or propagate violence in one way or the other (Nakamuro et al. 34). That means that majority of the children involved in playing video games find themselves exposed to different forms of violence based on a wide variety of games.
Figure 1: Violent Crimes by Juveniles
Gabbiadini et al (7) argue that increased exposure to violence within video games may act as one of the factors contributing to the occurrence of increased cases of school shooting involving teenagers who may not have had any inclination towards violence. Increased exposure to violence creates a situation where a video game player is rewarded for his or her acts of violence or for simulation of violence. In such cases, these teenagers find it easier to express their feelings through violence, as this is what they encouraged in the video games. However, this only creates some form of disconnection from their current society leading to a situation where some of these children enjoy the outcomes of violence with little or no regard to the impacts that this may have on others in their environments.
The conclusion that video games tend to contribute to the occurrence of violence was supported by a resolution by the American Psychological Association adopted in 2005 as part of its strategy to reduce exposure of young children to environments that may propagate violence. According to the resolution, the increasing number of violent video games within the consumer market specifically targeted for youths and children may have a direct translation to the levels of violent crimes occurring within the society. That means that the higher the number of violent video games in the market, the higher the possibility that the youth may engage in violent activities. The resolution recommended a reduction in the overall number of violent video games within the consumer markets to avoid the occurrence of violence as part a reaction from the violent scenes.
On the other hand, advocates for video games disown that video games contribute to the occurrence of violence especially among the youth arguing that this is not supported by any factual evidence. A review of figure 1, presented above, indicates that the level of violent crimes has reduced significantly among juveniles. That acts as a clear indication that although some of these children find themselves exposed to violent video games, they do not translate the same to real-life scenarios. These advocates for video games argue that violence in video games provides these teenagers and children with an avenue to relieve their frustration on a wide range of issues. That means that video games may be of value for the young children especially in ensuring that they maintain positivity in their lives by reducing their desire towards violence.
When supporting the need to ensure that children are exposed to video games, it is important to evaluate some of the arguments presented to support the stance on the need for video games. The first argument relates to the lack of a direct correlation or link between the increasing sales of video games within the market and the crime rates especially among the youth (as highlighted in figure 2). Hsieh, Lee, and Lin (9) argues that although the sales for video games have increased significantly, the crime rates among youths and juveniles do not project the same correlation acting as a clear indication that there exists no link between violence in video games and real-life. Video game manufacturers argue that exposure of children and youths to violence within video games only works towards creating the desire for these children to play more but not focus on real life violence.
Secondly, studies that support the position that exposure of young children to video game violence do not provide evidence that would support their position on this particular argument. The number of researchers arguing that video game violence contributes to real-life violence is increasing at a significant rate. However, the majority of these arguments do not provide conclusive evidence that would support the same thereby disowning their position on what to expect with regard to instances where children find themselves exposed to violence. In addition, most of these studies fail to provide readers with a basic understanding of the factors that may contribute to the occurrence of real-life violence. That means that they lack that aspect of positioning in trying to argue based on the question relating to violence in video games and its impacts on young children.
Figure 2: Correlation between Video Games Sales and Violent Crimes
Thirdly, one of the key arguments disowning the idea of having to play video games is that they tend to create a situation where children find it challenging to express their emotions leading to increased cases of mass shootings, especially within school settings. However, video games may not be the reason behind increased cases of mass shooting especially in school settings, as the number of mass shootings occurring especially in the United States do not relate to the number of individuals playing video games. Currently, over 150 million Americans play a video game, which is a high number when compared to the overall population of the United States (Hartanto, Toh, and Yang 1134).
However, the number of mass shooting recorded between 1982 and 2015 has been 71 in total out of which 9.8% involved teenagers below the age of 18 years (Akpinar and Aslan 243). From that view, it is evident that the number of video game players within the United States does not correspond to the number of violent behaviors among teenagers. That means that the conclusion, supported by video game critics, is somewhat misplaced, as video games are not the key factors to consider in evaluating a child’s violent behavior. That means that trying to understand some of the factors contributing to the occurrence of violent behaviors, especially among teenagers, would depend wholly on whether the stakeholders involved understand the lack of connection between video games violence and real-life violence.
Lastly, video game players tend to have a clear understanding of the difference between virtual violence and real-life violence, thus, meaning that playing of violent video games does not translate to violent behaviors. AlShaiji (128) argues that video game players, by the age of seven years, have the capacity of creating a clear distinction between events occurring within the virtual front from those occurring in reality. That means that these children may find it hard to express virtual feelings within reality, which acts as a clear indication that video games tend to lack overall connection towards real-life events. Instead, exposure to video games only contributes to a situation where some of these children learn how to control their emotions. Video games provide children with an avenue for having to learn when to use violence or other forms of conflict resolution.
Arguments against Video Games
On the other hand, it is important to evaluate the arguments presented with regard to criticism of video game violence towards children and youths in the society today. One key aspect to note is that the arguments presented on the negative impacts associated with video game violence tend to outweigh the arguments presented with regard to support for video games. The first argument is that video games create a situation where the majority of these players are desensitized towards real-life violence due to increased exposure to violent environments in video games (Saleem, Anderson, and Gentile 283). As highlighted earlier, video game players are rewarded based on their leaning towards violence while playing some of the violent games. That is a basic avenue allowing these players to embrace the idea of violence as part of their social element of belonging.
In such cases, these children or teenagers tend to create some form of disregard for human life, as some of these video games create an environment where some of these players tend to enjoy their exposure to violence. Consequently, this creates a situation where these players find it hard to comprehend on what to expect from real-life exposures thereby leading to a situation where these children tend to embrace violence. Etchells et al (9) argue that some of the violent tactics projected through video games are projected in real-life criminal activities especially those surrounding the youth or teenagers. This makes it hard for the society to lack that regard for video games, as they tend to create a situation where some of these children translate what they witness from games into real-life situations.
Secondly, video games contribute to increased cases of violence, as they help towards simulating situations where the video game players would use violence as a mode of conflict resolution. Most video games categorized as being violent lack the aspect of connection towards any other conflict resolution element thereby meaning that some of these players may believe this as being the case in real-life scenarios. In real-life scenarios, it becomes extremely challenging for these players to embrace other forms of conflict resolution attributed to their predisposed mentality created through increased exposure to video games. This acts as an argument that would work towards disowning the idea of having to use video games for social purposes, as this would only contribute to a situation where cases of violent crimes would increase significantly.
Lastly, video games also contribute to the occurrence of real-life violence, as video game players tend to show aggressive behavior especially when faced with the challenging situation. Professional organizations, such as the American Psychology Association, have been on the forefront in advocating for the need to reduce instances where children find themselves exposed to increased cases of violence (Suziedelyte 1146). These professional bodies argue that exposure of children to video game violence would only create a situation where these children may believe what they view within the virtual front. That means that exposure of children to video game violence may create a situation where some of these children may find it hard to control their behaviors in real-life situations. However, the majority of these professional bodies argue that some of the video games may play a key role in promoting brain development among children.
Conclusion
Video games have become one of the most important aspects that define the current society based on the high number of children, teenagers, and youths finding themselves exposed to such games. However, a survey conducted indicates that approximately 62% of the top selling video games tend to project one or more forms of violence, which may have a major impact on children in defining their perception towards violence. That means that children or teenagers playing video games have a higher level of disconnection towards their overall environment leading to a situation where they would propagate or support acts of violence. One key aspect to note is that majority of these arguments against video games do not provide any logical evidence. That has created a situation where advocates for video games have been on the forefront in disowning the fact that video games may contribute to increased cases of real-life violence.
Works Cited
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