Role of video games in the economy
Video games are a virtual interaction between the person playing the game and the game itself. It mostly involves mental or psychological interaction. Most games have themes such as killing of people or animals, criminal behavior, use of drugs and alcohol or sexual exploitation and violence towards women.
Video gaming has become a popular activity for people of all ages. They provide a source of entertainment and help people to relax during their free time. Many children spend large amounts of time playing these video games; this is simply due to the thrill and entertainment that comes with it.
Meaning of violent video games
Violent video games in most cases refer to games with physical aggression in them. They have a theme of injury to the affected person. Some of the most common violent video games include graphic violence that involves killing of people and animals, sexual exploitation and violence towards women or the portrayal of criminal behavior. Since this is a psychological interaction with the player, such images are formed permanently in the mind.
Impact of violent video games
As a result of this, there are serious impacts of violent video games. One of them is that children become immune to horror or violence. This mostly happens because of their continuous exposure to violence. This creates a mentality of violence and these children therefore become immune to violence of any form.
The second impact of violent video games is that it causes aggressiveness among children. They tend to become aggressive even to small issues in their daily interaction with others.
Another impact of violent video games is that it causes imitation of the violence by the children. Some of them accept that violence is the only means to solving a problem.
Problems resulting from playing violent video games among children
One of them is that it causes poor social skills. Most of the children who play these games spend a lot of time indoors. They do not have time for their peers other than playing these games. As a result of this, they fail to nurture their social interaction skills
The other problem is that it causes poor academic performance. Children who play these games in most cases do not have time to do their studies. They spend a lot of time playing games and this affects their concentration of academics.
Video games could also cause weight problems to the children who play them. Such children do not have time for physical activity or any form of outdoor event. This makes them vulnerable to weight gain.
Who should deal with these problems?
With the above problems of video games, the question is who should deal with it? The problem of violent video games is that it limits the proper growth of children if the set up of peace. All parties have a role to play in dealing with the problem of violent video games. The parents, the government and the church all have a role to play in dealing with this problem.
Parents should deal with this problem by monitoring the kind of games that their children play. They should make the children understand the negative impacts of violent video games. This will help the children appreciate the importance of playing non violent games. Parents should also deal with this problem by limiting the number of hours children spend on playing these video games.
The church should preach the importance of peace and brotherhood to children. Since most of these violent video games make children aggressive and violent, a message of peace by the church will go a long way in making them appreciate its importance. This will reduce the number of violent games played by children.
Role of government in regulating violent video games
The role of the government mainly comes in the regulation of the use of violent video games. Yes the government should regulate violent video games. Regulation should be in the form of setting laws that limit the use of violent video games among certain age groups. For example, such a law could prohibit selling of violent video games to minors. This will go a long way in reducing the effects of violent video games among children.
The government should also regulate violent video games in order to reduce cases of crime. Such a regulation could come in the form of total prohibition or ban of violent games. Games that are excessively violent could easily make children grow up with a violent mentality and this could lead them into criminal activities in future.
The government should also regulate violent video games by enacting laws that provide for voluntary rating systems among the industry player. This rating system will clearly provide for age limits as to who should play certain games. This reduces chances of the most violent games getting into the wrong hands of children.
References
Video violence: villain or victim? Guy Cumber batch, London video standards council, 2004
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/video.games.html
http://www.apa.org/science/about psa/2003/10/anderson.aspx
