Video Games Violence - Essay Example

Video Games Violence There has been heated debate on whether video games are to blame for the increased shooting in schools and crime in our modern American society. Video game violence has been associated with gross misconduct and felonies across the globe in that they are taken to influence behavior, emotions and cognition negatively. Despite being a popular pastime for children and adults, they lead to a high prevalence of violence, loss of morals, crime and disruption of school safety. Violent video games have led to violence in schools, and this is why in recent times there have been a series of violent shootings in institutions of higher learning and even some in lower educational institutions. For instance, there was the case of Virginia Tech massacre, where a student tragically ended the lives of his fellow students in April of 2007. This was just one of the violent acts affiliated with academic institutions, and numerous attributions of violent video games are easily available to anyone. In addition, this case worsens if one has the financial power to invest in a gaming console or just a computer, and even at times, if one can afford to spend time in cyber cafe. Analysts of the Virginia Tech incident sparked debate over violence in video games and their influence on the student who decided to massacre his fellow students. I believe this was the same reason Phil McGraw took to the television screens stating that video games of a violent nature and content have causal effects on the violent nature of the students conduct in killing his fellow college mates. Video games also have significant influences on the behavior of students in being violent towards their schoolmates, for instance, in the case of Phillip Kazmierczak, who shot his fellow students in Northern Illinois University, and evidence points to video games. This is following the fact that he was an avid gamer of violent games, although there may be some form of confounding in which other factors were overlooked prior to make such conclusions that may have led to the shootings. Similarly, video games have been proved to have a profound impact on the behavior of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebod, the main characters in the Columbine High shooting. The above said two, are known to have been fans and avid players of the game “Doom” (Ferguson 26). Even though records indicate that video games are not to blame for every act of school violence, every two out of five are directly related to video games. However, relying on statistics, video games are the highest causal agents of school shootings especially considering that there are many who view those that view video games as causal agents are only seeking to find a scapegoat. Personally, I believe it also means that, in spite of all opposition on the dangerous effects of games on the wellbeing and safety of students in college and institutions of learning, video games play a significant role. As of the case of Columbine High shooting, students who were well acquainted with the perpetrators gave detailed information on the level of exposure to violent games. This includes their networked computers in order to play games in multiplayer mode against each other and even against other computers. Moreover, the two perpetrators were exposed for hours on end, which can be perceived as a tool to harden and get their skills to the outside world, in this case, fellow students. Furthermore, with the games that the two were hooked on, “Doom and Quake”, the level of violence portrayed is not one that anyone can boast of considering it led to the real loss of human life. In addition, considering that the killings were done by the two as a team, it appears more as a continuation of their gaming process in their favorite video games that saw the loss of twelve lives. In addition, once an individual is exposed to violent media, of which video games are included; their cognitive, affective and behavioral processes are altered (Funk et al 23). This process is known as desensitization, where the violence to which people are exposed affects how one perceives the real world, and how one conducts him or herself in accordance to the influence of the media and reality. America has experienced a drop in violent crime rates, but not low enough to beat the current excess of 6 million violent crimes found in the country annually (Funk 24). Therefore, exposure to violence found in video games results in impaired development and growth in children. This is as concerning emotional development, as those that are exposed are unable to regulate their emotions according to the different situations they face. Consequently, impaired emotion regulation results in desensitization that, in turn, develops into cues that tend to trigger emphatic responses, which lead to aggressive or violent behavior. Moreover, it is certain that such exposure leads to high prevalence of violence in the community due to reinforcement and demonstration of attitudes and behaviors that are accepted in the society as portrayed by the games. In addition, video games contain problem-solving strategies that can be used in real life situations, but not for the good of the society or the individual under the influence. These strategies do not allow for amicable resolution of potential differences between rational individuals, but instead leads to physical confrontations as depicted in video games (Gentile and Anderson 133). This is all in an attempt to appear as the “bigger” individual while belittling the other, making the whole situation worse altogether with irrationalities. Violence in video games also increases the level of crimes in the society, other than the development and school aggression, which costs our economy in terms of spending much in security. This is following the use of aggression models that attempt to explain human aggression and crime following exposure to video games. This aggressive behavior is inculcated based on the situations that are depicted in the various violent games to which one is exposed. This creates a learning environment for the person in question allowing violent characteristics and traits to be learnt and stored into the memory (Anderson and Bushman 355). As a result, when the situation is right in real life, one is driven to replicate that which one learnt, which serves as a good example of the classic “garbage in, garbage out”. With this in mind, video games create a form of proving ground, where fresh minds take chances to try out different scenarios on how to commit crimes and the expected responses from authorities. This is, of course, as programmed by the creators of the games in order to create the best experience for the players, where all their actions, if not all, are accompanied by reactions from the authorities. Play in these violent games is meant to be as realistic as possible in order to provide the experience and lure more people into enjoying their creations. Thus, this implies that violent video games act as breeding grounds for upcoming criminals by creating an area where all their imaginations can be put to the test before getting to the real streets. It is for this reason that there are increased instances of violent crimes across the globe perpetrated by people who participate in violent video games. In addition, video games provide children and adults who are otherwise ignorant with information on how to take best part in certain antisocial activities such as violence. Violent games such as “grand theft auto” provide information on the different types of arms and ammunition that one can use to commit crimes and allows them to choose their arms. With this in mind, it is a perfect opportunity for people with no idea on weaponry to learn how different arms react and their handling, as well as their capabilities (Marko et al 962). The game grand theft auto, as a violent game portrays the alleged positive side of violence and crime as one is rewarded for every crime that he or she commits within the game. For example, should one kill a prostitute in the streets, he or she is rewarded with cash that the victims have made. In addition, to corrupting morals, violent games teach players and participants that crime does bring positive effects on their lives, both as a way of releasing steam, as is the case of grand theft auto, and as a way of creating a reputation. One can build a reputation based on the violent games considering that as one commits more crimes, one climbs higher on the popularity scale and the most wanted list. Moreover, should one fail in a mission, there is the option to replay the same mission, creating the question of moral uprightness in allowing a player to attempt crime a second or even a third time depending on the number of tries (Marko et al 962). On the other hand, in video games players do not just simply participate for entertainment, but instead control most of that which goes on in the game. In light of this, the participants develop a concept of problem solving in their life, which is advantageous, as they may positively enhance their lives through their application. The worst case is that despite applying these strategies in a helpful manner, most of these video game players choose violent strategies as taught in video games. These strategies are dominant and vital in video games in order to get into the reward system, where the more violent one is the more the rewards that one receives, which is a continuous cycle (Marko et al 962). In video games, violent actions are justified and they go unpunished, or without any form of consequence, as after all, it is all part of a game and not real life. This may bring up controversy, but for a desensitized person, there is little, if any difference between life in a video game and that in real life. This desensitization found in video games, increases negative, cognitive behavior and affects one’s conduct, out in real life to be more negative than that which the society expects of him or her, which. The term desensitization as used in this case, refers to erosion of cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses to a stimulus, which in violence is empathy and violence (Carnagey, Anderson and Bushman 492). In videogames, desensitization occurs because of repeated exposure to violent media found in the video games leading to poor methods of coping with violent stimuli. Therefore, the advantage of development of problem solving strategies is outweighed by the negative strategies employed by the players which involve violence. In addition, commercialization of video games contributes significantly to our economy considering the popularity of these games. They also are a source of income to their manufacturers and distributors as their families are sustained from the income generated from the sale of video games. However, video games are a threat to the moral uprightness of the society in which we live in because of commercialization of violence packaged in the form of games, where companies seek to make a fortune by exposing adults and children to violence. Similarly, this is as seen by the practice of the American military in selling video games to members of the public in an attempt to woo them into a military career (Lugo 12). This is a strategy with a good aim, but the consequences are dire to the entire society by promoting crime and placing violence on a pedestal, especially when committed by the military. In addition, the same military has availed a simulator used in training for purchase by members of the public under the title of “full spectrum warrior” (Lugo 11). This is to show that apart from selling video games, the American military is going ahead to encourage violence in simulators, which create a near real experience of real combat. In conclusion, despite the fact that video games provide a means of relaxation, develop problem-solving skills and are a source of livelihood to many their negative impacts relating to violence outweigh their benefits. This is because video games arm the society with numerous negative effects and opportunities to ruin itself on so many levels that include morality, crime, violence and school safety. Conclusively, video game violence is a recipe for disaster in modern society, where it seeks to destroy what has taken ages to achieve in building a peaceful society. Works cited Anderson, Craig and Bushman, Brad 2001. “Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affects, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of Scientific Literature”. Psychological Science VOL. 12, NO. 5, (2001): 353-359. Carnagey, Nicholas, Anderson, Craig and Bushman, Brad. “The Effect of Video Game Violence on Physiological Desensitization to Real-Life Violence”. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 43 (2007) 489–496. Ferguson, Christopher. “The School Shooting/Violent Video Game Link: Causal relationship or Moral Panic?” Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling 5: (2008): 25–37. Funk, Jeanne et al. “Violence exposure in real-life, video games, television, movies, and the internet: is there desensitization?” Journal of Adolescence 27 (2004) 23–39. Gentile, Douglas and Anderson, Craig. Violent Video Games: The Newest Media Violence Hazard. Web. 25 November 2012. < http://drdouglas.org/drdpdfs/106027_07.pdf> Lugo, William. "Violent Video Games Recruit American Youth." Reclaiming Children & Youth 15.1 (2006): 11-14.  Marko M. Skoric, et al. "Cultivation Effects Of Video Games: A Longer-Term Experimental Test Of First- And Second-Order Effects." Journal Of Social & Clinical Psychology 31.9 (2012): 952-971.  Read More