How violent video games have positive and negative effects on children - Essay Example

Harmless games like Pac-man started catching the child’s attention for hours and this was the beginning of game addiction in kids. With time, development of graphics and better appealing games started appearing in the market. With rapid increase of the gaming market, the genres of games started to change and new eon was set, where games did not look harmless anymore and the violence level inhabited by these games started becoming pretty alarming. One of the first high violent games that caught the world by storm was ‘Mortal Kombat’, a unique two player fighting game.

The violence however was the nature of fighting and the brutal moves that were incorporated by each character. The game also showcased extreme violence in the end of each level, in which the losing game character would die a sadistic death by getting his body parts ripped by the other character. Due to this attribute of the game, it became an instant rage especially amongst teenagers. Media has played a major part installing ideas of violence amongst children and teenagers. Violence filled games has taken this to the next level.

The following study of comparison between a violent game and a non violent game indicates the impact they can have on teenager’s mind: “They also found (Study 2) that participants who played Wolfenstein 3D (a violent game where the player “walks “through a castle, armed with various weapons, and attempts to kill people) in the lab behaved more aggressively than participants who played a nonviolent game” (Bruce D. Bartholow & Craig A. Anderson. Page 2.2001) The question that arises is can we co-relate extreme violence in schools with violence in video games.

Pre-teens boys are always using the techniques and moves shown in the games on each other. However the alarming part comes, when these school kids decide to kill their classmates and teachers in similar game fashion. The one player shooting games has a deep effect on teenagers and if the child is