Violent Video Games Make Kids Violent - Research Paper Example

Majority of the studies agree, nevertheless, that violent video games can have significant impact on aggression among children (Bartholow et al; Carnagey et al.; Funk et al.; Polman et al.). Although not all children who play violent video games develop aggressive behaviors, several studies showed that violent video games can make kids violent, including those who do not have aggressive traits, because it decreases their capacity for empathy, it desensitizes them to violence, and it develops antisocial behaviors.

Playing violent video games reduces children’s ability to show empathy to others, which can make them more aggressive toward other people. Violent video games commonly show lack of empathy for others, where players can attack authorities and other human beings with ease and without consideration for laws and other psychological effects of their actions. Funk et al. studied the effects of playing violent video games on participants’ responses to vignettes, or fictional stories that contain violence.

The vignettes included empathy and aggression stories. Empathy refers to “self-conscious” emotions when making moral judgments (Funk et al. 417). It is about being able to feel for someone in a different situation and responding properly to that person because of empathy (Funk et al. 417). The study of Funk et al. included 35 students with ages ranging eight to twelve years old. They surveyed the video game playing habits of these children. Then, they were made to play one or two violent video games, and then asked to respond to vignettes on empathy and aggression.

To increase identification with the actors of the vignettes, they were made specific to the gender of the participants. For instance, if the participant was a girl, then the vignette has girl characters. Findings showed that playing violent video games in the long run had significant effects on aggression because it could decrease empathy levels (Funk et al. 429). Because of playing