Do Violent Video games encourage violent behavior - Essay Example

Do Violent Video games encourage violent behavior? It is important to understand the impact of violent video games on children’s behavior. This is the reason that there are questions regarding this issue and it is the point of the proponent to emphasize the impact of violent video games on children’s behavior. Yes, violent video games encourage violent behavior and here is why. In a study among Dutch adolescent boys who were exposed to violent and non-violent games suggested that: those who were exposed to violent games were more aggressive than those who were not and they further wished they were like the violent characters in the game (Konijn, Bijvank & Bushman 1038). At this point, it is important to consider that those boys of particular age who were exposed to violent video games have the tendency to have wishful thinking about being one of the characters they played in the game. These wishful thinking remarkably have significant impact on the normal functioning of the mind. In fact, violent video games and brain function have significant interrelation (Funk 387). This specifically leads to the idea that specific thoughts may certainly be influenced by violent video games. Normal thoughts about the reality have the chance to be altered into something bizarre or something seen in the violent video games. Those who are exposed into the realm of violent video games have the tendency to associate themselves with the situation they perceived to be real in the virtual world. At this point, it can be asserted that the normal thought or the one not right may be perfectly manifested through a certain behavior. “Exposure to violent game proves to be a significant causal risk factor of aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in Eastern and Western countries” (Anderson et al. 151). What is the most important information that needs to be understood in here is the fact that mental attitude is significantly influenced by violent video games. The issue is not about the entertaining factor of these games but how they specifically would impart something on someone’s behavior. In particular, this is not just a matter of the nature of the child to be enticed with video games especially those with violent content. However, what matters most is the thought that this can have significant impact on the child’s perspective about the reality. This has important impact on how the child will significantly understand the right from wrong set by the society. As stated earlier, those children exposed to violent games have the tendency to acquire violent behavior. This makes sense because in the first place, the bottom line impact of online violent games is said to be highly associated with children’s violent behavior. In order to understand this further, it is important to understand children’s behavior and his environment in detail. Children’s behavior and environmental influence Children’s behavior is susceptible to various influences in the environment. For instance, adult behaviors can be adapted by them. In fact, part of a children’s development of their behavior is highly influenced by the environment. In a family, parents are important persons in the lives of children because they tend to influence them. This is a clear illustration how an individual is being influenced by his immediate environment. However, children are not only influenced by their direct environment such as their family, they also acquire them from what they observed from their day to day interaction with other people, friends and media. This clearly emphasizes that there should be a significant impact on playing and watching violent video games among children. On the other hand, this belief was challenged at first due to methodological research issue concerning on the investigation of the association of children’s behavior and violent video games (Griffiths 203). This methodology includes observation of children’s free play. Eventually, the research method has significant limitations or drawbacks that will eventually lead to a questionable result of the study. However, as research on the association of children’s behavior and violent video games increase over time, significant methodologies emerged to justify more reliable results (Konijn, Bijvank & Bushman 1038; Funk 387; Anderson et al. 151). These studies clearly emphasize a strong association of children’s environment and their behavior. Exposure to violent video games is quiet risky based on the perspective of studies that remarkably reported positive link of aggressive video games into a child’s violent behavior. In psychology, social and environmental conditions have the ability to teach an individual to be aggressive (Feldman 463). This basic idea or theory has triggered various studies to remarkably emphasize that the aggressive nature of children may be achieved through their exposure to violent games. From the standpoint of observational learning approach, a person may be eventually encouraged to hurt others due to specific learned response of an action. For instance, in a violent video game, an act to kill the opponent has a specific reward and that is to win in the game. This kind of principle applies in the real world based on observational learning approach. For instance, a person may learn to kill due to specific reward such as money. In the same way, from the observational learning approach, children are given the idea that it does not matter at all what the means should be used in order to achieve the goals or reward. This is the reason why observational learning approaches try to emphasize the importance of punishment and reward in order to positively influence an individual’s behavior. Furthermore, the reward and punishment system motivates an individual to go forward to those things that certainly will give pleasure, fun or any other promising things that would make one feel good. At children’s physical, cognitive and social growth at the age of two to six years there are various changes that need to take place and things that need to be learned the right way (Barnes and York 16). This means that an individual is eventually learning from its environment and sorts good experiences from bad. Based on the children’s development, the concept of what is good from bad is learned through experience. Thus, exposure to violent video games can be risky to children’s normal cognitive and social development due to the fact that killing might be associated as a good way or act just to be able to achieve specific goal in life. In a violent video game, the bottom line of killing, cheating and others is eventually to win. Such violent behavior is not impossible to be learned and applied especially as implied to be best adapted during a person’s mental and cognitive development. Although some children may not be exposed to violent games at the age of 2 to 3 years old, but the point is that as they grow they are exposed to their environments and highly influenced by them through their experience. The children’s mental, cognitive development and play As stated earlier, children from two to six years old are undergoing specific development in physical, cognitive, mental and emotion. During this specific level of development is the best time to influence their behavior. Playing is the best way to fuel children’s imagination, build skills and explore (Barnes and York 37). Therefore, an integral part of children’s mental and cognitive development is play. Children can become so imaginative through it. Play therapists have significant information linking children’s aggressive behavior with play (Davenport and Bourgeois 2). As mentioned, during play, children learn to develop imaginative thought. It is in line with this that various studies such as mentioned previously have positively associated children’s aggressive behavior with violent video games. Therefore, it is evident that children’s play can both give positive and negative results depending on its type. In particular, Barnes and York have tremendously encouraged parents to substantially initiate productive play with their children especially during their stage of mental, cognitive and social development. However, they specifically did not suggest exposing children to violent video games. However, they do not have specific response whether a violent video game is detrimental to children’s developing behavior. Nevertheless, they are particular on how to influence them through the right parenting approach. They eventually do recommend that the best way to be with their children in their growing years is for parents to regularly play or interact with them because it is more personal and would involve healthy emotional development. Thus, York and Barnes do not certainly suggest impersonal approach to play such as video games. This is particular evidence suggesting further that video games are not 100 percent effective for children’s growing years. Younger kids may not be highly susceptible to violent games since mostly those who are exposed to them are teenagers. However, the main point of the argument and information stated above is to emphasize that humans are influenced by their environment and the best way to look at it is to observe children’s cognitive, mental and physical growth. Since there are evidences to support the negative impact of violent games on adolescent’s behaviors, it is therefore implied that indeed the environment has specific influence on human’s behavior. This also suggests that learning, the environment and behavior are interrelated. Thus, this gives a strong point suggesting that exposure to violent video games are detrimental to one’s behavior. Conclusion The proponent believes that violent video games will just only bring no good results for children’s emotional, cognitive and mental development. Rather, it is to be emphasized that the best way to help children during their growth years is for parents to initiate more personal interaction with them that could help enhance their emotional, cognitive and mental growth. Various studies were conducted that aim to link the detrimental impacts of violent video games on children’s behavior. Most of them are based on the theory of observational learning approach. In psychology, a person’s development and understanding of things are influenced by his immediate environment. Thus, this positively associates or even confirmed that violent video games have significant contributing factor to children’s specific behavior such as aggressiveness and other related violent conduct. Children’s environments and play are integral parts of their development. Since the society expects a good citizen, children therefore are encouraged to be influenced with the right behavior. This is the reason why various studies were conducted in order to prove the remarkable impact of violent video games on children’s violent behavior. Work Cited Anderson, Craig A., Shibuya, Akiko, Ihori, Nobuko, Swing, Edward L., Bushman, Brad J., Sakamoto, A., Rothstein, Hannah R., and Saleem, Muniba. “Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Eastern and Western Countries: A Meta-Analytic Review.” Psychological Bulletin. 136.2 (2010): 151-173. Barnes, Bridget A., and York, Steven M. Common Sense Parenting of Toddlers and Preschoolers. Nevada: BT Press. Davenport, Becky R. and Bourgeois, Nicole M. “Play, Agression, the Preschool Child, and Family: A Review of Literature to Guide Empirically Informed Play Therapy With Aggressive Preschool Children.” International Journal of Play Therapy. 17.1 (2008): 2-23. Feldman, Robert S. Essentials of Understanding Psychology. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2003. Funk, Jeanne B. “Children’s Exposure to Violent Video Games and Desensitization to Violence.” Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 14.3 (2005): 387-404. Griffiths, Mark. “Violent video games and aggression: A review of the literature.” Aggression and Violent Behavior. 4.2 (1999): 203-212. Konijn, Elly A., Bijvank, Marijie Nije, and Bushman, Brand J. “I Wish I Were a Warrior: The Role of Wishful Identification in the Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression in Adolescent Boys.” Developmental Psychology. 43.4 (2007): 1038-1044. Read More