Violent Video Games are Harmful on Teenagers - Essay Example

Full Violent Video Games are Harmful on Teenagers Computers are the modern technological advancements that currently spell out how far this generation has achieved. Computers are beneficial not only in offices but also at homes. They have become an integral part of everyday living. Communication is far easier with the help of computers. Information and learning became easily available on the internet. However, in the midst of these benefits people enjoy through the use of computers, problems also are present. Before, parents worried about the presence of danger in their surroundings. Nowadays, their problems have come home. There are now the dangers of the vast availability of violent news, movies and the current highly debated violent video games. Video games are not only available to adults but to children and teenagers as well. They are easily sold and bought online and for parents whose only dream is to provide for their children’s needs, who work hard and not spend enough time with their children; such situation becomes a threat to their family. One might ask why this should become a concern to parents and the community as a whole. As human beings, it is the responsibility of every individual to ensure a safe environment. Although one could not indeed eliminate all the dangers in the society, minimizing them is the most feasible remedy for a safe and peaceful world. One means of doing this is to ban all violent video games not only among children but also among teenagers because exposure to violence in something they enjoy encourages them to be violent. Violent video games are harmful on teenagers. There area a lot of arguments on whether video games are harmful on teenagers or not and this paper aims to prove that they are indeed harmful. What are violent video games in the first place? According to Liptak, the law defines them as those “in which the range of options available to a player includes killing, maiming, dismembering or sexually assaulting an image of a human being” in a way that is “patently offensive,” appeals to minors’ “deviant or morbid interests” and lacks “serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value” (nytimes.com). Justice Antonin Scalia seems to ridicule such definition with his statements, “What’s a deviant violent video game? As opposed to what? A normal violent video game? Some of the Grimm’s fairy tales are quite grim, are you going to ban them, too?” (Liptak). Sure, the justice has a point however there are still a lot to consider about video games as compared to fairy tales and movies. Looking at the problem as it is can indeed seem to be simple but careful consideration will prove that this issue is not just a question about reading or seeing violence. First, as Justice Stephen G. Breyer said, “Common sense should allow the government to help parents protect children from games that include depictions of ‘gratuitous, painful, excruciating, torturing violence upon small children and women’” (Laptik). Before computers and video games, arguments have been about children’s exposure to violent television. Some researchers believe that a steady diet of violent television may change a child’s standards about violence- the child comes to see violence as more acceptable, more appropriate, and more prevalent in daily life (Bootzin, Bower, Zajone & Hall, 442). Observational learning has such a great effect on children that the violence seen expressed by people, compounded by the violence seen on television, makes violence seem like a normal, daily affair. A person’s perception can be distorted by what he sees. “The significance of observational learning is highlighted by studies of the effects of televised violence. For example, the amount of violent content watched on television by eight-year-olds predicts aggressiveness in these children even fifteen years later” (Bernstein, Penner, Stewart, & Roy, 697). These are very significant in the study of the effects of violent video games because they work in a similar fashion. Exposure to violent movies increases violent behaviors among viewers especially among the children who are inclined to see the virtual world as exactly the same as the real world. In the same manner, teenagers who spend a lot of time playing violent video games on a daily basis will eventually have their brain activities filled with what they see. They tend to imitate the characters and their actions in the video games because they feed their vision and brain. I personally believe this because they say that the largest percentage of learning is acquired through vision and I also experienced it with playing video games. Angry Birds is a video game I played. It is indeed addictive, drawing the player to want to move to the next level and challenging one to do better if s/he did not successfully complete a level. This effect on players caused me to spend more time playing and eventually, even in my sleep, the images filled my thoughts. I often had restless sleeps because oftentimes, I would dream about the techniques I should employ. Sometimes, the game even stirs emotions in me towards people who irritate me. I am quite temperament but when I started playing the video game, I noticed I became easily irritated. Angry Birds may not be among the ‘deviant violent video games’ stated in the law but it had such an effect on me. I wonder what effects the game had on me if it belonged to such category. In relation to the emotional affects of video games, studies indeed show that playing violent video games can increase aggressive thoughts (Whitaker & Bushman, 1037) and feelings (1038), with players feeling more anxious and hostile after playing such games. If the violent television show causes violent behavior among teenagers, the effects of video games are worse. The reason behind this is the active participation of players in the game. Television teaches viewers through what they see and hear however video games have extensive effects because players virtually involve themselves in the game. “People learn better when they are actively involved”, notes Whitaker and Bushman. Another angle that has been considered why video games largely affect players is that, they are more likely to identify with violent characters. Moreover, violent games reward violent behavior such as by awarding points or allowing players to advance to the next game level (Whitaker & Bushman, 1036). Complicated video games not only give such awards but also praise the ability of the player with words like ‘Excellent!’, ‘Amazing!’ or ‘Incredible!’ whenever they perfectly hit or kill the ‘enemy’ in the game. These tend to encourage players to be more engaged and take to heart the appreciations they are not able to get in the real world. Nevertheless, as shown in the studies mentioned earlier, the aggression formed in the activity is carried from the virtual to the real world and are often manifested in the players’ actions. Somehow, players tend to think that the violence in the video game is normal and can be rewarding thus, they take this train of thought and embrace it in their real lives. On the contrary, demotions or lose of ‘life’ in video games as punishments challenges players to concentrate more in the game and eventually become more aggressive. This chain reaction has been proven in studies through increased heart rate and increased skin conductance (Whitaker & Bushman, 1039). One study considered to be most compelling is that which tracks children over a period of time. An example of which is the “2008 study published in the journal Pediatrics which followed 362 third-, fourth- and fifth-graders in the U.S. and 1,231 youths ages 12 to 18 in Japan over a single school year. Early in the school year, kids were asked about what games they played and for how many hours. The more violent content they were exposed to, the more likely subjects were to report later in the year that theyd been in physical fights” (Adams). This only shows the direct effects of violent video games that should not be disregarded but treated seriously. Other studies are held by oppositions of the stand that violent video games are harmful on teenagers. For example, a survey on adolescent boys reported that they used violent-content video games to discharge aggression and manage developmental conflicts so that authors argue that the interactive nature of the games allows players to act out aggression that is not allowed in the real world (Sherry). Still, the fact that aggression is increased after playing such video games should not be easily forgotten. Considering that those boys indeed discharged aggression, with the results of the studies mentioned earlier, one cannot stop but wonder how much of the aggression have been discharged and how much have been taken from the activity. Perhaps it is safe to assume that some of the participants in the studies mentioned above were non-violent yet, they showed similar results as the other participants. Therefore, players with violent tendencies who claim to ‘discharge aggression’ through violent video games are not enough reasons to say that violent video games have positive effects on players. In fact, this claim should be challenged with a study about them, considering how much aggression they have before and after playing violent video games. One might also argue that the studies mentioned above are only applicable to children because they somehow are not matured enough to process information in a positive way. As for teenagers, they are already of age to know what is right and wrong and therefore violent video games should not affect their behaviors. However, recent studies show that the assumption that the brain completes its growth and subsequent pruning in the first few years of life ending with the language centers, which reach maturity at around six or seven years, is wrong. Brain scans show that the very highest levels of the brain- those that have most to do with planning, social judgment and emotional control- have sudden surge of growth just before puberty and then are gradually shaped during teenage years and even early adulthood (Watt, 421). This shows that the exposure of children to violence may not only be equally but probably even more dangerous in teenagers. In addition, the problems adolescents go through as they grow, if coupled by the effects of violent video games, can go haywire and bring more destructive behaviors. Again, violent video games should be banned among teenagers and children because they are harmful. Studies have proven this and parents are clamoring the help of the government to protect their children from the effects of the said videos. There could probably be no more logical explanation why violent video games should be sold. If teenagers want to discharge aggression, there are always other non-violent ways of doing so. For example, sports that demand physical exertion like basketball, badminton or swimming can become a substitute. For the video game producers, educational games should be encouraged. If the choice of getting a violent video game is eliminated, people will have no choice but to entertain themselves with games that would rather help them in their studies. References Adams, Jill U. Effects of Violent Video Games. Los Angeles Times, May 3, 2010. Web. July 22, 2012. < http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/03/health/la-he-closer-20100503>. Bernstein, Douglas A., Louis A Penner, Alison Clarke-Stewart and Edward J. Roy. Psychology. 6th Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Print. Bootzin, Richard R., Gordon H. Bower, Robert B. Zajone and Elizabeth Hall. Psychology Today: An Introduction. 6th Edition. USA: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1986. Print. Liptak, Adam. Justices Debate Video Game Ban. The New York Times, November 2, 2010. Web. July 22, 2012. < http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/us/03scotus.html?_r=1>. n.a. Making the Most of your Brain. Ed. Susan Watt. London: Duncan Baird publishers, Ltd, 2003. Print. Sherry, John L., The Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression: A Meta-Analysis. Pursue University. Human Communication Research, vol. 27, no. 3, July, 2001. Web. July 22, 2012. < http://www.icagames.comm.msu.edu/vgma.pdf>. Whitaker, Jodi L. and Brad J. Bushman. A Review of the Effects of Violent Video Games on Children and Adolescents. Washington and Lee Law Review, volume 66, issue 3, article 5, June 1, 2009. Web. July 22, 2012. < http://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/ viewcontent.cgi?article=1065&context=wlulr&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2 Fwww.google.com.ph%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Deffects%2520of%2520 violent%2520video%2520games%2520on%2520teenagers%2520times%2520article%26 source%3Dweb%26cd%3D8%26ved%3D0CG0QFjAH%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F% 252Fscholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%25 D1065%2526context%253Dwlulr%26ei%3DYTcOUPP2LIvOrQful4GABQ%26usg%3 DAFQjCNGHtgspD9PEev4pK-IO6PSHMxTUZg#search=%22effects%20violent% 20video%20games%20teenagers%20times%20article%22>. Read More