Violent Media Games Cause People to Act Violently in the Real World - Term Paper Example

Violent Media Games Cause People to Act Violently in the Real World Video games have long been suspected of being harbingers of violence in our modern society. The reason for this belief is that the video games, with their depiction of violent crimes and death, has served to anesthetize people when it comes to feelings of guilt and remorse at taking the life of a person. This is a situation that occurred because there are some people who have a hard time differentiating between video games and reality, thus leading them to think that they can hit a reset button and have everything go back to the way it was, ready for another round of games. That sense of reasoning which applies to video games does not apply to real life. By the age of 16, teenagers are expected to have been exposed to at least 16000 simulated murders and 200000 acts of violence courtesy of video games. Children who are exposed to violent video games earlier than that age tend to absorb the violence that they see as game play and apply them in real life during their play time in school, thus video games are believed to have a conducive effect when it comes to childrens aggression. This is because children, during their impressionable ages are taught not only to kill, but also to enjoy killing (Hatch, 1999). Any parent who has children will acknowledge the fact that children tend to get a certain kind of high from playing violent video games which is displayed by fist pumps and shrieks of joy whenever they complete a level in a video game. A feat that is usually accomplished by playing increasingly violent levels of game play where the end result has to be the demise of the enemy. The effect of video game violence on the psyche of boys and girls who play violent video games has been studied by the Brock University in Canada. The results of their study indicate that boys and girls are affected by the violent images portrayed within the video games in the same way. There was a concern that the video games actually influenced the make and female gamers to use aggression as an effective and appropriate way of dealing with conflict. Observed in real life, the gamers showed signs that they preferred to use aggression and and react aggressively to unintentional provocations such as when a person bumps into them. These published results were conducted using 1492 adolescents at eight high schools in Ontario using a ratio of 51% female - 59% male ( Daily Mail Reporter, 2012). Keeping in mind that even adults who play the video games tend to absorb the violence, it is easy to understand why 90% of video game violence has a tendency to enter the mass consciousness. After all, the video games advocate violence as the answer to all the problems of the world. Got a gang member enemy? Kill the gang members. a planet needs saving? Kill the invaders. Your girlfriend is in danger? Kill the attacker. Violent video games advocate the inclusion of violence in the every day life of people. The games make these violent attacks seem like it is something that should and can be done on a daily basis. While there are those who would try to pin the blame of violence in the real world on people who are anti-social by nature, or even those with real psychological problems, the truth is that video games help to make the problem worse. When a study was done relating to the effects of particular levels of violent video game exposure on 227 juvenile offenders in Pennsylvania, the study indicated that an average offender frequently played violent video games. That is why the average juvenile offender tends to have committed nearly 9 serious acts of violence in a years time. Therefore, according to Craig Anderson, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Director for the Center for the Study of Violence at Iowa State University, violent video game exposure may not be considered the sole cause of violence, however, it still poses a high risk factor in relation to the cause of violence (Iowa State University, 2013). Consider that over the past two decades and 2 studies assessing the relationship between violent video game play and aggression during the adolescent period and late adolescent period, studies more often than not offer a connection between violent video games and aggressive behavior (Kirsh, 2001). Such irrefutable evidence makes it impossible to view violent video games as not having a direct link to the real world violence that exists for the players. Keep in mind that these video games are, just like movies, being placed under restricted ratings depending upon the type and degree of violence that exists in the game play. As such, the video game industry admits that the violence within game play has some sort of real life effect upon the player. Otherwise, these ratings would not have been enforced upon the games. There are some experts who believe that the repeated exposure to violence causes the child to become more accepting of violent behavior and actions. So these actions become ingrained in their personality over long term exposure, thus leading them to think that violence is simply a normal way of life and should be encouraged instead of shied away from ( Life Tickler, n.d.). Evidence gathered by the International Society for Research on Aggression has shown conclusive evidence that media violence can act as a trigger for aggressive thoughts or feelings that people have stored up. These negative feelings that people tend to hold on to gets piqued and activated by the fact that repeated exposure to media violence makes people more observant and sensitive of the actions of other people in relation to them (Wrenn, 2012). There is a tremendous amount of information available to the public that indicates violent video games increases the possibility that the gamer will act out the violent actions he practices in the video game upon the people that he comes across in the real world. Psychologists will agree with the fact that children tend to turn the video game actions into part of their game play, thus making them believe that violence is merely a game to be played and is acceptable in our society. However, not all of the violence that can be encountered in this world can and should be attributed to the video games that people play. After all, there are still people out there who are capable of discerning play from reality. These are the people who are not adversely affected by their video game exposure and they are now standing up to be heard. Consider the following for a minute: video games actually allow people to safely act out their aggression without getting physical with other people. It allows them to release pent up anger by targeting digitized representations of people whom they might actually hurt in real life. Therefore, video games can even serve as a deterrent against violence in most instances. This is a hypothesis that is not without basis. According to the Social Science Research Network, The New York Times recently reported a spike in violent video game sales but a drop in crime and violence (Walker, 2013). When looked into further, it became apparent that there was no real co-relation between a rise in violent video game sales and a spike in violence in the real world. Only assumptions could be made that the lack of rise in violence is probably related to the fact that people who buy the video games would rather go and play the video game than go out and run amok within society. It makes sense. Why would a person want to create real violence when they can get further enjoyment and safety out of the virtual representation? British psychologist Vaughan Bell has explained that there have already been varied studies relating to the effect of video games on the brain of gamers. These studies have shown that although society has a tendency to reject the violent games, there is no reason to believe that playing the games actually increase the amount of violence in society or the ability of a person to commit a violent crime in the real world. In fact, exposure to violent video games have been proven to increase the response time of the game player in situations where he is required to be more attentive, react quickly, react to sensitive images, and sort out information within a split second (cited in Perry). Therefore, the video games do not influence the person to act out violence in real life. Rather, it serves to develop his cognitive and analytical skills. Research has provided the public with enough information to accurately decide for themselves as to whether video games pose a danger to society because they can cause users to behave violently in the real world. While others will continue to say that the video games should be blamed for violence, past and present, that we have experienced in the world, there is still information out there that will strongly oppose such declarations. Personally, I believe that video games may indeed be the cause of some violent actions that occur in real life. After all, games such as Grand Theft Auto tend to glamorize the criminal world and create an exciting personality for the criminals being depicted in the game. Now, there may be some people who, due to a lack of education, or perhaps because these people have psychological problems themselves, these people might have a tendency to act out the violence that they experienced in the video game so that they can feel alive. However, the video games cannot be totally be blamed for the existence of violence in the real world. Remember that violence in our world already existed prior to the development, rise, and trending of violent video games as a form of entertainment. So maybe, we should rethink the debate and consider that maybe, just maybe, we are asking the wrong questions in relation to the connection between video games and real life violence. Instead of trying to constantly connect the two, perhaps studies should instead concentrate on understanding exactly what is happening within our culture so that images of graphic violence is starting to closely resemble real live crime situations. Graphic violence streams across our television sets and the internet, making the violent scenes easily accessible even to the youngest child. It is quite possible that the video games have nothing to do with the violence that is experience in real life. Instead, I would tend to think that it is the way that we treat each other that leads to violence in the world. Lack of respect for one another and bullying for the most part, seem to be the major causes of violence in our world. References Daily Mail Reporter. (2012). Violent Video Games Make Teenagers More Aggressive Towards Other People (And Girls Are Affected as Much as Boys). Daily Mail. Available on-line . Hatch, Orrin G. Sen. (1999). Children, Violence, and the Media. indiana.edu. Available on-line. Iowa State University. (2013). Violent Video Games Are a Risk Factor For Criminal Behavior and Aggression, New Evidence Shows. sciendaily.com. Available on-line. Kirsh, Steven I. (2001). The Effect of Violent Video Games on Adolescents The Overlooked Influence on Development. geneseo.edu. Available on-line. Life Tickler. (n.d.). Do Violent Video Games Make People Violent?. lifetickler.com. Available on-line. Perry, Susan. (2013). Violent Video Games Not Shown to Cause Real-World Violence. minnpost.com. Available on-line. Sherry, John L. (2001). The Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression. Purdue University. Available on-line. Walker, John (2013). Study Finds Violent Video Games Reduce Violence --- Hmmmm. rockpapershotgun.com. Available on-line. Wrenn, Eddie. (2012). Violent Images in Movies, TV or Computer Games Can Act as Triggers for Aggression, Says New Report. Mail Online. Available on-line . Read More