Violence and Its Impact upon Adolescents: An Inquiry into the Effects of Video Games - Research Paper Example

Section/# Violence and Its Impact upon Adolescents: An Inquiry into the Effects of Video Games How do video games reflect and change children behaviors; this is a question that many scholars and psychologists alike have sought to answer over the past several decades. We are living in the age of previously unimaginable technology. As such, we rely on it in nearly every aspect of our lives. This technology has enhanced our lives and made it much easier to perform simple tasks. It has also enhanced entertainment beyond our own imagination and provided an interactive realm in which alternate reality is able to be represented. Moreover, it has never stopped developing; as every day engineers come up with something new that enhance our lives or changes the way that we integrate with the world. One of the things that technology has been able to bring to us is the video game. The main purpose of this research paper is to present the effects of video games on children’s behavior and knowledge by examining some of the effects that these have on adolescent behavior and development. This research is important because video games have become fundamental entertainment devices for many different age groups; yet the child’s mind can be affected more by these as compared to adults. Currently many people become addicted to these games and addiction is a big problem that must be addressed at its core. As such, an undeniable fact is that the adolescents within our society grow up in a world that is saturated by media and media influence. One particular aspect of this saturation is the extent to which violence in video games pervades the current culture. Whereas children of generations past have been exposed to television and other forms of violence within the media, the direct interaction that video games allow represents a unique and new dynamic. This has many negative effects on the individual which is exposed; regardless of age. Many scholars, such as Yan Lim, recognize that the core aspect of these negative effects is concentric upon large amounts of time spent playing violent video games. Moreover, other scholarship has focused on the health issues within such groups. Although the negative health affects have been a topic of much recent discussion, the expressed purpose of this research analysis will be to draw a level of inference upon the way in which violence represented within video games affects the minds, outlook, psychology, and world-view interpretation of the adolescent viewing audience. Accordingly, it will be the express purpose of this brief analysis to take a stand with regards to the impacts that video game violence has upon the youth of the current era as well as seek to derive a level of culpability with regards to the actions taken by adolescents that have been influenced by violence in video games (CGAT 29). Researchers have also pointed to the fact that visual-spatial learners have a different type of approach than auditory learners and they tend to understand concepts differently. One of the sources they relied on states, “According to Gifted & Creative Services Australia, once spatial learners create a mental picture of a concept and see how the information fits in with what they already know, their learning is permanent. Visual thinkers and learners can literally see pictures in their heads, whereas auditory thinkers and learners hear streams of words (CGAT 9)”. Thus visual-spatial thinkers and learners are much faster in thinking and learning than auditory thinkers and learners. According to one of their sources, there are four aspects of learning motivation. These are as follows: attention, relevance intaining the integrity of specifications, confidence and satisfaction. The researchers pointed out that learning can happen with an internal level but he/she can do it better with external assistance and stimuli, “Video games are an example of external stimuli that allows and encourages student to interact with, and gain support from others.” It does not take a great deal of analysis to understand fact that this pervasive level of violence only exists is due to the fact that consumers are actively engaging with this violence and consuming it. It is the understanding of this particular author that the reason and rationale behind this has to do with the fact that violence represents one of the most primitive and basic mechanisms through which humans have evolved. When one begins to integrate with an understanding of basic human evolution, they come to the analysis of the fact that almost all history has been dictated with respect to power dynamics and the threat and application of violence. In such a way, the exhibition of violence with regards to media, and in a boxing, and a litany of violent video games is a manner through which children are able to connect with a more bestial and under-evolved aspects of their own evolutionary history. This appeal and violence has is primitive; almost as primitive as the appeal of sexual desire. Accordingly, one does not need to look very far within advertising, media, or any other form of societal representation to understand that the appeals to a more basic levels of humanity are the ones that integrate the most closely with the stakeholder. Violence, as with sex, is something of a vicarious experience. Whereas it is obvious that it is illegal for an individual to venture out on the streets and engage in an argument with someone that they find offensive – eventually coming to blows and knocking out this individual – this vicarious experience can be had via the litany of different violent video games, television programs, and other representations about that exist within society. In such a manner, the angst and frustration that individuals feel at any given time is able to be vicariously experience through such representations of violence. Even though organized society has come a long way, and individuals are arguably more involved now than at any other point in the past, this basic desire to solve any and all confrontation with violent means is an innate facet of humanity that will not likely disappear anytime in the near future. The impacts of this permeation of violence is of course a society that continues to keep violence front and center within their own minds; sustaining it to a stature that it would otherwise not received. Whereas violence is a determinant aspect of human evolution and provide something of a historical recollection point through which confrontation can be solved, it must also be understood that different societies integrate with violence and different manners. Although violence has always been a discernable and visible part of the human experience, the proliferation of violence in video games has provided a paradigm shift in the way that the shareholder, namely adolescents, engage with an understanding of this representation within the reality of culture and entertainment that such a medium represents (Saleem et al. 284). Ultimately, the scope and level of the violence that is represented along with the increased total viewing/playing hours that adolescents within society are engaging with means that the level and extent to which this violence is represented has increased exponentially over time. However, before delving further into the nature of violence and its effect as represented within video games, it is important to qualify that regardless of the effect that violence within media could have on the individual, it cannot and should not be blamed for all extant violence that exists due to the fact that violence and its representation within human society has far predated the first exhibition of television or video games in general (Lim et al. 5). In short, this exponential growth creates a unique dynamic with regards to overall impact and demand that whatever theory which is used to define this is fully cognizant and aware of the exponential scale of violence which is under discussion. One of the most important aspects of the effects of the media on the adolescent mind is the way in which it causes a degree of exposure and acceptance of violent actions as a reasonable and expected means of conflict resolution. Many studies have looked into the explosion of anger and aggression issues that have been represented lately and made convincing links and parallels to the extent to which the representation of violence within media, and specifically video games, have contributed to the rise in the prevalence of these issues. However, regardless of the particular study that has been analyzed, most authors and researchers have agreed that children and adolescent exposure to violence plays an integral part in the ultimate expression of violent behavior; or at the very least integrates an understanding among the shareholder that violent expression is an acceptable means of conflict resolution within society and culture. One of the primal difficulties that has been enumerated upon by many researchers is the fact that it is difficult to engage appropriate research and measurement tools on the effected populations due to the fact that few parents want to admit that their children have the run of the house and play whatever types of games they wish (Hamlen 110). Due to such a constraint, seeking to gain reasonable inference on the amount of violent video game hours consumed each and every day makes it difficult to draw a link between the percentages of violence exhibited within this programming and the exhibition of violence, aggressive or behavioral issues within the individual becomes increasingly difficult. As a function of understanding the extent to which television media has pervaded our current culture, it is useful to briefly examine a few statistics on the topic. Firstly, as early as the 1990’s, as few as 10% of the entire population even owned a computer or had access to a video game console; and by extension the ability to play any form of violent games. Currently, around 94% of all households within the United States have at least a computer or a video game console of one form or another. Moreover, one out of two children has a television with a video game console within their bedroom; this of course provides instant access to the adolescent to a wide array of violence in the form of violent video games. It should of course not be considered that all video games that the adolescent will engage with is violent in nature; however, the fact of the matter is that the average American adolescent will view approximately 200,000 acts of violence which includes over 16,000 murders prior to the age of 18 years. Due to the fact that the proliferation of violence within the current media is at such a high level, the extent and exposure that the adolescent is expected to realize will most likely only continue to grow over time (Grossman & Christensen 80). Moreover, studies have indicated that the average time spent playing video games for the adolescent will soon exceed 18 hours per week. As such, the researcher can readily note that the constant increase in the level of media proliferation into the lives of adolescents combined with the ever-increasing levels in which violence is exhibited within video game programming. As these devices have become more complex and able to deliver a more realistic environment for the player to interact, the long term psychological harm that direct first person violence and other acts of unethical behavior represented on the screen can have are horrifying over the long-term. A further interesting aspect of the previous literature and research that has been compiled upon such a topic is the overall inconclusiveness of the results. However, numerous studies have noted that whereas violence within the various forms of extant media that proliferate the given system may have little if any affect on well adjusted children that experience few disadvantages with relation to upbringing, stability of home-life, and/or any previous psychological issues. However, these same studies have noted a marked increase in the way in which violent and aggressive behavior is exhibited among those individuals that are more at risk to develop such emotions and actions due to the quality of their home life or the existence of any developmental or behavioral issues. These “at risk” youths represent the most vulnerable in society and account for the lion’s share of the behavioral issues exhibited within society (Science Daily 1). Although the broad majority of this research has been concentric upon television programming, the fact of the matter is that various other aspects of current media represent high levels of violence. For instance, studies have indicated that approximately 60% of all video games currently on the market contains direct or indirect references to violent actions. However, a far larger shift with regards to the means by which violence has been integrated with the adolescent is the proliferation of video games that have come to such a high level of prominence over the past several years. The main concept of much of the research is to examine the effects of pro-social, neutral, and violent video games on helpful and hurtful behaviors on children. Some of the theories that researchers promoted were concentric upon understanding the “prosocial” actions that neurological, psychological, and physiological inputs conditioned. Most of these theories were studied for the short-term effects. But many studies point out that the repeated practice with prosocial behavior scripts can cause several long-term effects. Thus violent video games at least have the potential to create many long-term effects on adolescent behavior. Although many of the results of the studies are inconclusive, it is a topic that only further research will be able to speak to. However, the sheer amount of media proliferation within adolescent culture and the increased prevalence of violence and behavioral and aggression issues provide an unsubstantiated yet coherent link between the exhibition of this violence and the affects that it may have on the individual. As has been noted, although the representation of violence within current video games may have little effect on the well adjusted and otherwise “normal” adolescent; rather, it is due to the fact that the impact can disproportionately be felt among the most at risk members of society. In this respect, and from the information that has been presented, it can and should be understood that not only do the adolescents who engage in violent video games deserve a share of culpability with regards to whatever actions they make in the real world after being influenced by such a medium, the parents of these children share in this culpability due to the fact that they are the stakeholders that ultimately allow their children to partake in such a form of entertainment. Works Cited Computer Games Multimedia & Allied Technology (CGAT 2012): Pages 73-76. Global Science & Technology Forum. May 2012. Hamlen, Karla R. "Understanding Children’S Choices And Cognition In Video Game Play: A Synthesis Of Three Studies." Zeitschrift Für Psychologie 221.2 (2013): 107-114. PsycARTICLES. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. Lim, Yan Peng. Lim, Pei Shin. Lazim, Azmawati Mohd. “Video Games in Education” Lt. Col. Grossman, Dave. Christensen, Loren. “The Psychological and Physiological of Deadly Conflict in War and Peace”. PPCT Research Publications, 2004. N.p., Web. . Saleem, Muniba. Anderson, Craig A. Gentile, Douglas A. “Effects of Prosocial, Neutral, and Violent Video Games on Children’s Helpful and Hurtful Behaviors.” AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR Volume 38 2012: pages 281–287. EBSO Industries, Inc. February 18, 2104. Read More