Legal and Ethical Issues Concerning Violence in Video Games - Term Paper Example

 LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES CONCERNING VIOLENCE IN VIDEO GAMES Outline Video games are a form of media which have become increasing popular over the last few years. Video games came into the market following the year 1970. They became very popular and a large group of children and teenagers diverted towards playing these games. Violent video games have become a matter of debate as they have been linked to many negative effects. Researchers have indicated the violent behaviors that can be induced due to playing these games. The case of Daniel Petric highlights the ethical effects that video games serve to show. Many cases have been put forward to ban the usage of violent video games in the United States. Strong legal measures have not been taken though a regulatory body by the video game industry has been formed. Legal and Ethical Issues Concerning Violence in Video Games Human beings have advanced from the Stone Age to an era of development and progress. Technological advancements have served to provide human beings with expansion and improvement in all fields of life which include sciences, medicine and different forms of entertainment. The scope of entertainment has widened from the outdoor games and there has been great progress in the development of indoor games. The expansion of media and its grip on today’s world can be highlighted by the strength that it has in overpowering many important decisions that an individual takes. Media affects the culture as well as living of the individuals in this society. It can affect the thinking of people by the way it portrays the different happenings in the world. Video games are an important form of the media. The wide usage and popularity of video games has greatly increased over the years and it is now widely used as a form of entertainment. The popularity of video games has been associated with different problems which include the fact that the exposure to violent video games serves to have negative effects on the people who play these games. Thus, it has also become an issue of debate owing to the fact that there have been controversies with regard to the ethical and legal issues concerning violence in video games. There has been a great surge in the number of people who use video games for their entertainment and hence the usage of video games has highly increased over the years. In the United States, it has been analyzed that children between the age group of 8 to 18 years are exposed to 40 hours out of one complete week to the various forms of media which include the video games. The popularity of video games has been highly increased amongst the younger age groups. An interesting aspect is that children who are only two years of age play video games and their exposure ranges to an average of one hour per day. Amongst the boys between the ages of 8 to 13 years, it has been analyzed that the exposure to video games is higher than 7.5 hours in seven days. The negative aspect of this issue which has been put forward by a research is that the video games that are purchased by the children are not supervised by their parents and hence the supervision of the games that are played by the children is minimal (Anderson et al 2001). Furthermore, it has been explained that the games played by almost 75 percent of the teenagers are not meant for their age groups as they provide for increased exposure and violence portrayal and are for adults (Adams, 2010). The severity of the violence exposure can be analyzed by the statistics of a research conducted in the United States which provided for the fact that the children have an exposure to 40,000 killings by various forms of media by the time they have attained the age of 18 years (Anderson 2005). Video games were brought into the market in the twentieth century and in particular after 1970. Video games were not controversial in the beginning but the invention of a new game which was referred to as "Death Race 2000" became a subject of debate. It was believed that the game was portraying violence owing to the fact that it was played by driving a car over bodies that were made by sticks. The game did not have the highly advanced graphics but the violent idea of the game became a matter of discussion and debate. Towards the end of the twentieth century other games were released into the market which were far more violent that the "Death Race 2000". Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Wolfenstein 3D and Night Trap are examples of those games. The matter of these games was considered to be violent. The game which attained the most popularity was The Mortal Kombat. It received the greatest response and became an immediate hit amongst the children. The theme of the game was based upon fighting and then eventually killing the opponents. Despite of the popularity of the game, it led to many debates and the subject turned into a national issue. The matter was recognized by prominent members of the Senate and Senate Joe Lieberman presented the fact that there should be restrictions implemented on the content of video games. The game “Night Trap” was stopped from sale by the shop owners of video games themselves. The video game industry realized the graveness of the issue and they analyzed that if they did not cater to this issue, the industry could suffer many drawbacks. A regulatory body was hence created by the video game industry which was named as Entertainment Software Rating Board and it was created in the year 1994. The purpose of this board was to analyze the content of the video games and to ensure that the violent and sexual material was minimal in the games. This was a very essential step owing to the fact that a study presented that violent video games were more liked by children in comparison to the other games. It indicated an aspect that students in their fourth year of schooling put forward the fact that they liked to play violent video games. This aspect was put forward by 59 percent of the girls and 73 percent of the boys. The harmful effects of video games led to the issue of these games to be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States in the year 2010. The Court explained that it may lay permanent bans on the violent video games due to the negativities associated with them(Anderson et al 2001; Greenberg 2007; Suddath 2010). Ethical issues with regard to the increased popularity of video games have come forward. The promotion of ethically unjustified behaviors due to these games has been explained. Anderson and Bushman carried out a research which explained the negative aspects that were promoted by violent video games. The outcome of their research explained that the people who played the violent video games had a tendency to develop anti-social behavior along with antagonistic behavior. They highlighted the fact that the paying of these games made the people vulnerable to carry out the criminal activities as portrayed in the games (Anderson et al 2001). A study which highlighted the same matter was published in SAGE and was conducted by Brad J. Bushman and Bryan Gibson from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA and VU University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands respectively. It explained the fact that the players of these games carried with them the effects of the game for very long periods of time. This is because the player tends to think about the game and hence there is the development of violent behavior and attitude even after the game is switched off (Bushman et al 2011). The unethical behavior that is promoted by these video games can be highlighted by many important incidents. A very significant and shocking case is that of Daniel Petric who murdered his mother and shot his father attempting to kill him as well. This happening occurred in the year 2009. Daniel was a teenager and his age was only 17 years when he committed this crime. His parents took away his video game Xbox on which Daniel used to play the game Halo 3 for long hours. He decided to kill his parents as he did not like the prospect of staying away from his game. Daniel found out where the game was hidden and in the same place he also discovered his father, Mark Petric’s gun. He went to his parents and requested them to close their eyes as he said that he had a surprise for both of them. When they closed their eyes, Daniel shot both of them. The shot proved to be fatal for his mother but his father survived. The incident of Daniel Petric indicates the negativities that can result owing to the exposure to violent video games. It highlights the extent to which the video games can affect the thinking of an individual and drive them to carry out unethical and criminal acts. It was analyzed that Halo 3 was a game based on the theme of killing aliens who come back to life after they are killed. The judge in Daniel Petric’s case indicated that Daniel might have committed this act thinking that his parents would come back to life like the aliens in the game. An insight into Daniel’s case indicated that he played the game for 18 hours in one day some times which had led to the long lasting imoact on him. Hence the impact that violent video games lay on the personality of an individual cannot be denied (Harvey 2009). The legal issues associated with games came forward mainly in the twenty first century in the United States. Different cases were brought forward in the courts to promote a ban on the games that contained violent content. California was the first state in the United States where the issue of the video games was taken to the courts. In the year 2005, a law was passed in the State that violent games were not to be sold to underage children owing to the fact that they were associated with reduction in the activity of the brain as well as led to hostile behavior and made the people act against social norms. The court did not uphold this law as according to the court the law served to affect the right of freedom that everyone had. In the year 2009, a court in San Francisco also denied to pass any law as according to the court the negative effects of the games that were claimed were not strong enough. Despite of the fact that the court has not taken any action against these games, important figures in the United States have explained the fact that the games do tend to lead to negative behavior. Senator Leland Yee who is a psychologist for children presented the risk that the video games pose for the children. He explained that video games are a form of media that pose the greatest risk for negative behavior as compared to other forms of media. This is because unlike other forms of media, the video games require a role from the people who are playing the game and it is the player who actually carries out the acts virtually. Thus laws for protecting the children from violent behaviors are essential (Bravin 2010). Thus, it can be seen that video games have led to different debates and controversies. Many negative incidents have been linked with the video games and hence they have called for looking into the matter by different authorities. Stronger laws should be implemented to prevent such happenings. References Adams, Jill U. (May 03,2010). “Effects of violent video games.” Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/03/health/la-he-closer-20100503 Top of Form Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (January 01, 2001). Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature. Psychological Science: a Journal of the American Psychological Society, 12, 353-359. Top of Form Anderson, J. (2005). Dealing with crime. London: Franklin Watts. Bravin, Jess. (November 1, 2010). “Videogames as Free-Speech Issue.” The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704477904575586343221664702.html Top of Form Bushman, B., & Gibson, B. (January 01, 2011). Violent Video Games Cause an Increase in Aggression Long After the Game Has Been Turned Off. Social Psychological & Personality Science, 2, 1, 29-32.  Greenberg, Andy.( June 18,2007). “A History Of Virtual Violence.” Forbes.com. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/2007/06/15/games-violence-columbine-tech-cx_ag_0618videogames.html Harvey, Mike. (January 13, 2009). “Teenager Daniel Petric shot parents who took away Xbox.” Times Online. Retrieved from: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5512446.ece Suddath, Claire. (May 10, 2010). “Brief History: Video-Game Violence.” Time. Retrieved from: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1985999,00.html Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More