Impact Of Video Games On Young Game Players - Research Paper Example

Psychological, Health, Educational And Social Impact Of Video Games On Yong Game Players Introduction Video games are those games that are played with help of electronic devices and in order to play these games, a game player has to interact with a digital screen such as the monitor, LCD or television screen in order to respond to the incidences occurring in these games. Video games are not a new phenomenon and these games have remained present in the society for several years. The technological devices that are used to play these games have altered over the years and with the changes in these technological devices, the gaming experience and graphics have even evolved. Initially people used play video games on gaming consoles and with the advancement in technology several video games were even played on computers as well as handheld devices such as the Sony PSP. There are several forms of video games that are being released every year. These video games includes violent first and third person shooting games, sports games, fashion and dress up games and even gambling games. Video games are played by different members of the society who belong to different ages, gender and share different characteristics. For several years people have debated about the impact of video games on the young individuals of the society and no consensus have been reached on this debate issue. The proponents argue that video games have an overall positive impact on the members of the society, while opponents strongly believe that these video games are impacting the society and its members in a negative manner. Video games have an overall negative impact on the psychological, social, educational and health aspects of the young members of the society. Body Prevalence And Motivation Of Young Players The major percentage of the population that is involved in playing video games is the youth of the society. According to the findings reported by Harvard Medical School, around 87% of the youth of the society who age between 12 years old to 17 years old are involved in some form of video game play (Harvard Medical School 1). There is even a difference between the type of games that played by this age category but the most problematic category of video games is violent video games. Harvard states that around64% of those individuals who are involved in video games prefer playing that are severally violent in nature such as the game series that is titled as Grand Theft Auto (Harvard Medical School 1). There is even a difference between the form of video games that are played by the female children and the male children of society. Harvard states that the male children of the society are more likely to indulge in violent video game play as compared to the female children population (Harvard Medical School 1). There are even variations in the motivation that drives the youth to indulge in different video games. Harvard states that children are motivated to play these games because they perceive that the games are entertaining, thrilling, help in reducing the feeling of boredom and due to peer pressure (Harvard Medical School 1). Psychological Impact Of Video Games Video games are very problematic and are impacting the psychological or emotional health of video game players especially the youth in a very negative manner. Stakeholders that are in favor of such games argue that playing video games does not harm the youth’s psychological health in a negative manner. They state and believe that these video games are rather positively affecting the emotional lives of the players. Russoniello et al. conducted a controlled experiment in order to identify the emotional impact of video games on those participants who were involved in the experiment. The researchers identified that a total of 69 participants of their experiment who were involved in playing casual video games such as Angry Birds exhibited that their mood improved as result of playing these games and their level of tension even declined due to the same reason (Russoniello et al. 190). The reality is that playing casual video games is not really a problem; the real problem is playing violent video games that require a game player to participate in aggressive actions and decision making. These violent video games are quite problematic for the entire society as these violent video games are making the youth of the society more aggressive in nature. Anderson et al. conducted a study that was based on the method of meta-analysis and in this study they wanted to identify the emotional or psychological impact of playing violent video games. The researchers analyzed several studies which were conducted on more than 12000 participants and the researchers figured out that playing those games that are violent in nature made the game players more aggressive and the effect remained present for a longer period of time (Anderson et al. 163). This research clearly suggests that casual video games are not much of a problem, but playing violent video games are very problematic for the youth of the society. Furthermore, Harvard stated that 64% of the population prefers playing violent video games and they are less involved in playing casual games and it would not be wrong to suggest that the 64% of the population that is involved in violent video games are developing aggressive mental states (Harvard Medical School 1). Social Impact Of Violent Video Games Video games do not only create problems for the emotional health of the young players, it even disturbs their social life. Proponents of video game state that these games are positively contributing to the social life of the game players. They state that these games are connecting gamers with each other and increasing the social support of the game players. These proponents argue that playing violent video games helped in the development of pro-social behaviors amongst the population of game players. A study was conducted by Greitemeyer et al. and the purpose of the study was to identify the developmental impact of pro-social behaviors amongst those players who play neutral, violent and pro-social video games. In order to conduct this study a total of 54 students were selected and the researcher identified that 28% of those who played violent video games indulged in pro-social activity of providing assistance to other game player in case a mishap took place (Greitemeyer et al. 215). The reality is that the support for the claim that violent video games help develop pro-social behaviors is very weak, while the support for the claim that violent video games leads to the development of anti-social behavior is quite strong. Tear et al. conducted an experiment in order to identify whether playing violent multiplayer video games helped in the development of anti-social or pro-social behaviors amongst the population of 16 game players whop aged between 17 years old to 33 years old (Tear et al. 3). In this study the researchers identified that 62.5% of the participants who were involved in playing violent video games developed the anti-social behaviors of not helping others in case of an accident, while only 37.5% indulged in the pro-social behavior of helping others while playing a violent video game (Tear et al. 3). Both these studies clearly suggest that when the youth is involved in playing violent video games, they are more likely to develop anti-social behaviors and less likely to develop pro-social behaviors. This illustrates that violent video games are not helping the development of social life of the population of video game players and is rather disturbing their social development. Physical Impact Of Violent Video Games Playing video games is ruining the physical health of the game players and has become a leading factor that causes obesity. Proponents argue that playing video games does not lead to obesity. They suggest that game developers have developed motion based video games that require the game player to take physical actions and as a result of this, game players are indulging in physical exercises that help fight obesity. Steinberg authored a newspaper article in which the author has cited a study that illustrates that playing motion based video games such as the ones developed by Xbox is providing game players with physical exercises such as the exercise of running on a treadmill and as a result of this, video game players are attaining the required amount of exercise which is helping them in reducing their body fat (Steinberg 1). Steinberg’s assertion of video games helping fight obesity might be true, but the reality is that there are very few video game players who play motion based games. The reality is even that people prefer playing video games in which they do not need healthy physical activity. They play games that are available on their non-motion based gaming consoles, online games as well as computer based games. These games do not require the player to be involved in physical movements and game players sit for longer hours with junk food and carbonated drinks in front of their computers and television screens in order to play video games. Due to such practices being carried out by online video game players, these players end up increasing their body fat and become obese. According to an online book that has been compiled by THEESA, during the period of 2013 the number of online/web based games have increased to 72% of the total online video game players population (THEESA 1). The book even states that this figure is 5% more than the figure of 2012 (THEESA 1). Educational Impact Of Violent Video Games Video games are crises for the youth and these games are disturbing the educational aspect of the lives of the youth of the society. Proponents state that video games have positive impact on the educational outcomes and academic performance of the youth. A study was conducted by Papastergiou in order to identify the impact of video game based learning on the motivation as well as learning of computer concepts amongst 88 students (Papastergiou 11). The research helped in identifying that students were more motivated to learn through the video game as compared to learning method in which video game was not involved (Papastergiou 11). The problem is that video games can only be used in schools to help students learn, but at home students do not play educational video games and they rather spend hours of their important time playing entertaining and violent video games. According to a research conducted by Cummings et al., students who are involved in playing video games are devoting 30% and 34% less time on conducting the educational behavior of reading and working on homework as compared to those who do not play games or do not have a gaming system (Cummings et al. 688). This evidence clearly show that due to video game play, students are being distracted from their education and due to this their academic performance is weakening. Conclusion The assertions of the pro side of the video game debate are either biased and have not considered all the factors related to video games while analyzing whether video games are positively or negatively impacting the youth of the society. The proponents state that casual video games help in relieving the psychological issue of boredom, stress and tension. But the reality is that students are more involved in playing violent video games and these games are making them angry and aggressive. The proponents state that violent video games help in development of pro-social behaviors. But the reality is that these games lead to the development of pro-social behaviors in a very small population and at the same time these games lead to development of anti-social behaviors in a larger population. The proponents argue that motion based video games help in reducing obesity as these games provide players with exercise. This may be true, but only a small portion of video game players are playing motion based games and a very large percentage of this population is playing video games that do not require physical exercises. The proponents argue that video games motivate and help students in understanding concepts being taught in class. But the problem is that students do not spend time playing educational video games and are rather more interested in playing violent video games. Due to this they are ignoring important educational elements such as reading and homework. Works Cited Anderson, Craig A, Akiko Shibuya, Nobuko Ihori, Edward L. Swing, Brad J. Bushman, Akira Sakamoto, Hannah R. Rothstein, and Muniba Saleem. "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. Print. Cummings, Hope M., and Elizabeth A. Vandewater. 'Relation Of Adolescent Video Game Play To Time Spent In Other Activities'. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine 161.7 (2007): 684. Web.< http://uploadi.www.ris.org/editor/1184656998684.pdf> Greitemeyer, T, and S Osswald. "Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behavior." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 98.2 (2010): 211-21. Print.< http://thinkingskillsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/prosocial_greitemeyer_2010.pdf> Harvard Mental Health Letter / from Harvard Medical School. 27.4 (2010): 1-3. Print. < http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/harvard_mental_health_letter/2010/october/violent-video-games-and-young-people> Papastergiou, Marina. 2009. 'Digital Game-Based Learning In High School Computer Science Education: Impact On Educational Effectiveness And Student Motivation'. Computers & Education 52 (1): 1-12. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2008.06.004.< http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131508000845> Russoniello, C.V, K O'Brien, and J.M Parks. "Eeg, Hrv and Psychological Correlates While Playing Bejeweled Ii: a Randomized Controlled Study." Studies in Health Technology and Informatics. 144 (2009): 189-192. Print.< http://www.ecu.edu/cs-hhp/biofeedback/upload/EEG-HRV-and-Psychological-Correlates-while-Playing-Bejeweled-II-A-Randomized-Controlled-Study.pdf> Steinberg, S. 'The Benefits Of Video Games'. ABC News Blogs. N.p., 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.< http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2011/12/the-benefits-of-video-games/> Tear, Morgan J, Mark Nielsen, and Frank Krueger. "Failure to Demonstrate That Playing Violent Video Games Diminishes Prosocial Behavior." Plos One. 8.7 (2013). Print.< http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0068382&representation=PDF> THEESA,. 2013 Essential Facts About The Computer And Video Game Industry. The Entertainment Software Association, 2013. Print. < www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2014.pdf> Read More