persuasive essay on violent video games

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Persuasive Essay: Video Games

Teenagers today often spend a great deal of time playing video games. These games are fun and engaging and young people often feel like playing games is a great thing to do in their spare time. However, you shouldn’t spend too much time gaming and there are a number of reasons for this: it’s unhealthy, you should spend more time studying, and you need to socialize more.

The primary reason to cut down on gaming time has to be that youths that spend a long time on computers and games consoles are often not getting enough exercise. With high obesity rates, it’s very important for young people to spend as much time being active as possible, especially since studies show that people who are overweight during childhood and adolescence are far more likely to become overweight adults than those of a healthy weight when they’re young. There is just as much, if not more, fun to be had in getting out and about and being active. This doesn’t have to mean going for long runs if that’s not your thing; team sports are both fun and great exercise. Dance or fitness classes are also a good option for those not into sports.

Secondly, getting a good education is that best thing that you can do for your future. If every teenager cut down on their gaming time by 30 minutes per day and used this time to study, the whole of that generation would achieve better results and be more likely to have the career that they want. With education, you get out what you put in, so it’s really up to you to put in the additional effort. If you want to go to a good college, extra study in your own time will be completely vital, but gaming can reduce your concentration span and make this more difficult.

The third main reason that playing video games too often is that it’s no good for your social skills. Some teenagers may argue that because they can now play their games online with friends, they are socializing in their own way. However, you can’t beat face-to-face contact, and if you want to succeed in interviews and build good relationships in later life, you need to develop some proper communication skills. This shouldn’t be a chore, or difficult, because hanging out with friends is far more fun than sitting indoors playing on games all day anyway!

In conclusion, there can be no doubt that spending too much time gaming isn’t good for you. You don’t have to stop all together, but it’s all about moderation. Cut down and allocate your additional free time to doing things that are good for you, and you definitely won’t regret it in later life.

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October 2, 2018

Do Violent Video Games Trigger Aggression?

A study tries to find whether slaughtering zombies with a virtual assault weapon translates into misbehavior when a teenager returns to reality

By Melinda Wenner Moyer

Getty Images

Intuitively, it makes sense Splatterhouse and Postal 2 would serve as virtual training sessions for teens, encouraging them to act out in ways that mimic game-related violence. But many studies have failed to find a clear connection between violent game play and belligerent behavior, and the controversy over whether the shoot-‘em-up world transfers to real life has persisted for years. A new study published on October 1 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences tries to resolve the controversy by weighing the findings of two dozen studies on the topic.

The meta-analysis does tie violent video games to a small increase in physical aggression among adolescents and preteens. Yet debate is by no means over. Whereas the analysis was undertaken to help settle the science on the issue, researchers still disagree on the real-world significance of the findings.

This new analysis attempted to navigate through the minefield of conflicting research. Many studies find gaming associated with increases in aggression, but others identify no such link. A small but vocal cadre of researchers have argued much of the work implicating video games has serious flaws in that, among other things, it measures the frequency of aggressive thoughts or language rather than physically aggressive behaviors like hitting or pushing, which have more real-world relevance.

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Jay Hull, a social psychologist at Dartmouth College and a co-author on the new paper, has never been convinced by the critiques that have disparaged purported ties between gaming and aggression. “I just kept reading, over and over again, [these] criticisms of the literature and going, ‘that’s just not true,’” he says. So he and his colleagues designed the new meta-analysis to address these criticisms head-on and determine if they had merit.

Hull and colleagues pooled data from 24 studies that had been selected to avoid some of the criticisms leveled at earlier work. They only included research that measured the relationship between violent video game use and overt physical aggression. They also limited their analysis to studies that statistically controlled for several factors that could influence the relationship between gaming and subsequent behavior, such as age and baseline aggressive behavior.

Even with these constraints, their analysis found kids who played violent video games did become more aggressive over time. But the changes in behavior were not big. “According to traditional ways of looking at these numbers, it’s not a large effect—I would say it’s relatively small,” he says. But it’s “statistically reliable—it’s not by chance and not inconsequential.”

Their findings mesh with a 2015 literature review conducted by the American Psychological Association, which concluded violent video games worsen aggressive behavior in older children, adolescents and young adults. Together, Hull’s meta-analysis and the APA report help give clarity to the existing body of research, says Douglas Gentile, a developmental psychologist at Iowa State University who was not involved in conducting the meta-analysis. “Media violence is one risk factor for aggression,” he says. “It's not the biggest, it’s also not the smallest, but it’s worth paying attention to.”

Yet researchers who have been critical of links between games and violence contend Hull’s meta-analysis does not settle the issue. “They don’t find much. They just try to make it sound like they do,” says Christopher Ferguson, a psychologist at Stetson University in Florida, who has published papers questioning the link between violent video games and aggression.

Ferguson argues the degree to which video game use increases aggression in Hull’s analysis—what is known in psychology as the estimated “effect size”—is so small as to be essentially meaningless. After statistically controlling for several other factors, the meta-analysis reported an effect size of 0.08, which suggests that violent video games account for less than one percent of the variation in aggressive behavior among U.S. teens and pre-teens—if, in fact, there is a cause-and effect relationship between game play and hostile actions. It may instead be that the relationship between gaming and aggression is a statistical artifact caused by lingering flaws in study design, Ferguson says.  

Johannes Breuer, a psychologist at GESIS–Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences in Germany, agrees, noting that according to “a common rule of thumb in psychological research,” effect sizes below 0.1 are “considered trivial.” He adds meta-analyses are only as valid as the studies included in them, and that work on the issue has been plagued by methodological problems. For one thing, studies vary in terms of the criteria they use to determine if a video game is violent or not. By some measures, the Super Mario Bros. games would be considered violent, but by others not. Studies, too, often rely on subjects self-reporting their own aggressive acts, and they may not do so accurately. “All of this is not to say that the results of this meta-analysis are not valid,” he says. “But things like this need to be kept in mind when interpreting the findings and discussing their meaning.”

Hull says, however, that the effect size his team found still has real-world significance. An analysis of one of his earlier studies, which reported a similar estimated effect size of 0.083, found playing violent video games was linked with almost double the risk that kids would be sent to the school principal’s office for fighting. The study began by taking a group of children who hadn’t been dispatched to the principal in the previous month and then tracked them for a subsequent eight months. It found 4.8 percent of kids who reported only rarely playing violent video games were sent to the principal’s office at least once during that period compared with 9 percent who reported playing violent video games frequently. Hull theorizes violent games help kids become more comfortable with taking risks and engaging in abnormal behavior. “Their sense of right and wrong is being warped,” he notes.

Hull and his colleagues also found evidence ethnicity shapes the relationship between violent video games and aggression. White players seem more susceptible to the games' putative effects on behavior than do Hispanic and Asian players. Hull isn’t sure why, but he suspects the games' varying impact relates to how much kids are influenced by the norms of American culture, which, he says, are rooted in rugged individualism and a warriorlike mentality that may incite video game players to identify with aggressors rather than victims. It might “dampen sympathy toward their virtual victims,” he and his co-authors wrote, “with consequences for their values and behavior outside the game.”

Social scientists will, no doubt, continue to debate the psychological impacts of killing within the confines of interactive games. In a follow-up paper Hull says he plans to tackle the issue of the real-world significance of violent game play, and hopes it adds additional clarity. “It’s a knotty issue,” he notes—and it’s an open question whether research will ever quell the controversy.

What do you think? Leave a respectful comment.

Christopher J. Ferguson, The Conversation Christopher J. Ferguson, The Conversation

• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/analysis-why-its-time-to-stop-blaming-video-games-for-real-world-violence

Analysis: Why it’s time to stop blaming video games for real-world violence

In the wake of the El Paso shooting on Aug. 3 that left 21 dead and dozens injured, a familiar trope has reemerged: Often, when a young man is the shooter, people try to blame the tragedy on violent video games and other forms of media.

This time around, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick placed some of the blame on a video game industry that “ teaches young people to kill .” Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California went on to condemn video games that “dehumanize individuals” as a “problem for future generations.” And President Trump pointed to society’s “glorification of violence,” including “ gruesome and grisly video games .”

These are the same connections a Florida lawmaker made after the Parkland shooting in February 2018, suggesting that the gunman in that case “was prepared to pick off students like it’s a video game .”

Kevin McCarthy, the GOP House minority leader, also tells Fox News that video games are the problem following the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton. pic.twitter.com/w7DmlJ9O1K — John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) August 4, 2019

But, speaking as a researcher who has studied violent video games for almost 15 years, I can state that there is no evidence to support these claims that violent media and real-world violence are connected. As far back as 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that research did not find a clear connection between violent video games and aggressive behavior.

Criminologists who study mass shootings specifically refer to those sorts of connections as a “ myth .” And in 2017, the Media Psychology and Technology division of the American Psychological Association released a statement I helped craft, suggesting reporters and policymakers cease linking mass shootings to violent media, given the lack of evidence for a link.

A history of a moral panic

So why are so many policymakers inclined to blame violent video games for violence? There are two main reasons.

The first is the psychological research community’s efforts to market itself as strictly scientific. This led to a replication crisis instead, with researchers often unable to repeat the results of their studies. Now, psychology researchers are reassessing their analyses of a wide range of issues – not just violent video games, but implicit racism , power poses and more.

The other part of the answer lies in the troubled history of violent video game research specifically.

An attendee dressed as a Fortnite character poses for a picture in a costume at Comic Con International in San Diego, California, U.S., July 19, 2019. Photo by REUTERS/Mike Blake

Beginning in the early 2000s, some scholars, anti-media advocates and professional groups like the APA began working to connect a methodologically messy and often contradictory set of results to public health concerns about violence. This echoed historical patterns of moral panic, such as 1950s concerns about comic books and Tipper Gore’s efforts to blame pop and rock music in the 1980s for violence, sex and satanism.

Particularly in the early 2000s, dubious evidence regarding violent video games was uncritically promoted . But over the years, confidence among scholars that violent video games influence aggression or violence has crumbled .

Reviewing all the scholarly literature

My own research has examined the degree to which violent video games can – or can’t – predict youth aggression and violence. In a 2015 meta-analysis , I examined 101 studies on the subject and found that violent video games had little impact on kids’ aggression, mood, helping behavior or grades.

Two years later, I found evidence that scholarly journals’ editorial biases had distorted the scientific record on violent video games. Experimental studies that found effects were more likely to be published than studies that had found none. This was consistent with others’ findings . As the Supreme Court noted, any impacts due to video games are nearly impossible to distinguish from the effects of other media, like cartoons and movies.

Any claims that there is consistent evidence that violent video games encourage aggression are simply false.

Spikes in violent video games’ popularity are well-known to correlate with substantial declines in youth violence – not increases. These correlations are very strong, stronger than most seen in behavioral research. More recent research suggests that the releases of highly popular violent video games are associated with immediate declines in violent crime, hinting that the releases may cause the drop-off.

The role of professional groups

With so little evidence, why are people like Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin still trying to blame violent video games for mass shootings by young men? Can groups like the National Rifle Association seriously blame imaginary guns for gun violence?

A key element of that problem is the willingness of professional guild organizations such as the APA to promote false beliefs about violent video games. (I’m a fellow of the APA.) These groups mainly exist to promote a profession among news media, the public and policymakers, influencing licensing and insurance laws . They also make it easier to get grants and newspaper headlines. Psychologists and psychology researchers like myself pay them yearly dues to increase the public profile of psychology. But there is a risk the general public may mistake promotional positions for objective science.

In 2005 the APA released its first policy statement linking violent video games to aggression. However, my recent analysis of internal APA documents with criminologist Allen Copenhaver found that the APA ignored inconsistencies and methodological problems in the research data.

The APA updated its statement in 2015, but that sparked controversy immediately: More than 230 scholars wrote to the group asking it to stop releasing policy statements altogether. I and others objected to perceived conflicts of interest and lack of transparency tainting the process.

It’s bad enough that these statements misrepresent the actual scholarly research and misinform the public. But it’s worse when those falsehoods give advocacy groups like the NRA cover to shift blame for violence onto non-issues like video games. The resulting misunderstanding hinders efforts to address mental illness and other issues, such as the need for gun control, that are actually related to gun violence.

This article was originally published in The Conversation. Read the original article . This story was updated from an earlier version to reflect the events surrounding the El Paso and Dayton shootings.

Christopher J. Ferguson is a professor of psychology at Stetson University. He's coauthor of " Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong ."

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The Influence of Video Games on Young People

Example of the introduction to video games essay.

First of all, the significance of computer technology nowadays should be noted. Transportation, agriculture, industry, mechanical engineering, light industry, and armed forces cannot function without computer technology. The list of industries using computer technology nowadays is far from complete. The future of humanity is connected with the further development of computer technology, which infiltrates throughout human life. Computer technologies hold a specific place in humans' everyday life. Suffice to say that nowadays people use a computer at work as well as at their homes.

The computer became both a reliable assistant to perform important tasks and a quite skillful animator to brighten up one’s life with some computer games, say nothing of the Internet. Therefore, it is difficult to overestimate the significance of computer technology in modern life. In order to define how violent video games pose a danger to society, it is necessary to analyze how computer technologies influence the human style of life. By using computer technologies, people learn to live in two worlds simultaneously: in the real-life and the virtual one, which was invented with the help of video games and the Internet. Therefore, computer technologies influence the further life of people, forming certain action pattern and developing learning skills to master certain subjects.

Example of the Body Paragraphs to Video Games Essay

The ability of a computer to develop learning skills turns it into an educational machine adopted by contemporary pedagogic science. In the case of violent video games, people have an opportunity to watch as well as to act. Moreover, violent video games motivate people to think about the given information, make the right decisions, and feel in the center of an event not just as watchers but as leading men. Video games stimulate people to achieve their goals. Therefore, people are interested in playing violent video games, and it teaches them to act like soldiers in a battle. Keeping in mind the training capacity of a computer, it is obvious that violent games teach people to kill. To make things worse, often people confuse real life with the virtual one continuing their computer game. They can live in games putting aside their vital concerns. They can become victims of a computer game addiction.

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A violent video game is not an innocent amusement as it may seem at first glance. In order to prove the statement that video games pose a danger to society, it is necessary to analyze some works of American and foreign scientists who devoted their lives to studying the influence of violent computer games on society. De Maria (2007) focuses on the attention of readers on statements of famous US surgeon Koop (1982) that computer video games make children addicted to playing, and children learn to kill and destroy. His statement resonates with National PTA president Lamm (1982). He is sure that computer games continue violent serials with guns, Indians, and so forth, which began long before appearing computer technology. In Lamm’s (1982) opinion, of course, violent games are dangerous for society.

Senators Lieberman and Kohl (1990s) are against video games. Besides, senator Dorgan (1993) disapproves of the authors of video games. These authors humiliated children with violent games according to Dorgan (1993). Therefore, in the 1980s there was an opinion that video games are unnecessary things for teaching children to hate human beings and to consider other persons as blips for destroying. Of course, people become addicted to playing computer video games. Dr. Carll (De Maria 2007) claims that violent computer video games can teach children violent behavior towards other people. Hence, computer video games can provoke antisocial behavior among players because they carry their games into real life. Therefore, violent behavior increases by 22% for the account of violent game players according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (De Maria 2007). In this regard, it is necessary to note that violent games are stimulators for committing murders.

Players of violent games are considered to become mentally unstable under the influence of such games. Often children playing violent computer video games behave violently and can become killers (Brown 2008). Hilary Clinton expressed her wish in Senate to save American children from the criminal influence of computer video games (Brown 2008). Video games become a reason that children consider sufficient enough to neglect their homework. The American Medical Association made a conclusion in 1994 that violent computer video games are more dangerous for society than TV programs or video and music (Brown 2008).

These games teach and encourage children to commit crimes because there is a connection between children's aggression and computer games (Kirsh 2010). It is explained that children learn to be aggressive while playing these games. They develop their behavior from the example of computer video games because children got accustomed to watching violence. Moreover, it makes no difference for them what they hold in hands: either a computer mouse or a real gun. By the way, about two-thirds of American pupils have access to guns (Garbarino 1999). They even go to school with weapons. It is no coincidence that youth violence is a real problem in the USA today.

Meanwhile, there are many supporters of violent computer video games in America. They defend computer video games stating that youth playing violent games learns to be ready for the cruel reality. Of course, it is a lame excuse to lobby for the interests of major companies producing violent computer games. Nevertheless, Congress decided to regulate the selling of video games to protect children from violent scenes.

Some companies decided to reduce violence by means of painting blood in green color, reviving killed persons, etc. (Wright 2010). Wright, Embrick, & Lukacs (2010) state that computer video games are perceived differently in different countries depending on the content of violence in them. They explain such an approach from the viewpoint of existing different national traditions, the historical development of societies, and social and cultural aspects in different countries. They compared how the problem with violent computer video games is solved in Europe, the United States, and Japan and have concluded that regulation of selling computer games is helpful in solving the problem with youth violence.

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Wilkinson (2012) depicts the consequences which may be a result of the devotion of youth to computer games. Depression of children as a result of their devotion is the main cause of committing a crime in Wilkinson’s opinion. Levine & Kline (2010) give parents some advice on how they can detect their children’s addiction to computer video games by their behavior, appearance, and other signs. They consider violent computer video games as the main cause of the psychical discomfort of children. They warn parents that “feelings of terror and helplessness become a normal state of being” for their children when they become addicted to computer video games (Levine & Kline 2010). In their opinion, children confuse real life with the imagined one under the influence of computer video games and, therefore, they can act in accordance with the scenario of those violent games. This statement coincides with a theory of behaviorism according to which human behavior is a result of an influence of environment and learning. According to Cassel & Bernstein (2007), computer violent games pose a danger to a society “for causing violent behavior” (p. 105).

Example of the Conclusion to Video Games Essay

Without limiting the proceeding, it should be mentioned that violent computer video games are essential educational supplies for training specialists for armed forces, police, FBI, CIA, and other government organizations. Of course, children, as well as other civilian people, should be protected from the influence of such games. There are many educational, entertaining, cognitive, informative, and amazing games without any violent scenes for people of a wide range of ages and interests in the modern world. It is out of the question to discuss the usefulness of violent games for civil people. These games are harmful both for young people and children due to the abovementioned reasons. Middle-aged people and old ones have quite different interests and do not need to play such video games.

It is strange that the government has not yet forbidden the free sale of computer violent games. The main opinion is that violent computer video games pose a real danger to society if they are freely sold. No regulation act can protect children from violent behaviors if they have easy access to guns. Therefore, to forbid computer violent games is easier than to forbid the trade of arms. When people do not play violent games, they can improve their behavior and can solve their problems without the help of the weapon. Violent games are dangerous to a society and should be excluded from American retail trade. They only are useful for special applications as training aids. Moreover, violent computer video games should be forbidden everywhere in the world because of their negative influence on humanity. There are many kinds of computer games that do not have any violent scenes. It is necessary to remember the main principle “Do no harm” to protect human society, and our children especially, from violent actions.

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Do Violent Video Games make People Violent? Research Paper

Introduction, arguments proposing that video games cause violence, arguments opposing that video games cause violence, works cited.

Video games have exhibited exponential growth in the past few decades. They have advanced from their humble origins in the computer lab to a contemporary status as one of the leaders in the multibillion dollar global entertainment industry (Newman 1). Most of the popular video games in the present times are characterized by their ability to allow players to role-play in various scenarios.

Owing to the market appeal of violence, most of the scenarios involve acts of violence and destruction which are performed by the player on screen. Concerns have been raised as to the effect that this overexposure and subsequent desensitization to violence is having on people especially bearing in mind that video games are quickly becoming the most fashionable pass time activity for children in the developed world.

Arguments have been forwarded that the violence in video games is directly responsible for the rise in violence by young people. On the other hand, other arguments propose that personal responsibility takes precedence and as such video games do not result in any violent behavior.

As can be deduced from this, there are various opposing views on the effect that violent video games have on people. This paper shall examine several of the arguments raised so as to draw a conclusion as to whether video games actually do cause violence in people. The paper shall also discuss the various arguments advanced by proponents and opponents to consider their merit.

One of the factors that make video games especially prone to leading to violence in real life is the high level of engagement that video games have. Funk et al. theorizes that the intense engagement may increase the probability that game behaviors will generalize outside the game situation as a result of the active participation that video games require of the gamer (34).

Qualitative researches further on show that children who were exposed to violent video games engaged in fantasy play’s in which they copied the actions of the violent video characters. This effectively demonstrates that the high involvement of video games results in youths desiring to play out the violent actions in real life.

This inevitably leads to the perpetration of violence by people as a result of the influence of video games. Video game enthusiasts negate his point by arguing that people have the capability to differentiate simulations from real life. While this may be the case, it does not take into consideration the high impressionability of youths and the influence that media and in particular video games have on the lives of people.

The correlation between video-game violence and increased aggression amongst the youths is unnerving. Anderson and Bushman hypothesize that it is no coincidence that recent cases of high school and campus violence are in most cases perpetrated by individuals who habitually played violent video games (353).

Studies indicate that the reason for increased aggression with increased exposure to violence scenes is because aggression is largely based on the learning function of the brain and as such, each violent episode is in essence one more learning trial (Dill 83).

However, it may be argued that aggression is a function of nature and video games cannot influence a non-violent person into violence. While these assertions may be true, Anderson and Bushman demonstrate that video violence lead to the reinforcement of aggressive behavior which in some cases leads to full blown cases of violence and destruction (353).

One of the logical consequences of exposure to violence is desensitization; which implies the elimination of cognitive, emotional or even behavioral response to violence (Funk et al. 25). An interesting fact with regard to desensitization to violence is that it occurs in subtle and minute quantities and one is seldom aware of its occurrence. In other words, engaging in violent video games results in an increase for tolerance for violent behavior in real life.

Supporters of video games assert that video games are in no way the only source of violent material as media and even real-life experiences contain some episodes of violence. As such, it stands to reason that video games should not be held accountable for desensitization to violence as it is evident that there are many other avenues through which violence is presented to people.

However, research indicates that the high interaction levels of video games leads to blunted empathic responding and higher emotional desensitization that by any other media due to the active involvement of a person as they play. This subsequently results in stronger pro-violence attitudes which have been repeatedly blamed on the prevalence of violent videos.

While proponents of video games as a major cause of violence among youths point out that these games represent violence and murder as “cool and fashionable, it should be noted that video games are not the only media through which such notions are spread.

Ferguson highlights the fact that violence as entertainment has always been an aspect of mainstream media and as such, video games and their effects should not be viewed in isolation (13). As such, violence in youths should take into consideration the various TV and Newspaper presentations of violence and Hollywood films romanticizing of violence instead of laying the blame principally on video games.

Owing to the many studies which propose the negative effects of video games, it would logically follow that laws would be put in place to ensure that this social vice is controlled. However, this has not been the case and production of violent video games continues to be rife.

Ferguson documents that despite the research on the effects of media violence on children and the subsequent findings that media violence is mostly detrimental to children’s psychology, there are no enforcement mechanisms in place that deter the sale of violent games to children (13).

This lack of legislation is mostly because the various censorship laws proposed have been challenged in courts mostly on constitutional and scientific grounds. Ferguson highlights that some judges particularly criticized opponents of video games who were blamed for biased presentation of the existing research on effects of video game violence therefore greatly decreasing the objectivity and credibility of these anti-game scholars (14).

Opponents of media violence point to the rise in crime waves during the 1970’s and 1980’s which was largely assumed to be caused by violence in television. Subsequently, anti-game scholars indicate that the same could happen as a result of video violence.

Ferguson reiterates that this is a fallacy since records indicate that violent crimes in the U.S. population decreased in the 1990s, which is when the violent video games began to become popular and increasingly violent as the years progressed due to technological advances (13).

As such, the assertion that video games result in increased violence cannot be backed up by data therefore suggesting that violent video games may be more benign that is currently thought. However, opponents of video games point out that the mere fact that violent crimes decreased at the same time that video games came into the picture is hugely coincidental and does not indication that violent video games have no negative effect on people.

The prevalence of video games in the lives of younger age groups is evident and as such, the impact that this exposure may have on them is of great significance. It has been suggested that there is a correlation between violent video games and real life violence. Supporters of video games propose that this correlation is not causation but rather, they argue that the fact is that violent children prefer to play violent games.

As such, video games do not create violent people as opponents of video games suggest. While this argument may hold some truth, numerous research findings indicates that video games lead to an increase in the violent levels of the people who engage in the games. It is therefore plausible that while video games are played by violent children, the aggression level of such people is significantly increased as a result of the violence in the video games.

The effects of exposure to violent video games are also undoubtedly higher to the younger age groups since they are still developing their moral values and therefore are more impressionable. As such, a violent game which may have little effect on an adult can have lasting impact on children whose moral reasoning principles are still being molded (Funk 34).

However, despite the negative sentiments that are associated with video games, they present a great means of telling stories to the youth. As such, the socially responsible thing to do would be to endorse and encourage behaviors that are sociable through these games (Kahne, Middaugh & Evans 8).

In addition to the alleged increase in violence levels, video game violence has also been blamed for frequent reduction of pro-social behavior by the players. This greatly negates the civil potential of the games and leads to a prevalence of anti-social behavior. From this, it is clear that the negative effect of violent video games is far reaching and not only limited to aggressive behavior and an increase in violence by youths.

While there are many experts who criticize the existing violent video game research literature, their credibility is uncertain since most of this experts working with or for the video game industries. It would therefore be absurd to expect them to make declarations that would be detrimental to their industry.

On the other hand, anti-game experts are mostly psychologists and scholars who have no vested interest in the results. This greatly adds to the credibility of they studies, most of which indicate that there is a strong relationship between youth violence and video game violence.

Video games are an ever-present youth experience and they can offer wide ranges of experiences to the individual. As has been demonstrated by the arguments presented in this paper, video games can be used to promote certain notions.

This paper highlights the reality that violence can in fact be promoted by use of violent video games. From this paper, it is clear that the youth are the ones who are most susceptible to being made violent and it is therefore the obligation of parents to ensure that the exposure of their children to these harmful games is limited.

However, it should be remembered that games can also be used for nonviolent and even educational purposes. Game designers should therefore be urged to create less violent video games and rather focus on the benign and beneficial facet of video games. By doing this, the tremendous educative power that the games wield can be harnessed for the betterment of the society.

Anderson, A. Craig. “An Update on the Effects of Playing Violent Video Games.” Journal of Adolescence 27 (2004) 113–122.

Anderson, A. Craig and Brad J. Bushman. “Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior.” American Psychological Society. VOL. 12, NO. 5, 2001.

Dill, Karen, E. “How Fantasy Becomes Reality: Seeing Through Media Influence.” Oxford University Press US, 2009. Print.

Ferguson, Christopher. “Violent Video Games.” 2008. Web.

Funk, Jeanne, B., et al. “Violence Exposure in Real-life, Video Games, Television, Movies, and the Internet: is there Desensitization?” Journal of Adolescence 27 (2004) 23–39.

Kahne, Joseph., Middaugh, Ellen, and Evans, Chris. “The Civic Potential of Video Games.” 7 Sept 2008. Web. https://www.civicsurvey.org/publications/civic-potential-of-video-games

Newman, James. “Videogames.” Routeledge, 2004. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2021, June 17). Do Violent Video Games make People Violent? https://ivypanda.com/essays/do-violent-video-games-make-people-violent/

"Do Violent Video Games make People Violent?" IvyPanda , 17 June 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/do-violent-video-games-make-people-violent/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Do Violent Video Games make People Violent'. 17 June.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Do Violent Video Games make People Violent?" June 17, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/do-violent-video-games-make-people-violent/.

1. IvyPanda . "Do Violent Video Games make People Violent?" June 17, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/do-violent-video-games-make-people-violent/.

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IvyPanda . "Do Violent Video Games make People Violent?" June 17, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/do-violent-video-games-make-people-violent/.

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Is Playing Violent Video Games Related to Teens' Mental Health?

New research indicates that video games are not as bad as we once feared..

Posted February 25, 2021 | Reviewed by Matt Huston

Key Points:

• Two recent studies provide insight into whether playing violent video games is related to mental health or aggression .
• Teens who had consistently played violent games for years also reported higher aggression compared to those with gaming patterns that changed over time.
• Researchers found no links between violent video game play and anxiety , depression , somatic symptoms, or ADHD after two years.

With so many kids still home this year, and an apparent increase in the number of teens and adults playing video games, it seems appropriate to re-examine the evidence on whether aggression in video games is associated with problems for adolescents or society. A special issue of Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking published in January did just that. As a parent of three—aware of how video games can suck kids in—and a psychologist working at a social innovation lab that has been a leader in the games for health movement, I’m eager to look at studies that examine teens’ violent video game play and any effects later on in life. I asked, in the ongoing conversation about whether playing games like Fortnite makes teens more aggressive, depressed, or anxious, what do we now know?

After a few decades of research in this area, the answer is not definitive . There was a slew of studies in the early 2000s showing a link between violent video game play and aggressive behavior, and a subsequent onslaught of studies showing that the aggression was very slight and likely due to competition rather than the violent nature of the games themselves. For example, studies showed that people got just as aggressive when they lost at games like Mario Kart as when they lost a much more violent game such as Fortnite . It was likely the frustration of losing rather than the violence that caused people to act aggressively.

Looking at Mental Health and Gaming Over Time

Two studies in the January special issue add to the evidence showing that violent video games may not be as dangerous as they have been made out to be. These studies are unique because they looked at large samples of youth over long periods of time. This line of research helps us to consider whether extensive play in a real-world environment (i.e., living rooms, not labs) is associated with mental health functioning later on in the teen and young adult years.

The first study revisited the long-standing debate over whether violent video game play is associated with aggression and mental health symptoms in young adulthood. The study reported on 322 American teens, ages 10 to 13 at the outset, who were interviewed every year for 10 years. The study looked at patterns of violent video game play, and found three such patterns over time: high initial violence (those who played violent games when they were young and then reduced their play over time); moderates (those whose exposure to violent games was moderate but consistent throughout adolescence ); and low-increasers (those who started with low exposure to violent games, and then increased slightly over time). Most kids were low-increasers, and kids who started out with high depression scores were more likely to be in the high initial violence group. Only the kids in the moderates group were more likely to show aggressive behavior than the other two groups.

The researchers concluded that it was sustained violent game play over many years that was predictive of aggressive behavior, not the intensity of the violence alone or the degree of exposure for shorter periods. Importantly, none of the three exposure groups predicted either depression or anxiety, nor did any predict differences in prosocial behavior such as helping others.

The second study was even larger, following 3,000 adolescents from Singapore, and looking at whether playing violent video games was associated with mental health problems two years later. Results showed that neither violent video game play, nor video game time overall, predicted anxiety, depression, somatic symptoms, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder after two years. Consistent with many previous studies, mental health symptoms at the beginning of the study were predictive of symptoms two years later. In short, no connection was found between video games and the mental health functioning of youth.

Taken together, these studies suggest that predispositions to mental health problems like depression and anxiety are more important to pay attention to than video game exposure, violent or not. There is also an implication that any potential effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior would tend to show up when use is prolonged—though the research did not show that gaming itself necessarily causes the aggressive behavior.

So, Should Parents Be Concerned?

These findings are helpful during a year when many kids have no doubt had unprecedented exposure to video games, some of them violent. The most current evidence is telling us that these games are not likely to make our kids more anxious, depressed, aggressive, or violent.

Do parents still need to watch our children’s screen time ? Yes, as too much video game play takes kids away from other valuable activities for their social, emotional, and creative development, such as using their imagination and making things that have not been given to them by programmers (stories, art, structures, fantasy play). Do parents need to be freaking out that our kids trying to find the "imposter" in a game will make them more likely to hit their friends when they are back together in person? Probably not.

We still need to pay attention to mental health symptoms; teens appear to be feeling the effects of the pandemic more than adults, and levels of depression and anxiety have reached unprecedented heights.

So let’s say the quiet part out loud: if they’re using video games to cope right now, it’s not the end of the world, and if they’re struggling psychologically, we should not be blaming the games. Normal elements of daily life have been reduced for teenagers during what should be their most expansive years, for what has become an increasingly large percentage of their lives. It is untenable, and even still, teens are showing us what they always do—that they are adaptive and resilient , and natural harm reduction experts.

As parents, let’s stay plugged in to what they’re going through, and think more about how games can be supportive of well-being. It’s needed now more than ever.

LinkedIn and Facebook image: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

Coyne, S. M., & Stockdale, L. (2020). Growing Up with Grand Theft Auto: A 10-Year Study of Longitudinal Growth of Violent Video Game Play in Adolescents. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 24(1), 11–16. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2020.0049

Ferguson, C. J., & Wang, C. K. J. (2020). Aggressive Video Games Are Not a Risk Factor for Mental Health Problems in Youth: A Longitudinal Study. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 24(1), 70–73. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2020.0027

Kato, P. M., Cole, S. W., Bradlyn, A. S., & Pollock, B. H. (2008). A Video Game Improves Behavioral Outcomes in Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer: A Randomized Trial. Pediatrics, 122(2), e305–e317. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2007-3134

Przybylski, A. K., & Weinstein, N. (n.d.). Violent video game engagement is not associated with adolescents’ aggressive behaviour: Evidence from a registered report. Royal Society Open Science, 6(2), 171474. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171474

Danielle Ramo, Ph.D. , is a clinical psychologist, researcher in digital mental health and substance use, and Chief Clinical Officer at BeMe Health, a mobile mental health platform designed to improve teen wellbeing.

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Video Games Thesis Statement

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Published: Mar 13, 2024

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Video games have negative effects on children essay sample, example.

Introduction

Various studies have shown that violent content in video games desensitizes players , especially children, to real-world violence. When players become desensitized, they tend to increase their aggression and decrease their empathy. Other researchers have indicated that playing video games among children does not lead to significant aggressive behavior, since the magnitude of the effect in the meta-analysis may be an outcome of publication bias. Despite pressure from various societies, many video games contain a considerable amount of violence. Violent games are seen to promote feelings of excitement, satisfaction, and empowerment among players (Hagan, et al. 2002). However, Przybylski et al, carried a study on video games and concluded that the desire and enjoyment for future play were linked to competence and the experience of autonomy in the video game, and not the level of violence. Different scholars have argued about the negative and positive effects of playing video games among children. This research paper will discuss the various effects that playing video games have on children. They impact children’s lives socially and they increase violence among children (Sherry, 2001).

The debate on whether video games have social effects and cause violence among players, especially children, can be traced back to 1976 when a video game entitled Death Race was released on the market. The main aim of the game was to run over screaming gremlins using a car which would then turn into tombstones. The pace of the game was pedestrian and the gremlins resembled human figures. There was a public outcry over this video game and eventually its production ceased. There were other violent video games that were produced later in 1993, such as Night Trap and Mortal Kombat , which were followed by public outcry. In the same year, a board was established in the United States to look into video games and rate them according to their content (Siwek, 2007). The board is known as the entertainment software rating board (ESRB). The other video game that attracted media attention was Rapelay, produced in 2006 (Siwek, 2007). The video game required players to rape and stalk a woman and her two girls. Such video games are said to cause behavioral change among children.

There have been several incidents that are linked to video games, such as the massacre at Columbine High School that claimed 13 lives. Laws have been enacted to ban or control the sale of video games. For example, on the 27th of June 2007, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the law in California that banned the sale of video games to minors (Siwek, 2007). The court ruled that the law violated the freedom of speech even though the state has an obligation to protect kids from harm. Another aspect that should be noted regarding video games is that boys spend more time playing than girls. Not many girls are interested in playing video games, hence they are not affected as much as boys of a similar age (Anderson & Bushman, 2001).

The Drawbacks of Children Playing Video games

Most of the negative effects as a result of playing video games among children can be blamed on the violent scenes contained in these games. When a child spends an extended amount of time playing such video games, they becomes socially isolated. This means that a child does not have enough time to interact with other members of their society (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). The child who spends many hours a day playing video games will have little time to meet and make new friends. They may in turn become more depressed and lonely in their homes. Children will also spend little time on other activities such as sports, reading, and doing homework. The child becomes socially inactive since they do not get involved in social activities.

Some video games teach children wrong values (Gunter, 1998). Most of the children who spend much of their time playing video games are likely to perform poorly in school. A solid number of video games are addictive. Rather than studying or completing homework, a child spends time playing video games. As a result, poor performance will be seen at schools. Video games reduce a child’s imaginative thinking as well. This means that a child who ends up spending most of their time playing video games does not get a chance to think creatively or independently. Imaginative thinking is crucial in developing a child’s creativity. By fostering isolation, video games may also affect a child’s health. Since they do not get enough bodily exercise, children who spend the majority of their time playing video games are likely to suffer from video-induced seizures, obesity and skeletal, muscular and postural disorders like tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, among others.

Video games promote children to associate happiness and pleasure with the capability to cause pain to others. They develop the feeling that in order to be happy, one has to make other people suffer. Children who play video games tend to develop selfish behavior (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). Video games teach the player to be dependent and since the child is often left alone while playing a video game, he or she can develop selfish behavior. A certain study that was done at a Minneapolis-based national institute for media indicated that kids can get addicted to video games and exhibit social phobias. The interactive quality of video games is quite different from passively viewing movies or television. The games allow players to be active participants in the script. The players who are able to benefit from acts of violence are then able to proceed to the next level (Sherry, 2001).

As a negative result of playing video games, violence in children has shown an increase. “Anderson and Dill found that males who were high in aggression and irritability, showed the strongest association between video game play and aggressive behavior” (Lillian Bensely & Juliet Van Eenwyk, 2001). There are many incidents of violent behavior among children who play violent video games worldwide (Gunter, 1998). One of the high-profile incidents is the Columbine High School massacre that was caused by 17-year-old Dylan Klebold, and 18-year-old Harris Eric. The massacre happened on the 20th of April, 1999, at Columbine High School, located in Jefferson County. 12 pupils and a teacher were killed by two pupils. It was later revealed that the two shooters in the massacre were frequent players of weapon-based combat games . It was also noted that the two shooters used to play Wolfeinstein 3D and Doom , games which are violent. After the incident, many newspaper articles claimed that the key cause of that incident was violent video games.

Another incident occurred in April, 2000, when Jose Rabadan, a sixteen-year-old Spaniard, killed his parents and his sister using a katana sword, claiming that he was Squall Leonhart, the main character in the video game titled ‘Final Fantasy V111,’ on a mission of revenge. This was a consequence of playing the game too much and fantasizing about what he saw in the video game (Williams, & Marko, 2005). In 1997, there was the case of a thirteen year old, Wilson Noah, who was killed by his friend using a kitchen knife. The mother of the deceased claimed that Noah was stabbed because of the obsession his friend had with the video game known as Mortal Kombat. She alleged that the child who killed Noah was obsessed with the game, and thought he was one of the characters in the game named Cyrax. In the game, Cyrax uses a finishing move whereby he grabs the opponent and stabs him in the chest. It was alleged that this was the move that motivated the killing of that child. There are many other incidents that were caused by the effects of playing video games. A report that was compiled by the FBI in the year 2006 showed that the playing of video games among children was one of the behavioral traits linked to school shootings. The report outlined several factors behind school shootings of which playing violent video games was the most obvious (Anderson & Bushman, 2001).

According to Gentile and Anderson, playing video games increases the aggressive behavior of the player, since the acts of violence are continually repeated during the game (Gentile, & Anderson, 2003). “Although heightened physiological arousal (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductance) can be beneficial in certain situations, physiological arousal produced by violent media (or by other sources), can be linked to an increase in aggressive behavior, especially when that arousal can be erroneously attributed to another provoking event, rather than to the violent media. Repetition of an act has been considered an effective teaching method, reinforcing learners patterns” (Barlett, Harris & Bruey, 2007).

The games encourage the players to roleplay or identify with their favorite character (Gentile & Anderson, 2003). The increase in physical bullying in many schools can also be linked to the popularity of video games that contain violent content. A study done in 2008 indicated that about 60% or more of middle school boys ended up striking or beating somebody after playing at least one mature-rated video game. The research also showed that about 39% of boys who never played violent video games were not involved in any form of violence. When playing video games, players are rewarded for simulating violence. This enhances the learning of violent behavior among the children who find pleasure in violent video games. When violence is rewarded while playing video games, players tend to develop aggressive behavior. As noted earlier, video games desensitize players to real-life violence. The exposure to video games causes a reduction in P300 amplitudes that are contained in the brain. The child will later experience aggressive behavior and desensitization to violence (Bartholow, Bushman & Sestir, 2006).

After children experience violence while playing video games, they are likely to develop a fear of becoming victims of violent acts. According to the report compiled by six leading national medical associations in 2000, children do not trust their fellow children and hence will develop violent, self-protective measures. The exposure to cruel video games also leads to reduced empathy among the players. From a survey conducted by Jeanne Funk in 2004, video games are the only media linked or associated with low empathy. Empathy is described as the capacity or ability to understand other people’s feelings. The level of empathy plays a noteworthy role in evaluating a person’s morals. Empathy also controls aggressive behavior among individuals, especially children (Bartholow, Bushman & Sestir, 2006). After lacking empathy as a consequence of violent video games, these children are likely to be violent. Repetition of actions when one is playing a video game affects the subconscious mind, hence a behavioral script is developed. An example of a behavioral script is that developed by drivers. It urges the driver to first get into a car, fasten their safety belt and then start the car. Similarly, video games induce a child to develop a behavioral script that urges them to respond violently to certain situations (Gunter, 1998).

Playing video games teaches children that violence is an acceptable way of solving their conflicts. Those who play video games, especially games with violent content, do not develop the belief that using non-violence means can solve a problem. They tend to be less forgiving when compared to those children who play non-violent video games (Sherry, 2001). Children tend to confuse real-world violence with video game violence. After fantasizing about the violence in video games, children are likely to fight in schools and in the streets. New video games allow a lot of physical interaction with the players. Some video games train players on how to be a killer. For example, in 1996, the Marine Corps in the United States authorized the release of Doom 11 , which was a violent video game. The game was previously used to train marine soldiers. Such games can train children to be high-profile killers. Also, most video games have portrayed a negative attitude towards women. Violence against women is likely to increase in a child who plays brutal video games (Gunter, 1998).

Counter Arguments

In any life situation and with any sort of problem, there are those who disagree with the majority. Likewise, there are researchers who present various counter arguments to support the idea that video games can be beneficial for children. The first counter argument against the side effects of video games is the fact that children are not isolated, as they have online gaming communities. Children who are unable to associate with others do not feel isolated since they can play video games. For example, a child who is not physically fit to play with others can turn to video games during their free time to reduce boredom (Dietz, 1998).

It has been noted that violent juvenile crimes have been decreasing in the recent years, yet the popularity of video games has been increasing. For the period from 1995 to 2008, the rate of the arrest of juvenile murderers decreased by 71.9%, while the overall arrest cases concerning juvenile violence decreased by 49%. In the same period, the sale of cruel video games increased by almost 4 times compared to the years before. From these statistics, one can conclude that there is no direct correlation between violent juvenile crimes and video games. There has been no scientifically-proven link between violent behavior among children and video games. Most of the surveys carried out on video games are affected by design flaws. The surveys are done within a short duration of time and do not follow kids for any considerable period of time. After a short observation, conclusions are drawn (Barlett, Harris and Bruey, 539-546).

The other counter argument against video games is that children learn real life-skills when playing video games. Players of brutal video games are able to learn how to regulate their emotions when playing (Anderson, Gentile, & Buckley, 2007). The level of control developed while playing video games in terms of directing actions and pace are prudent ways of regulating the emotional state of children. The perception of being in control of actions minimizes emotional and stressful responses to events. Aggressive and angry feelings can be relieved by playing video games. When a child plays video games, it is one of the best ways of relieving aggression and depression. Many children play video games to relieve anger while others play video games to relax their bodies. Children are given healthy and safe opportunities to virtually explore the rules and consequences of violent behavior when they play video games (Bartholow, Bushman & Sestir, 2006).

After playing videogames, especially ones that contain violence, children are able to develop ways of escaping violence. The form of violence can be affected by video games, but does not necessarily lead to the occurrence of violence. Through the challenges faced while playing some video games, children are able to learn how to avoid violence, or how to escape from violence. Those who hold the view that video games do not have negative effects on children indicate that video games do not lead a child to violence, but instead, violent children are the ones who are interested in video games (Anderson, Gentile & Buckley, 2007).

The argument about whether video games have negative or positive effects on children is broad, and depends on one’s philosophical views. “Most of the research projects that have been conducted on the authentic effects of media brutality on behavior of children have included small, often unrepresentative samples and unique examples of media violence” (Dietz, 1998). This paper has compiled some of the negative effects of video games among children. Some of the negative effects include children feeling isolated from their society, becoming more violent and aggressive, as well as lacking communicative skills. When playing video games, children spend extended periods of time by themselves and do not have much interaction with other children, except for the virtual ones. As a result, children who play video games excessively do not develop effective communication skills with others, since hours, if not all their spare time, is spent on video games. There has also been a rise in violence among children who play video games, the Columbine High School massacre being one such example. Injuries and fighting at home and outdoors have risen because of children playing brutal video games (Anderson, Gentile, & Buckley, 2007). Some researchers however argue that video games can and do have positive effects on children. They point out that children are not isolated, as they develop online gaming communities. Children are also able to learn real-life skills while playing video games, as well as learn how to escape violence. However, what both sides agree upon is that parents should guide their children on the outcomes of playing video games. Personally, I think that video games can be allowed when selected with caution and are not played frequently. As long as virtual reality does not replace a child’s real-life communication, video games can become a great option for a child’s leisure.

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