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Free College Essays-The Misconception Of Violence In Video Games

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The Misconception of Violence in Video Games With all of the school shootings and youth violence that is so heavily publicized, it seems as if technology is destroying the morals and mindsets of children. Most of this violent, erratic behavior is blamed on the existence of violence in video games and other forms of interactive media. Parents are desperate to offload blame and shame onto anything but themselves, as it is human nature to do so. Many claim that the violence featured to provide entertainment or enrich a narrative in video games happens to desensitize their children to real world violence. However, there is a very clear distinction between real world violence and fake “play” violence; video games do not kill people. The presence …show more content…

There are many other factors that are completely overlooked when these tragedies occur. People see that the killer has played these video games featuring violence and immediately assume that is the cause. Instead of placing the blame on the individuals responsible, it goes to media content that they were exposed to. However, it should be accepted that “Video games, music, television, movies, novels, and Shakespeare don’t cause violence. Mental illness, psychological abuse, and physical abuse cause violence.” (Bezio 3) Although the violence in video games makes children aware that violence exists, the matter of whether it causes them to feel inclined to reciprocate that behavior is due to the individual child’s chemistry and experiences. A child that has mental disorders and has been physically abused is more likely to have violent, aggressive tendencies than a normal child. The flaw with this issue of violence in video games being reciprocated among youth is not the fault of the video games; the youth and their parents are in the wrong. Humanity, as beings of higher order and functioning, are expected to use logic and reason to lay judgement on their decisions. Children, while young, are still human, and are still required to have a sense of ethics, which in fact instilled upon by the parents. However, this does not mean that parent’s avert the blame

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In his article “Shooting in the Dark,” Benedict Carey argues that video games depict explicit or violent content stimulate aggressive behavior within gamers. He argues that video games like Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty, and Battlefield 3 increase aggressive urges and that exposure to these games leads to real-world hostilities. He mentions incidents like the young men who opened fire at Columbine High School and at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado—video gamers who seemed to be acting out some “dark digital fantasy”—to uphold his position. He believes a dose of violent video games can cause people to act “more rudely” than they would otherwise. Although he describes how violent video games may stimulate aggressive or hostile behavior, Carey’s argument can be challenged because there are other factors that can influence individuals to act violent and hostile.

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Into the Wild Some may believe that Chris McCandless went into the wild to escape the toxic relationship with his parents, but the real reason he left everything was to escape from the people that were trying to give him everything. Chris was a person that did not believe in the materialistic things. He believed in humanity and freedom. Chris McCandless reminds me of the younger sister in his book How Much Land Does a Man Need. The younger sister believed in earning from working.

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The article “Do Video Games Kill” written by Karen Sternheimer responds to one of the most sought-after question; are video games the cause for “young killers”? (220) Sternheimer believes the influence of video games on today’s youth maybe spiraling out of control. She focuses most of the blame on the media, politicians and the Juvenile Justice System. Sternheimer suggests that there are other factors to blame for violent behavior: poverty, the neighborhood, unemployment, family violence, divorced parents and mental illness (218). While juvenile crimes have declined, and personal backgrounds effect actions, it cannot be proven that video game violence has no to little effect on America’s youth.

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HW8: Exploration for Paper 4 In his article "Violent Media is Good for Kids," author Gerard Jones claims that violent media, a category that includes video games, has positive aspects. Jones believes, “’creative violence’—head-bonking cartoons, bloody video games, playground karate, toy guns—gives children a tool to master their rage”(Jones para.12). Video games have been played for almost fifty years, and while they have become much more violent in content in the last decade or so, research shows that the adolescent crime rate has actually dropped almost fifty percent since 1995 (Thierer para. 3). This suggests that perhaps violent video games may not have as negative of an impact on children as some suggest and can actually be seen as the

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1152 Words | 5 Pages

In the essay, “Do Video Games Kill?”(214), Karen Sternheimer discusses the wide spread idea that videogames are the cause for “young killers”(220) . Sternheimer opposes the idea that violent video games produce criminal behavior in young people. The influence video games have on young people is spiraling out of control, according to Sternheimer. The blame for this spiral is the media. The influence the media has on video games focuses on the stereotype that the white middle-class male video gamer is more susceptible to violent behavior.

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413 Words | 2 Pages

Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/12/virtual -violence.aspx. Beth Azar disagrees about whether violent video games increase aggression. She claims that people can tell the difference between video game violence and real world violence. People can therefore use video games as a means of dealing with problems on a virtual level instead of using real violence. This article provides the fact that video games can be ues as an alternate method to using actual violence.

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1162 Words | 5 Pages

Around ninety-seven percent of children and teens aged twelve to seventeen have access to video games and play regularly (Newsela), since it is now a common pastime. However, more than half of the fifty best-selling games expose youths to violence and contain graphic content which many deem inappropriate. These games in particular have been blamed for many cases of school shootings, bullying and violence targeted towards women (Newsela). When children are subject to these acts through video game media, the line between game and reality becomes blurred, and they begin to pick up on the actions seen on-screen. For instance, the Columbine High School shooting is a prime example of violence fuelled by video game rage (Newsela).

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Ever since they were made, Videogames have been a popular form of entertainment, especially in youth. With this, they receive controversies, like all other forms of modern entertainment or media. There's the ongoing theory that violence in Videogames inspires acts of violence such as school shootings or mass murders. Most Videogames have a sense of violence in one form or another, Whether it's eating cartoon ghosts or ripping your opponents head off with the spine still attached. Because of extremely violent actions in some Videogames, some people are led to believe that they are part of, if not the problem for young people committing unthinkable things.

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624 Words | 3 Pages

Violent video games have been around since the beginning of the video game era in 1940 with the creation of the computer, by Edward U. Condon, that plays the traditional game of Nim. This game was a fun, interactive game for everybody of all ages to play, but as time progressed video games began to evolve into something much more by adding violence. Some of these games today include, Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty, and Grand Theft Auto; where many of these companies have created multiple versions to create a better gaming experience. As parents go and buy these games for children as young as 4 to 5 years old, they don’t stop and think about how this violence could impact their child’s mental health. This video game violence could lead to the child attempting to mimic the actions and cause trouble for other people in their

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923 Words | 4 Pages

Violent video games have been blamed for everything from bullying to school shootings. Critics of these video games believe they cause people to commit violent acts in real life. These critics, mainly comprised of parents and other responsible adults, don’t agree with what the video games portray. Others say the video games cause less violence and are an outlet for anger and stress. Although violent video games have violent actions in them, teenagers should be able to play violent video games because there isn’t enough evidence to prove they make teens more aggressive, it could prevent violence, and violent video games are a fun and relaxing way to relieve stress and anger.

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1017 Words | 5 Pages

The cause of violent action in the real world are not caused by violent video games. Violent video games have been around since 1976. There was a rating system put into place to let people know what was in the game they were buying. There is research and studies that prove violent video games have nothing to do with crimes all around the world. Even though there are people and politicians who believe that violent video games lead to violent behavior,the research and studies show that that is not the

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983 Words | 4 Pages

A recent content analysis by the research organization Children Now shows that a majority of video games include violence and about half of the violent incidents would result in serious injuries or death in the "real" world. Claim1 Research involving British primary schoolchildren found that the length of time young people spend playing games, rather than their content, could have an effect on their behavior or school performance. But it concluded that fears that generations of young people are growing up with their development impaired by exposure to violent video games are no more likely to be borne out than previous “moral panics” over television and other media. Playing one-player games is not always negative if you do it moderately.

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1183 Words | 5 Pages

There are games that literally replicate and give people the ability to score points for doing the very same thing that these students are doing inside schools, where you get extra points for finishing someone off who’s lying there begins for their life.” ( 6) There are several ideas that say young people benefit from these violent video games “Surprisingly, playing video games can help our physical, mental, and emotional health.” It helps them to improve hand eye coordination and thinking ability. These benefits are not worth the risk of being influenced by violent video games. (7) All in all the research and officials say that violent video games affect how children, teenagers and young adults act.

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747 Words | 3 Pages

Research shows that at least 83% of children in the US aged between 8-12 years are involved in video gaming once a month. This elevated number of video gaming has had its fair share of effects on its consumers. For instance, video games have positively influenced children to work together in completing various tasks, and often improve a child’s thinking capacity, especially through solving puzzles (Anderson et al, 2007). However, the contentious issue has been the effects of violent games on children, which are often negative to their well-being. In short, violent video games increase the aggressiveness of a child, and may eventually cause mental ill health.

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816 Words | 4 Pages

But everything is not absolutely right or wrong. The violent video game also has the good effect. By playing violent video games, it can provide opportunities for children to explore virtually the consequences of violent actions and to develop their moral compasses. According to a study, “The Next Level of Research on Electronic Play: Potential Benefits and Contextual Influences for Children and Adolescents”, by Dorothy Salonius-Pasternak and Holly Gelfond , Violent video game can simulate the moral issue such as “war”, “violence”, and “death” without real world consequence. A researcher at the Harvard Medical School Center for Mental Health and Media wrote about her research: “Many war-themed video games allow or require players to take the roles of soldiers from different sides of a conflict, perhaps making players more aware of the costs of war."

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