Video Game Violence and Children - Essay Example

Video game violence and children November 10, Video game violence and children The younger that a child is, the more impressionable they are. They are constantly subjected to concepts and behaviors that they gradually adapt for themselves. These influences are commonly presented to children in the forms of parents, siblings, classmates, and teachers. However, in a steadily growing technological generation, children are also given the means to be influenced by media, such as television shows, movies, and music. Since children are capable of being impacted by these media mediums, it is also believed that they can be just as easily influenced by video games (Potter, 1999, p. 19). There are video games that are appropriate for younger audiences, but the most popular games are riddled with graphic and violent images, which can leave a lasting impression. This paper will look at the effects of video game violence and children. As children grow up, they look to the authoritative role models in their life to determine what behavior is or is not appropriate. Their young minds are impressionable and they constantly absorb new knowledge from their surroundings. When children are subjected to certain actions or behaviors, and if they are not properly coached in the differences between right and wrong, they are likely to repeat the actions or behaviors. The more that they witness certain behaviors, the increased chances they have at mimicking them. Impressionability is similar to the teaching methods found in classrooms in the sense that teachers display concepts that children repeat until they can do them on their own; however, unlike classroom learning, impressionability involves children adapting behaviors of their own accord without being prompted by someone else. In regard to video games, the more that children see certain actions taking place, the more they are going to imitate them. “Children accept and interpret the knowledge being given to them through the medium of video games (Desilet, 2005, p.146).” Children might not immediately resort to violent acts, such as murder, but they do imitate them in pretend play. They use their fingers as toy guns, use toy weapons to imitate violence, or roughhouse with others. While this may just be fun and games for them, their abilities to master these actions grows the more that they try to imitate the original action they witnessed. The more time that children spend playing violent video games, the more they become familiar with the concepts being depicted. Furthermore, there are video games that allow the player to play as a first person and they can experience the game as if they were in it, committing the violent actions themselves instead of witnessing them as a bystander. Adults and teachers feel that these games are “training programs for children to commit crimes (Kutner & Olsen, 2008, p. 121-122).” While impressionability is not necessarily a bad thing, it becomes a problem when children do not have a mediator to tell them when certain behaviors and actions are right and when they are wrong. In video games, violent actions and criminal behaviors are seldom met with consequences or punishments. When children see people, whether they are real or the product of a virtual world, engaging in violent behavior without being punished, the children believe the same thing holds true for them (Degaetano & Grossman, 1999, p. 79-80). If they display violent behavior, they expect not to face consequences because the characters in their video games did not. Unless authoritative figures, such as parents or teachers, make it known that video game characters live in worlds where normal rules do not apply, children will behave as they want to and think they are invincible. Similarly, when parents do not step in and talk to their children about the false impressions left behind by video game violence, children tend to condone the actions of the characters in the video games. If a fictional video game character does something and is not reprimanded, children feel that they are entitled to do the same thing. When all of the aforementioned aspects are combined, children feel that they are being given unspoken permission to mimic what they see in video games. Between the video game characters, the situations, and the silent parents, children learn to condone the violent actions of their video game characters, who they quickly begin to relate to. As children get a little older, the results of too much exposure to violent video games becomes more clear. “The greatest consequences of the effects of video games on children is that there has been a noticeable rise in violence committed by children and teenagers that play violent video games (Freedman, 2002, p. 34-37).” When children master the behaviors and actions that they witness in video games, they apply them in their everyday lives. Instead of responding to conflict with others reasonably and responsibly, they rely on the violence that they learned through their video games. Because of this, the levels of violence among children and teenage have drastically risen over the years, and the connection is found to be stronger in regard to violent media, primarily video games. The impressionability of children can be a beneficial thing, but only if they are being influenced by appropriate role models. Video games are among these role models, though many are far from being appropriate. When children are consistently subjected to violent video games, they absorb the behaviors and actions and use them when they feel the need. Since video game characters seldom face consequences for their actions, children believe that the same applies to them. When their parents do not make it known that there is a huge difference between fantasy and reality, children learn to condone the behaviors witnessed in video games. As such, there has been a steady increase of violence and aggression among children, and the increase has been linked to violent video games. Parents need to take it upon themselves to make sure their children know the difference between right and wrong and fantasy and reality, and where their children stand in the grand scheme of things. References Degaetano, G. & Grossman, D. (1999). Stop teaching our kids to kill: A call to action against TV, movie and video game violence (p. 79-80). New York: Crown Publishing Group. Desilet, G. (2005). Our faith in evil: Melodrama and the effects of entertainment violence (p. 146). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers. Freedman, J.L. (2002). Media violence and its effect on aggression (p. 34-37). Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press. Kutner, L. & Olson, C.K. (2008). Grand theft childhood: The surprising truth about violent video games (p. 121-122). New York: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group. Potter, J. (1999). On media violence (p. 19). Los Angeles: Sage Publishing. Read More