Video Violent Games Lead to Aggressive Behavior and Violence in Schools - Essay Example

Video Violent Games Lead to Aggressive Behavior and Violence in Schools

In the 21st century today, most children and teenagers across the globe use electronic media devices for various reasons, the common one being for entertainment. Most children have grown up with total access to electronic devices such as mobile phones, computers, laptops and iPads where they can easily play some video games. In a survey that was recently conducted, out of 1,102 teenagers, 97% of them normally play video games on a daily basis (Anderson, Gentile and Buckley 23).

Although most parents took up the initiative of checking the sensor rating before they allowed their children to purchase any video games over the internet, approximately fifty percent of the boys and 14% of the girls preferred video games meant for adults (Anderson, Gentile and Buckley 23). This implies and represents a high degree of violence among these children and teenagers as they copy what they see in most video games, which they play frequently. Thus, this essay will focus on how violent video games lead to aggressive behavior and violence in schools.

These violent video games have resulted to aggressive behaviors in children and teenagers as they try to copy what they see in video games. This has raised a lot of concern from the teachers and parents. Further, most social scientists have argued that most video games have greater impacts on children and teenagers due to the following reasons. To start with, most children imitate the characters who they try to identify themselves with. This means that if they are violent during the video games, these children emulate their behaviors. In most violent video games, these characters use weapons while fighting and these children will try to emulate this behaviors and characters. Secondly, it is quite clear that most of these violent video games require very active participation which most children and teenagers find them quite interesting. Hence, they choose to participate actively in these violent games rather than being passive observers. Thirdly, repetition naturally increases the learning process in children. Most video games are repetitive by nature (Anderson). Thus, if these games are violent, the most likely effect is the behavioral rehearsal for the violent activities, especially in children. Further, most video games are based on the reward system. Thus, most children will play them to earn points.

In a study conducted by Gentile, Lynch and Walsh in the year 2004, it was concluded that teenagers who played violent video games for much extended time have the following traits in school and at home (Cabral 6). These teens were found to be more aggressive both in school. Secondly, they are likely to be involved in confrontations with their teachers. Other times, they engage themselves in fights with their peers as they try to imitate what they see in these video games. This leads to decline in their school performance in most cases.

Further, approximately 97% of the kids in the US, who are of ages between 12 and 17 years, play video games. The video game industry is worth $ 21.53 billion, with almost half of the top selling games containing violence (Cabral 7). These violent video games have been blamed and associated with school shootings that happen in most states. Hey also increase the rate of bullying and violence towards and against women. Most critics argue that these kinds of games desensitize players of the games to be violent. Gain, they reward players to stimulate violence. This teaches children and teenagers that violence is one of the acceptable ways that can be used in resolving conflicts. Most video games advocates argue that most of the research on this topics biased and deeply flawed, as there is no or any causal relationship that has even been found between the games and violence in children. Rather, they argue that these violent video games are just effective channels to let out aggressiveness and angry feelings which times reduce the rate of crime.

Likewise, some researchers on the topic have established the following. More than 97% of the pediatricians, as well as 67% of parents, strongly agree that these violent video games tend to increase aggressiveness in children and teenagers (Milani 6). Secondly, video games sales on both hardware and software have increased at the rate 204% between 1994 and 2014. On the other hand, violent crimes and juvenile detention have decreased over time. Thirdly, approximately 16% of teen boys and 40% of teen girls played mature rated video games.

Now, most social psychologists, teachers, and parents argue that violent video games contribute to violence in school due to various reasons. Children and teens who play these violent video games exhibit a higher rate of bullying, aggressiveness and even fighting especially in schools. The middle-aged schoolboys and girls who play these mature video games hit or even beat up people as compared to those who did not watch these violent video games. The Journal of American Medical Association has established that habitual and constant playing of these violent video games has direct casual lint to the increased and what can be termed as long-term aggressive behavior in these middle-aged teens (Harvard Medical School). These teen are also likely to bully and even cyberbully their fellow teens. They also tend to engage them in physical fights, and they can be hostile towards their teachers and their fellow schoolmates during the entire school sessions all through the year. The shooting guns and the hand-to-hand combat in the video games are believed to cause violent behaviors in real life situations. This is because players in these video games are required to simulate violent actions like stabbing, direct shootings using weapons to earn points and higher rewards by the end of the game. The controllers of these games are so sophisticated in nature, and the games are so realistic. Thus, simulating violence is one of the ways that is used to enhance thelearning of these violent behaviors in these games.

Also, a peer review study revealed that there is compelling evidence that supports that realistic controllers that tend to have significant effects on the cognitive aggressiveness. This is because two teenagers from the city of Tennessee who shot at a random car that was passing and ended up killing a person behavior confessed to the police when they were arrested that they got the whole idea of shooting from playing one of the violent video games by the name Grand Theft Auto. Most psychologists argue that these violent video games encourage active participation of the players of the game. Thus, these games serve as an excellent teaching tool because they reward players with players depending on how they engage themselves in certain behaviors.

In other areas, most perpetrators of the mass shootings in one way or the other played these video games. For example, the teenage shooters from the famous ‘Columbine High School massacre’ in the year 1999, 13 of these teenagers agreed that they played these violent video games (Bingham 2). In most games, most players carry out amass shooting. A threat shooter assessment by one of the FBI school states that any person who makes any threats of violence should be considered credible if they spend most of their time watching these violent video games. Again, most video games desensitize the players to engage themselves in real life violence. Most social psychologists argue that 20 minutes of playing any of these violent video games can cause people or even teens to be less physiologically aroused by these kinds of games. Thus, they are more likely to commit violent acts. Exposure to these kinds of games increases the rate of aggressiveness. This is as a result of the reduced brain response to depict violence in real life. There is also reduced emotional and physiological response when it comes to violence. The amplitudes of the brain are also reduced.

Furthermore, children and teens playing these video games are likely to imitate all the behaviors of their most favorite characters in these video games. In some cases, it becomes hard for them to distinguish the reality from the fantasy. This is because these violent games require very active participation from players. Thus, most of these teens and children tend to identify themselves with these famous violent characters, which reinforce these violent behaviors on them (Howe and Strauss370). In addition, these children are bound to confuse fantasy kind of violence with the violent in the real world. Without guidance and ethical decision-making skills, they are re likely to mimic the actions they see in these violent video games. During the education weeks, most teachers and psychologists attest that young children normally have problems and difficulties in determining what fantasy and the reality are.

Next, exposure to the violent video games has also been linked to low empathy and kindness. This is because children who watch and lay these games are associated with bad and low morals, as well as their reasoning skills, are low as compared to their teens. Additionally, these games increase the rate of the aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, decreasing the empathetic behaviors. Most video games portray violence against the women. This leads to children and teens adopting harmful attitudes as well as sexually violent behaviors towards women in the society. Some of these games tend to objectify women sexually leading to increased cases of rape as these teens become hostile towards women and girls. This is the reason as to why exposure to these kinds of violent games has been associated with increased rate of violence towards the women. There has also been a rise in the false attitudes, as women tend to incite men to rape them because they secretly desire to be raped as they try to imitate their characters in the video games. Most studies have revealed that the more these violent video have violent content in them, the more these children and teens are likely to be desensitized into the violent sexual acts and commit them to satisfy their desires.

Additionally, violent video games encourage and reward violent behaviors. This is because most of them reinforce conflicts as the best way of dealing with conflicts that may arise. Thus, they mostly reward the players to increase their life force and give them more weapons to fight and achieve higher levels. In such games where players are rewarded with points for their violent actions, most of them exhibit aggressive behaviors. Finally, the US military use some of these video games in training their soldiers. For example, the United States of America Marine Corps has licensed ‘Doom II’to trains their soldiers. The shooter game by the name ‘America’s Army’, is also used to recruit the soldiers and in preparing them in battlefields. Although military benefits from these games during the training of their soldiers, children who are exposed to these kinds of violent video games tend to lack morals, discipline, and they are even more susceptible to being violent and aggressive.

On the other hand, some critics argue that these video games have positive impacts on children and teens. For instance, the sales of these video games have significantly increased over the past few decades. Most people have associated the increased sales with the reduced juvenile crimes. The physical fights by high school students have also reduced. The studies that claim that there exists a causal relationship that exists between these violent video games and violence in real life is flawed and biased. Most studies fail to consider the fact that violent behaviors could come from family history and even the state of the mental health in these children and teenagers. Most of the experiments that have been conducted are only done for at least ten minutes to determine the effects of these games (Bingham 3). However, this does not represent how these games are played in real-life situations. Most laboratories normally use artificial measures to determine the rate of violence and aggression in children. This doesnot translate into the real world kind of violence or even aggressiveness.

Besides, the US Supreme Courted passed a ruling that these violent video games do not in any way cause children or even the youths to be aggressive. This means that the court did not pass the judgment against the ban of the sale of these kinds of video games. All the evidence and arguments had presented before the court did not in any way prove or indicate how the video games lead o aggressive behavior and violent behavior in children and teenagers. They also argue that playing these violent video games does not cause these kids and teenagers to commit the mass shootings that have been associated with these games. Approximately 150 million American teens are believed to pay video games, and there have only been 71 mass shootings as recorded between 1971 and the year 2015. Thus, most reports did not find any relationship between the mass shootings and children and teenagers playing these violent video games, as they had no impacts of the hostility that is exhibited in them.

The social psychologists confirm that playing these kinds of video games is one f he best ways to relieve stress and anger in them. Most teenagers play these games as a way of managing their emotions. Most of them end up forgetting their problems. Most boys use the games to experience their fantasies especially of power and fame when they play these games. Hence, they use their time to explore and master these games as they try to release their angry feelings and stress. Again, most video game players have the ability and know how to differentiate the virtual violence from content in the video games and real-life violence. Most of them understand that they are just playing a game. It is important to expose kids to fantasy, as it is an import part of children development. This is because it enables them to be creative thinkers and be able to deal with different situations and problems when they arise.

Moreover, violent video games provide children and teenagers with an opportunity to explore the effects of violent actions and behaviors in a virtual way. This helps them to develop moral compasses and adopt what is morally upright for them. These games have also reduced the rate of crime among youths in most states because most of these youths are busy playing these games instead of committing crimes. Finally, the older generation has developed a tendency of disparaging new things that most youths like and embrace like the video games; the moral panic is so exaggerated that they oppose everything new that is brought by technology. In my opinion, I support that violent video game leads to aggressive behavior and violence in schools. This is because they increase the rate of aggressiveness in children and teenagers. Most of them tend to imitate their favorite characters in these games, hence, ending up in physical fights and bullying in schools. Thus, both parents and teachers should be able to regulate the content and exposure to these video games to control the behavior of the children and teenagers.

Technology today has a lot of advantages and disadvantages especially to parents when it comes to controlling their children some of the things that can influence them negatively. Nevertheless, we can all agree that violent video games do more harm than good to our children. This is because most of them imitate their favorite characters in these games. Most of these characters are normally violent and they are rewarded by the way they increase their violence. Thus, parents should take charge and control what their children are playing when it comes to video games. Additionally, they should also monitor the behaviors of their children and ensure that they embark on the right behaviors.