Violent Video Games Influence on the Society - Research Paper Example

Violent Video Games Influence on the Society The advent of technology brought a lot of changes in the society. A majority of the change has been good since it has led to the improvement of life as a result of simplifying the way that things are done. However, other changes that came with the advent of technology have been quite detrimental. In as much as they have a number of advantages associated with them. As such, the focus of this research is to examine the way in which some pieces of technology have affected the society, with the main focus being on video games. Video games are part of the gadgets that came with the advent of technology and they are being greatly exploited. They are a favorite of children from around three years to teenage years. This paper will examine how video games influence the life of children. It is important to carry out a study on this topic due to the fact that video games are part and parcel of almost every household and tend to greatly influence the life of youngsters. Video games have been part of consumers for about 30 years. They are a preference to many parents due to the fact that children do not have to go outside the house to play. Apart from that, they are a unique source of entertainment since they encourage those who participate in it to be part of the game script. Most video games require the players to be very attentive as opposed to passively watching a movie. One may find a video game that requires them to shoot and kill robbers, as such, the same enthusiasm that they use to track down the same robbers in the video game is translated to the real world. Children tend to become violent after being engrossed in the video games where they may have had to kill some people so as to emerge victorious. With all these into consideration, this paper will examine the influence of violent video games in the society. It is believed that playing video games may increase aggressive behavior because of the violent acts continually displayed in the video games. This is a sociological theory known as repetition. This is a method that has long been considered to be effective in reinforcing learning patterns. As such, video games encourage players to identify with the roles that their favorite characters in the videos have (Norcia, p.1). This is because when playing the video games, there is the aspect of ‘first person’, this is a situation whereby players make decisions that affect the eventuality of the characters that are in the video games. Most of the time, these characters are full of violence and the people who play this video games tend to ape their characters. This is made worse by the fact that video games are played by various groups in the society. Despite the fact that it is a common past time activity for the youth, there are many other adults who were so much addicted to the games when they were young to the extent that they pursue the passion for the games into adulthood. Another sociological theory that associates with the video games is realism. Consider this; you are submerged in a sewer watching soldiers herding prisoners at gunpoint. These are the events that are happening in a video game and the person playing the game virtually feels that they are there. In addition to this, a few minutes later, you have gunned down twelve gunmen plus other creatures and blood spatters all over the computer screen as if in your eyes and you feel so enthusiastic and triumphant. Someone who is an avid player of such a video game will tend to put this in the real life situation (Alison, p.1). Many of them enjoy the perceived ability to shoot people, drive tanks, blow up buildings, steal and evade cars, massacre aliens and many others. They may tend to showcase this kind of aggression in their normal life. It is in the same case that one Adam Lanza of Newton, Connecticut killed 26 people. It was later discovered that he was an avid player of the Call of Duty video game, a game full of violence. This is the effect that video games have in the society. According to Bushman & Anderson p.1680 say that, after a limited amount of time playing video games, a player can automatically have aggressive thoughts. On the same research, it was discovered that players who had prior experience in playing violent video games responded with an increased level of aggression when they encountered a confrontation. As a result there is bad influence in the society since most people tend to react rather aggressively to situations that they need not. In the same case, most of these people who tend to be aggressive are arrogant and feel that there is no situation that they would not have control of. This is the crop of people that always cause trouble thus creating a chaotic society. It is such kind of findings that led to a number of American Medical Associations such as the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians to caution parents about the negative influence that the violence portrayed in the media has on their children. On the same report, the medical associations stated that exposure to violent media most specifically video games tend to elevate aggressive feelings and thoughts especially in children. Most of the time, these effects and aggression behavior are long term. Evidence suggests that playing violent video games may have more dramatic influence on the behavior of most children and adolescents. Considering that fact that these are the people in their prime years, they tend to put into practice what they see thus affecting the society. The fact that there is a lot of influence propelled by the need to belong in a group, groups tend to influence each other and this affects the society as a whole (Norcia, p.1). There are many cases of people in possession of illegal arms in the United States and this is propelled by the fact that these are the cases that they see in the video games. Most video games are graced by fire arms and other powerful machines and avid video gamers may want to be associated with this and this is what makes them seek fire arms thus violence in the society. A study showed that video games influence the thinking of people especially children so much to the extent that given a gap to fill in a word such as ‘explo_e’, they tend to believe on the fact that it is explode rather than explore. This is due to the fact that they are used to seeing things explode in the video games that they see. Aggressive children are more likely to become violent adults and these are the people that carry out a lot of vices in the society. In some states, there have been cases where those who portray aggressive behavior are taken to rehabilitation centers but this has not been of much help. This is because they have had these experiences since they were children and they may not be willing to change. Despite the fact that many studies show that there is a high probability that those who play violent video games may display more aggressive behavior, there are those who feel that there may be many other factors that influence violence in the society. For example, some researchers argue out the fact that living in a violent neighborhood, being a victim or witnessing an instance of violence may be a factor for increased risk of violent behavior among the youth. However, these factors alone may not cause someone to be violent and most people who live in violent neighborhoods do not turn out to be violent themselves. With the same regard, there is a school of thought that argued the fact that consistent exposure to family violence may cause someone to be violent. This may be true but it does not necessarily mean that children born in such families become violent. In the same case, researchers have found out that playing first person killing video games may increase the risk for violent behaviors but not at all instances. However, constant exposure to violent from various sources including violent video games without any positive influence to counter such experiences is likely to increase the probability that a person will engage in violent behavior. It is in the same case that the Social-Cognitive theory postulates the long term effects of media violence exposure on aggression. Aggression may be much jollier and lighter in children who are used to playing video games but it tends to be more pronounced and hard to deal with as they progress into their teens and young adulthood (Anderson et al. p.10) At this stage, the people who are addicted to this video games tend to do some actions that they would want to be recognized by in the society and most of the time this are decadent activities that tend to promote violent in the society. Video games are part and parcel of our homes and the society and the large, as such we cannot get rid of them completely. It is the responsibility of parents to ensure that their children are playing video games that do not expose them to a lot of violence. Study has shown that most parents are not aware of the content of the video games that their children are playing. Most of these games have the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) that rates videos with the appropriate age group based on the content that they have and this helps to control the level of violence that children and even young adults are exposed to (Norcia, p.1). Contrary to this belief, there is a school of thought that believes that not every youth who plays video games is exposed to potential violent behavior, some researchers argue that video actually help improve on the social and interpersonal skills of children. This is backed up with the fact that millions of children and adults play video games yet the world has not been reduced to one chaotic and violent place, Kutner & Olson, p.18. Conclusively, there is a wide range of research that has been carried out with regard to the influence of violent video games in the society and it is rather obvious that violent games tend to promote violence in the society. There has even been a debate to ban the production and selling of such games from outlets but this was realized to be not to be effective. On the contrary, it was realized that those concerned, parents and guardians should put some sort of control on the activities that their children engage in. if they are the ones buying the games, they should ensure that they buy what is appropriate for their children’s age since most of the games nowadays have ratings. In addition to this, they should be aware of the time that their children spend on these games and also on the content that they are exposed to on the internet. Children should also be encouraged to engage in outdoor activities that help them to keep physically fit other that video games that only challenge their minds. With this in place, video games will not be associated with the negative influence on the society as it is at the moment. Works Cited Alison, Do Video Games Influence Violent Behavior? Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center, 24 August, 2011. Bushman & Anderson, Violent Video Games and Hostile Expectations: A Test of the General Aggression Model, 2002. Anderson et al. Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, 2007. Kutner, Lawrence & Olson, Cheryl, Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Video Games, New York, Simon and Chester, 2008. Norcia, Andrea, Parents & Teachers: The Impact of Video Games. http://www.pamf.org/parenting-teens/general/media-web/videogames.html August 2011 Read More