Video Games and What They Do for Kids.
Playing games has always been a great way to pass time and relax. Even though the way that we play games have change, the games themselves have not change completely; we still have a great time playing with friends or even by ourselves. Video games have given everyone, of any age, a chance to enjoy themselves and have a good time. With that, there are specific games for specific maturity levels from "E for Everyone" to "M for Mature," there are individuals who find that this isn't good enough. Why are children becoming more violent? Why are violent/ mature video games being played by young children? What can be done to prevent this from happening? Is video games the reason why children are violent?
The main audience for this topic are parents, psychologists, teachers, and game journalists. The audience(s) will require information on topics of child development and mental growth, plus the effects on exposure to different games and/ or movies. Many parents and teachers feel that video games are the main reason why children are more violent and act more aggressive towards others. Personally, video games are not the source of aggressive behavior or violent tendencies. I feel that the way that parent raise their children, the living conditions, and other exposures besides games such as violent movies and other children could be the reasoning behind the aggressive behavior. Many game journalist may agree with what I state and some may find the new "Triple A title", video game too offensive and much too mature for younger players.
The topic of how children and their games have been around since video games started becoming a bit more violent, in junction with movies. The source that I have found have talked on the topic on how children shouldn't play video games. I like to look at the situations from both sides, as a staff member of a school system I see how kids act and they are portraying when there in my care. Most of the children just love Pokémon and Minecraft. While there are a few that have played games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty, the amount of portrayal and reenactment of said games isn't as prominent as when kids talk about mature movies. I deal with children ranging from Kindergarten to 6th Graders, when I hear a child of the age of 6 to 7 acting out a scene that they should not be watching it gets me thinking. Is the common misconception of violent video games and how they cause children to become more violent?
In the article that Craig Anderson wrote titled "Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions." He talks about how the effects of violence in video games correlate to children and how it's a niche group of young individuals. The use of this article is to prove that there are studies that not all children who play violent games or just games in general. Video games do help mental growth, motor skills, and reflexes. This article states that yes, there are individuals that are more aggressive than others, but, the ones who were more susceptible to being violent due to games are because they are already aggressive by nature or situation. What is being said is that the child who shows more aggression while playing or after playing a violent video game is because they may have come from a situation that had gotten them upset at some point.
Video games do give a lot of benefits, they give a great amount of relaxation that can be great for a child to relieve their stress from what ever happened in their day. The amount of hate that goes with the thought of letting a kid play a game is bad. To say that kids should play games that have a bit of violence in them and complain that it's inappropriate for their child but, allow them to watch TV shows that have inappropriate language, suggestive scenes, acts of violence, and drugs/alcohol. This doesn't only show up in TV shows; the movies that are being viewed and the songs that are being sung. Just because a child can be more "immersed" in the action of a video game. Even a book can mess with the mental stability of an individual in the same way.
In an article titled "Reading Fiction Impacts Aggressive Behavior", the author Tom Jacobs compares video games and reading a fiction novels can be the link to aggressive behavior. He brings up the two types of aggressions: the physical and the relational. With the physical, it would be to strike someone in the face while relational would to spread rumors about an individual. With that there was a study conducted at a university of 67 students reading two different stories one that involved physical confrontation in the story and one that had a relational story of college roommates. When the students were reading the story about the physical confrontation, a computer program would email them to hurry up interrupting the story, and upon finishing the story a loud buzzer would sound to indicate that they had beaten a round. After finding that article, it gets me thinking, should all forms of media and entertainment need to be regulated and frowned upon the same way that video games are?
The challenges that will come up with this essay will be the ability to find an actual resolution to the problems that may arise after a child plays a violent game. I would like to bring awareness that video games in general are not bad for mental stability with children, I feel that video games are heathy for child growth; it gives children a better way of to relax and problem solve. Parents that buy video games for their child should understand that there are games that their child should not be playing and if they are playing them, they should be in the same room as the them to supervise. Consider that if your child is a bit more aggressive in school they shouldn't be playing the games that might push their aggression a lot more towards others.
I enjoy games and games have been in my life for a long time, I have seen both sides of the effects of how young children act after being exposed to violent or suggestive video games. I feel that I have been lucky in the sense that my parents allowed me to play video games in a responsible way. As much as this essays topic is towards video games. Movies, TV shows, songs, and even books should be evaluated as much as video games do.
Work cited Page
Anderson, Craig A., Dr. "Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions." American Psychological Association. American Psychological Association, Oct. 2003. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.
Jacobs, Tom. "Reading Fiction Impacts Aggressive Behavior - Pacific Standard." Pacific Standard. Pacific Standard, 07 Sept. 2011.
