In 2008, 97% of children ages 12-17 played video games and 10 of the top 20 best-selling games contained violence. But what do these numbers mean? Some people say that violence in video games keeps violence down in real life. But I'm not so sure, what if the violence just gives people ideas that they never would have thought of before. I know in most of these games if you want something, you take it by force, it's no longer bargaining and paying.
On article from NPR.org breaks down the violent video game argument into two parts. On one side, the article says that many researchers believe that violent video games desensitize young people and make them harsh and mean. On the other side, the researchers found the same thing however interpreted the desensitization as trivial compared to the senseless acts that happen everyday in modern society. In an article from CNN, a study was done comparing video game violence to actual violence and again it was increased, even compared to children that were "violent" before the study. I don't know about you, but that tells me that there is a correlation between the two. Yes, correlation does not imply causation, however I think in this case, the correlation shows that violent video games could be a major cause of violence.
Let's be honest, this is a multi-billion dollar industry, no one can stop the violence in these video games expect maybe the Supreme Court. And we've seen them strike down California's ban on violent video games as a violation of free-speech. It seems hopeless, however, we still have a say on the matter in our own homes. I know if I were a parent, I wouldn't let my children shoot people, steal cars, or massacre whole cities even if it were just a video game. We put rating on movies to keep children from seeing things like this, but it is so easy to get around ratings with video games. Is anyone even regulating it?
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I agree with your statement that there is a causality relationship between violent videogames and violent behavior in real life, especially when it comes to children.
ReplyDeleteGentile & Anderson (2003) state that playing video games may increase aggressive behavior because violent acts are continually repeated throughout the video game. This method of repetition has long been considered an effective teaching method in reinforcing learning patterns.
Video games also encourage players to identify with and role play their favorite characters. This is referred to as a "first-person" video game (Anderson & Dill, 2000, p. 788) because players are able to make decisions affecting the actions of the character they are imitating. After a limited amount of time playing a violent video game, a player can "automatically prime aggressive thoughts" (Bushman & Anderson, 2002, p. 1680). The researchers concluded that players who had prior experience playing violent video games responded with an increased level of aggression when they encountered confrontation (Bushman & Anderson, 2002).