Correlations Between Video Games And Violent Behavior example essay topic

The use of violent video games is on the rise. Once, video games depicted harmless fun with friendly characters to play with. But now, the games have become more violent at an alarming rate. And with the rise in popularity of these types of games, children are playing these graphically violent games. Many people wonder if the violence in video games has lasting affects on users, children in particular.

While video games may not necessarily maker a person more aggressive and violent, they surely can accent an already hostile personality. The constant use of violent video games make children desensitized to gross acts of violence, making them prone to conforming to violent behavior. The nature of young children is to imitate the actions of those in their surroundings. Whether it's the parent's actions, other children, and / or various forms of entertainment, they adopt them as their own. As a result, this molds the child's personality. A huge reason why children get to see these violent games is because the parent's don't take the time to investigate what their child is being entertained by.

And, with the decay of moral in society, some parents actually play these violent video games with their children. This I have been an eyewitness to myself. An associate of mine was playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City while his five-year-old daughter was in the room watching. The animation depicted a man getting his head blown completely off, which made me jump back.

Then he went on a killing spree, achieving some bonus points. His daughter said, "Yay, you got a thousand points daddy", and he responded, "Yes, baby". Free will gives us the choice to engage in whatever kind of entertainment that we want. Even though this is true, children should never be able play, or even view, these types of games. It is up to the parents to investigate what their children are being entertained by. Violent games show a facet of what is wrong with society as a whole; a sheer lack of self-control.

By playing these games, children may think that the way to solving problems is to resort to violence. This may not be true in all cases, but it can be a strong influence as to what a person may decide in certain situations. There are still some good video games out there, but violent games aren't good for anyone, children or adults. Survey Questionnaire 1) Are you male or female?

2) What is your age? 3) What is your religion? 4) What is your race (ethnic background)? 5) Do you have children?

6) Do they play video games? 7) How often do they play? 8) Is their behavior changing due to violent scenes in video games? 9) Do you believe that violent video games have an affect on children's behavior?

10) Do you play video games that depict violent scenes? The questionnaire was surveyed in the Sociology class. On that day, there were 26 students present in class on that particular day. The results were as follows: 1) 14 students were male, 10 were female, 2 undecided 2) The ages ranged from 20 to 38 3) 10 Catholics, 3 Christians, 2 Muslims, 1 Pentecostal, 1 Baptist, 1 Arabic, and 8 undecided. 4) 7 African-Americans, 8 Hispanics, 3 White Americans, 1 Haitian, 1 Hungarian, 1 Portuguese, and 5 undecided.

5) 14 have children while 11 didn't have children and 1 undecided 6) 10 parents said yes while 9 said no and 7 not applicable. 7) All who applied to this question did not know how long their children played games 8) 12 said no while 5 said yes, 9 non applicable 9) 21 said yes while 4 said no, 1 said depends on the child. 10) 19 said yes while 7 said no. Various articles support the fact that there is a correlation between violent video games and the people who play them.

Many of them focused on children, since their minds are more susceptible to influence of these types of entertainment. The National Institute on Media and the Family annually composes a "report card" for video games. This particular survey was done in 2000. Dr. David Walsh, who is the president of this organization, went in front of the Senate with the statistics of their findings. One of the stats were that youths who prefer violent video games are more likely to get into arguments with their teachers and are more likely to get into physical fights, regardless of their gender. Another study conducted by the National Institute on Media and Family was done on 600 eight and ninth graders.

The results concluded that that violent games can "lead to more aggressive thoughts, more aggressive emotion and more aggressive behavior". The Awake! Publication stated reasons why violent video games are detrimental to users. Military psychologist David Grossman, author of the book On Killing, stated that violent video games train children the same way that military training teaches soldiers to overcome their inborn resistance to killing. Also, research taken from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology stated that video game violence might be more dangerous than violence depicted on television or movies. This is so because the player identifies his or herself with the character they are playing in the game.

Instead of being spectators, they are actually feeling like participants of the violent acts. Karen Binder-Brynes, a psychologist that specializes in post-traumatic stress disorder had many views on the correlation between violence in video games and aggression in children. She stated that boys in particular are playing violent video games because they feel out of control and this gives them a temporary sense of some type of control. Binder-Brynes also stated that prolonged use of violent video games increases the anxiety level of boys playing these games, which brings them into a state of hyper arousal in terms of their adrenaline.

This can be harmful because it keeps them at a state of higher anxiety. The Columbine massacre was evidence of the result of the correlation of youths and the violence in video games. On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Keb old went on a rampage and killed 12 students and a teacher, then turned the weapons on themselves. Investigations into the Columbine case showed one of the shooters with a sawn-off shotgun in his lap that he called "Arlene", after a character in a violent computer game Doom. Information supported by the Psychology Department at the University of Missouri-Columbia also showed correlations between video games and violent behavior. One of the studies found that violent video games promoted delinquency and aggressive behavior, which was stronger in men and individuals with an already aggressive personality.

Another study found that "laboratory exposure" to graphically violent video games increased aggressive thoughts and behavior. In the Columbine case, this is evident because Eric Harris, one of the shooters, had a customized version of the game Doom on his website that was more violent than the original. The U.S. Military uses a modified version of Doom to aid in the training of soldiers. While violent video games may not in every case make an individual more violent, but common sense shows that they can enhance and / or promote violent behavior. There are rating systems in place so children would not be able to get these games, but they seem to be getting them anyway. There definitely is a correlation between violent video games and the violent behavior exhibited in users.