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| Mature Video Game Rating-wikimedia commons |
Are young people who play violent video games more hostile than those who play video games with a different theme? Kristin Kalning addresses this question head on in her article "Does game violence make teens aggressive?" this article provides information from a study conducted by the researchers of the Indiana University School of Medicine. This study consisted of two groups of twenty-two adolescents; one group played a violent video game, while the other played a racing game. The results of this study were that the brains of the children who played the violent game suffered negative effects in the emotional area of the brain, whereas, those who played the racing game the negative results were not present. With video games becoming more realistic and the violence seemingly becoming more real the negative effects mentioned are only going to get worse unless this dispersal of violence is stopped.
In her article, "Do You Know What Video Games Your Children Are Playing?" Pamela Eakes, who is a supporter for Mothers Against Violence in America, says that 90 percent of parents do not monitor the ratings on their children's games. If the parents don't monitor what is going on, how can anyone expect the kids to know if what they are playing is bad for them? Violence in games are destroying the mentality of young people, so are we really going to let these childrem keep playing something we know that will hurt them?
I loved that you concluded with the aspect of parents monitoring their child’s recreational time. I absolutely feel as though parents should be an element of the decision making process when buying video games for children. It is unbelievable that graphic sexual acts, excessive violent behavior, and the glamorization and acceptance of disrespect for social custom are involved in a product that children can learn from. With that, it is important for parents to talk to their children about what media content will be acceptable in the house. Not only telling them what they can’t watch (because everyone knows that only makes them want to do it more), but discussing with them about the images and content they see in the games or even in the general media.
ReplyDeleteIn the article you provided; The Impact of Gaming, it stated that violence is the most prevalent health risk for children and adolescents. Homicide, suicide and accidents are the top causes of death for 15- to 24-year-olds. It also included that more than 3,500 research studies have examined the association between media violence and violent behavior. Parents recognize that children learn by observing, imitate what they observe, and act on the world around them. I feel like with statistics like these, parents have no room to criticize video game companies when they are contributing to the issue.
You said you were a gamer. Did your guardians play some role in what types of games you played while growing up? Depending on your answer, do you feel like it affected you positively or negatively?
Grand theft auto,and other games such as Def Jam Fight for New York are primary examples of what your saying in this blog. Games now have became so realistic from the guns used to shot people, to the blood that rushes out the bodies of civilians when they are shot. Although it would be nice if parents check the rating on the games they buy their children, but we know that not all parents do that. I won't necessarily say that children that play these games are more violent/aggressive, or that these type of games make children violent/aggressive. I wont say this simply because not all children react the same way to these games. Some children know that a game is just a game, on the hand, iv'e seen children mimic what they have seen on a video game. How can this behavior be prevented? What is the effect of video games to child/teens that are in unstable families vs. those that are in stable families? or does it matter what type of household they live in?
ReplyDeleteOverall this blog was very interesting, I always wondered if these types of games affect children/teens. The title was informative because the blog happened to be exactly what I thought it was. I would like to see more facts about this topic.