Introduction
The modern world of entertainment increasingly accommodates a variety of computer technologies. People, particularly children and adolescents, are highly susceptible to their influence. Video games are one of the most popular forms of entertainment using modern technology.
Several studies and experiments have been conducted throughout the years, and those claims have turned into a widespread debate as to whether or not video games cause violence in adolescents and teenagers. Some people believe that with moderate consumption, video games can help a person reduce stress and distract from problems. Exposure to violent video games can negatively impact children and teenagers, causing aggressive behavior and related thoughts and feelings.
High Dependency on Video Games by Children and Teenagers
At a young age, children are easily caught by the attention of video games and are negatively influenced by them. As they progressively grow up as teenagers, their emotions are heightened, and they become more passionate. When teenagers play violent video games, it tends to reflect on their personal behavior. As Rahman (2021) states, “the study found that the strongest predictor of whether boys engaged in aggressive or rule-breaking behavior was not whether they played violent video games but how much time they spent playing all types of video games.” (p. 3).
Violent video games cause aggressive behavior and tend to affect teenagers from the ages of 9 to 18, especially young boys. Teenagers who engage in violent video games tend to have aggressive behavior and desensitization to violence (Hodent, 2020). The importance of adolescence for developing human character and ability must be emphasized. While playing video games, young people often neglect other important activities, such as reading books or talking to their peers (Ferguson, 2018). This trend can be attributed to the following argument described in the essay.
A Significant Variety of Popular Aggressive Video Games Manage People’s Emotions
The second argument is reflected in the increasing number of violent video games, which increases their negative influence. It is more susceptible to triggering the emotion to lash out or be enraged, as the teenager gets involved with games such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, The Walking Dead, and many more. Playing these games tends to cause more young boys to get into physical and verbal altercations. Engaging with games of this type causes the teen to be more rebellious.
Playing more than one hour or twice daily can present aggression (Hodent, 2020). For example, video games can reflect on a child’s behavior and how they handle certain situations. Whether killing or getting into physical fights, violent games with shooting, fighting, profanity, and gore can trigger an emotional toll, or partaking in a certain mindset to take on, and extreme games with graphic content. Playing these games stimulates a decreasing level of empathy and kindness; the more the child or teenager engages in shooting or killing games.
Video Games Harm Children, Significantly Reducing Their Learning Achievements
As a third argument, it is important to stress that video games significantly impair academic achievement. Studies have proven that playing violent games can significantly affect kids from ages 9-17 (Ferguson, 2018). It can cause emotional behavior such as physical altercations, lashing out, or even a certain level of disrespect. It is attributed to lower school performance and negative attitudes toward learning.
Since the students spend most of their time playing such video games, they find no time for learning and even doing the evening revision once at home, which negatively affects their education (Gaille, 2018). This factor has contributed to several school dropouts, thus terminating their careers prematurely. In the learning institution, most violence is associated with students who have lost interest in the learning process (Ferguson, 2018). It happens because such students are usually less concerned with learning; thus, it keeps mobilizing the rest to fight against the school administration. Moreover, these studies have shown that it could decrease empathy.
Counterarguments
It is important to note that video games have several advantages, and their proper use can increase people’s skills. For example, the U.S. Military uses shooting games as practice and training to accomplish military missions. Training them to execute their skills using these games is helpful; they even help upgrade and improve different weapons. In the article “19 Violent Video Games Pros and Cons” by Louise Gaille, the author claims that these games improve a person’s perception of detail (Gaille, 2018).
According to Gaille (2018), “individuals who play violent video games can spot targets on cluttered screens more frequently than those who do not play video games at all.” (p. 2). Having a keen eye for things can help spot essential details. Studies have proven that playing violent video games reduces the perception of pain or any pain that the person has and can help them eliminate and take out whatever emotion they are feeling (Gaille, 2018). Therefore, relying on video games can help relieve any stress or pain.
In addition, an essential counterargument in favor of video games is improved socialization in youth. Using the Internet, children have the opportunity to play together online. These game types allow them to communicate with each other. In this case, it is essential to emphasize that video games serve as a pretext for communication and increase the person’s socialization level (Hodent, 2020).
Moreover, with the correct use of video games, parents can create a situation to get closer to their children. Playing will allow parents and their children to be closer to each other and spend more time together. Parents can offer children a specific type of video game, such as puzzles, adventures, and others, where the level of violence is lower than in other games. This approach will allow children to develop specific abilities, which will compensate for the time that could be spent on school lessons. Although exposure to violent video games can affect a person’s behavior, it can benefit structures like the armed forces in reconstructing weapons. Moreover, video games can relieve stress and reduce emotional pain.
Conclusion
In conclusion, every opinion regarding the benefits and harms of video games is essential. On the one hand, negative factors such as declining school performance, increased addiction, and the increasing number of violent video games were considered. On the other hand, some positive aspects that arise from the correct video game application were highlighted.
Examples included the use of data from games by the armed forces of the United States and the increased socialization of children and adolescents. Using various sources and literature, it was established that a particular negative factor, which affects a significant increase in the level of aggression and cruelty in children, is displayed in the amount of time spent on video games. However, given the increasing number of violent video games and the high dependency of children, it is essential to emphasize that this type of entertainment causes aggressive behavior and negatively impacts people.
References
Ferguson, C. J. (2018). Video game influences on aggression, cognition, and attention. Springer.
Gaille, L. (2018). 19 violent video games pros and cons. Vittana Personal Finance Blog.
Hodent, C. (2020). The psychology of video games. Routledge.
Rahman, O. (2022). Do violent video games cause behavior problems? Medium.