exposure to violent video games
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RDJustin Bruce
Miss, Sharred
English 111
25 April 2010
Exposure to Violent Video Games
Over the past twelve years modern video games have chosen a different road; hey
have turned to violence to get recognized. And, of course, this has its price. The video
games of this day and age have been under major scrutiny from the media. There has
been a lot of speculation whether the new game industry actually de-sensitizes children to
violence and raises their levels of aggression. This is what the media is trying to prove;
all the new and violent games are destroying or altering the youths lives. But is it true?
Do these games actually have this large of an impact on their lives? Do these games have
the capability to raise a childs aggression and de-sensitize them to real world violence?
And if so what is it that attracts these children to the major amounts of violence present in
these games?
As a gamer, the main interest I find in these games is the strategy. How you are
going to plan your next move, not necessarily the mindless killing and excessive violence
that accompanies them. The gaming industry on the other hand have struck gold, because
they have found that violence sells and it does add to the playing experience, but the
amounts of gore and blood that the developers choose to put in the game, can be quite
exaggerated. In games like Grand Theft Auto, your objective is to, basically, kill people
to progress farther in the game. Its games like these that the media is constantly
harassing, saying how bad of an influence they are on the children who play them. But
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the fact is, games like these are given a rating, Grand Theft Auto in this case is rated M
meaning 17 years of age or older. Therefore, the age group it is directed to should have
enough common sense to not re-create any scenes in the game, or let the excessive
amounts of violence corrupt there mind.
Does the violence present in the games actually de-sensitize us to violence we
find in the real world? Being someone who plays these violent games I have the feeling
that they can de-sensitize the players to violence present in the real world. Being exposed
to blood and gore even on a television screen does have an effect on how you view
violence in the world. A study was conducted by Nicholas Carnagey and he asked 257
volunteers to play either a violent video game for twenty minutes; then watch a ten
minute movie of real world violence. While the volunteers were playing the game, their
heart rate was measured then the two groups results were compared. As was expected
the gamers who played the violent game had a faster heart rate than those who played the
non-violent games; but the surprising results was when they were showed the ten minute
film. The men and women who played the non-violent games had a significantly higher
heart rate then those who played the violent game. Therefore, the violent video game did
have an affect on how the volunteers viewed aggressive and violent behavior in the real
world.
Another issue that has been raised by the media is how violent games have a
negative affect on the behavior of children. They accuse the games of causing more
aggressive actions and cause the gamer to get irritated easier. This, I find is true. As one
who plays these violent games over the internet with other players from all over the
world I can attest that men and women to get frustrated extremely easily while playing
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these games. While playing Modern Warfare, quite frequently someone will get killed
and you can hear them scream in rage over their headset.
A study was conducted by Craig Anderson, a distinguished professor at the Iowa
State University. He has determined that, Exposure to violent video games directly
causes increased aggressive thoughts and behavior, and decreased empathy and prosocial
behavior in the youths exposed to them. This statement rings true in over 130,00
subjects tested world wide.
Another study was conducted and it composed of a gamer playing a violent game
and another with a non-violent game. Then the two men or women had to compete
against each other; they both wore a part of headphones and had a button in their hand. A
small ring would sound and the person to press the button first was told that they would
win, and the losers ears were blasted by an annoying noise. The truth is that both
subjects would receive the sound; disregarding if one won or not. In almost every test
they held; the gamer playing the violent video game would get irritated much sooner and
frequently and react more aggressively than the non-violent gamer.
There has been a lot of speculation and controversy regarding these studies.
Angry gamers have responded to them and say how playing these violent games actually
reduce there levels of stress and aggression targeted to the world. Therefore, I would have
to say that it would most likely depend on the player; and that aggression is not exactly a
result of violent games. Aggression is more likely to be caused by bad parenting along
with younger children exposed to these excessively violent games too soon. They then
grow up around violence and since they would also live in a bad household, they would
know no better than what they see on the television.
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