Violence in video games Essay Example for Free

Violence in video games Essay Ward, Michael R. Video Games and Adolescent Fighting. Journal of Law and Economics 53(2012): 611-28. JSTOR. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. http://www. jstor. org/stable/10. 1086/605509. There is a link between violence in the context of video games and violence affected by gamers outside of the context of gaming. Psychologists have studied the possible connections between violence depicted in the media and violent behaviors. The usual sources for violent portrayals are music lyrics, television scenes, and video/computer games. Young children spend an enormous amount of time consuming media. Media violence is having harmful effects on childrens development and behavior. The negative effects on violence in the media (specifically video games) outweigh the positive effects. Topic: Effects on violent video game playing on youth Thesis: Violent video games are affecting our youth in a negative way Revised Thesis: Violent video games increase violent behaviors in children but parents can become proactive to help fight this epidemic by engaging them in sports, academics, reading and games that require interpersonal activity. Mencius Man’s Nature Is Good David Suzuki The Sacred Balance. Averroes On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy Moses Maimonides The Guide for the Perplexed Tanya Sanchez ENG 1201 Professor Aldridge Outline Topic – Violence in video games Thesis: Violent video games increase violent behaviors in children but parents can become proactive to help fight this epidemic by engaging them in sports, academics, reading and games that require interpersonal activity. I. Video Games and Adolescent Fighting a. Violence in media b. The overestimated link between video games and violence c. Effects on youth II. Playing video games causes violence outside of gaming a. â€Å"Everything is connected to something else† b. David Suzuki’s The Sacred Balance c. Violence in games becomes violence in reality III. Parents becoming proactive engaging children in a. Sports b. Academics c. Reading IV. Alternatives that have not worked a. Limiting time b. â€Å"Blocking† certain things c. Removing equipment V. Mencius’ Man’s Nature is Good a. Kao Tzu b. â€Å"Blank state† c. Human nature responds to the forces around it VI. Conclusion a. Restate thesis b. Summarize main points Tanya Sanchez ENG 1201 Professor Aldridge Persuasive Research Paper Rough Draft. Effects of Violent Video Game-playing on Youth Technology advances every day in society. From mobile devices to laptops and computers, to microwaves and air conditioners, to televisions and internet, technology is everywhere. Technology is the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, improve a preexisting solution to a problem, achieve a goal, handle an applied input/output relation or perform a specific function. A fast growing technological advancement today is video game systems. Video games are affecting our youth in various ways. Video-gaming is becoming an issue in society, especially the video games with violence exposed in them. Violent video games increase the violent behaviors in children, but parents can become proactive to help fight this epidemic by engaging their children in sports, academics, reading and games that require interpersonal activity. The first form of electronic gaming was computer games back in the 1960’s. These were developed by hobbyists who were associated with computer science programs at universities. The first video game consoles designed for home play developed in the mid-1970s. A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device (a television, monitor, etc. ) to display a video game. These consoles continued to increase in society and still are today. Advances and improvements in computer technology helped create more refined and realistic games. As the technology advanced, portrayals of social interactions, including violent interactions, have become increasingly more realistic. The violence in video games is affecting the youth in a negative way. Psychologists have found positive correlations between playing violent videogames and violent and antisocial attitudes stated Michael R. Ward from the University of Texas. They have not based this study on a particular sex, just on the actual video-game playing and aggression. Some have contacted policy makers to regulate the content and marketing of video games so as to curb violence, especially among children, which are more prone to it. The main concern is the connection between violence in the actual video games and violence implemented by gamers outside of the context of gaming. There is a parallel between violence in gaming and fighting. This however is further seen in gamers that play more hours daily (typically 4 or more) than those who don’t. Playing these violent video games can cause violence outside of the video gaming itself. Everything is connected to everything else as reinforced in David Suzuki’s, The Sacred Balance. This is reasonable to occur. It is not surprising that playing violent video games causes you to be violent. â€Å"People have always understood that we are deeply embedded in and dependent upon the natural world. † (427) This occurs naturally. We cannot change the natural order of the universe. Upon playing these violent video games daily for a predetermined length of time, in your head this becomes what seems to be reality. You are so accustomed to fighting and taking up violent activities in these games that in reality, this slowly becomes perfectly natural to you. Using video game consoles are not the only way one can access the violence. Other sources include the internet, televisions, smartphones, and many others. Parents can become proactive in trying to help stop this epidemic by doing some of the simplest things. Parents can start off my restricting time for their children in which they play these video games. Restricting time in which they spend playing is something very minor that can have a big outcome. Something parents should pay closer attention to is the ratings on these video games being played. There are various rating, some of which include; Early Childhood which means the content is intended for younger children, Everyone which means the content is generally suitable for all ages but may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language, Teen which means the content is generally suitable for ages 13 and up and may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language. Mature which mean the content is generally suitable for ages 17 and up and may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language, Adults Only which means the content is suitable only for adults ages 18 and up and may include prolonged scenes of intense violence, graphic sexual content and/or gambling with real currency and many other ratings. Can parents really trust these ratings? Another minor thing that can be done is â€Å"blocking† certain things that are flagged as inappropriate for your children. A downfall of doing this is that you can only control it when they are playing video games in your presence. Your child/children can easily go to a friend’s house where his/her friend doesn’t have blocked settings on specific things. This is a common way to get around it or avoiding the â€Å"My parents blocked it† situation. There are many alternatives that have not worked. Trying to limit or restrict the amount of time being devoted to playing these videogames has not seemed to be working. Removing the equipment (like the game console, computer, phone, etc. ) has not been functioning either. Some alternatives that may work instead of the disciplinary options are engaging your children in sports, academics, reading and games that require intrapersonal activity. Engaging your children in sports will not only promote a healthy lifestyle for your child/children, it will also keep them physically active. Being engaged in sports your child will adopt important values in life. Such important life lessons include self-confidence, goal setting and achieving, time management as well as patience, perseverance and determination. Your child will also learn the importance and benefits of teamwork. Helping your child focus more on academics might help solve this epidemic too. Trying to incorporate video games with learning or a way to help study can be very beneficial in the long run. Encouraging your child to read instead of playing video games can be difficult but maybe investing in a Kindle or any electronic similar to that which only focuses on reading could help. These devices have the look and feel of a game but in reality is enforcing reading, not violence. In Mencius’s Man’s Nature Is Good, he believed humans were inherently good and with the proper training could become perfect, however Hsun Tzu believed humans were inherently evil and required rites to keep them in check. In relation to the violence the children are exposed to in these video games, I think it makes most sense to believe in what Chinese philosopher, Kao Tzu believed in. He believed human nature was neither inherently good nor inherently evil but a â€Å"blank state† that could be conditioned in both directions. Kao stated, â€Å"The nature of things is like swirling water: channel it east and it flows east, channel it west and it flows west. † (95) He is comparing human nature to water. It doesn’t chose between good and evil just like water doesn’t choose between east and west. Mencius argued this claim but Kao Tzu retaliated by saying human nature is only responding to the forces around it. The influences of these video games become the â€Å"forces† around the youth in today’s society and have an impact on these children in the least expected ways. Between the actual video games and the gamer, the gamer seems to be the puzzled one. They may be so involved in the video game and the violence portrayed in it that they begin to lose some sense of reality and become what it is that they are playing. In Moses Maimonides’ The Guide for the Perplexed, the youth in society today is becoming â€Å"perplexed. † Being perplexed simply means you are puzzled or confused. Relating the video games is being misinterpreted and being related to reality when it shouldn’t be. From personal experience, I have witnessed this in my own household. Having two younger brothers both very involved in this â€Å"video game world† has brought this issue to my attention. One of my younger brothers isn’t very entertained by the violent video games but the older of the two is. He is at that age where video gaming is what he does on an everyday basis for hours. A lot of these games are violent and although he hasn’t physically been involved in any violent activities now, I just hope he isn’t involved in them in the future. One thing I have noticed is that he has been getting more aggressive in the sense that he’s becoming a little more disrespectful especially towards my parents. Maybe it’s because he is at the â€Å"teenage age† and going through puberty but something tells me it also has to do with the games he is playing. The fact that both my younger brothers are very involved in sports and one of the two is still very focused on the video games is insane. There has to be other alternatives for him not to be focusing so much on the violence he is playing. Consequently, the violence in video games is affecting our youth in a negative way. There is definitely a parallel between violence in video games and violence outside the video games. Parents can be the main helping hand in this epidemic by being proactive with their children. They can help find alternatives like engaging their children in things other than playing these video games. Even though some alternatives have not succeeded like restricting time, blocking certain things, removing equipment, etc. there are other powerful options that may have a more profound effect. Being involved in sports at a young age gives the youth many valuable lessons. Another thing is engaging your children in intrapersonal games or activities. Intrapersonal is a term used in education usually referring to multiple intelligences. Intrapersonal learners know how they work best and are usually self-motivated people. This violence in video gaming epidemic has to be more controlled if we don’t want our youth to become â€Å"what they are playing. † What would happen if society continues like this? Works Cited Averroes. On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy. Reading the World: Ideas ThatMatter.2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton , 2010. 391-96. Print. Maimonides, Moses. The Guide for the Perplexed. Reading the World: Ideas That Matter. 2nded. New York: W. W. Norton , 2010. 397-401. Print. Mencius. Mans Nature Is Good. Reading the World: Ideas That Matter. 2nd ed. New York:W. W. Norton , 2010. 94-99. Print. Suzuki, David. The Sacred Balance. Reading the World: Ideas That Matter. By MichaelAustin. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton , 2010. 427-34. Print. Ward, Michael R. Video Games and Adolescent Fighting. Journal of Law and Economics 53(2012): 611-28. JSTOR. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. http://www. jstor. org/stable/10. 1086/605509.