Let's examine the debate: Do violent video games cause aggressive behavior?
PRO: In an article from Time Magazine entitled "Little By Little, Violent Video Games Make Us More Aggressive," Alice Park examines some new research that "suggests hours of exposure to violent media like video games can make kids react in more hostile ways" (Time.com). To find out more about the link between violent video games and aggressive behavior, click here: Little By Little
CON: In another article from the BBC, "Aggression from Video Games Linked to 'Incompetence,'" Dave Lee reports that new research says, "Feelings of aggression after playing video games are more likely linked to gameplay mechanics [winning or losing] rather than violent content" (BBC.com). To find out more about their study, click here: Aggression Linked to Incompetence
I know many of you were passionate about this topic in class, so I want to give you the opportunity to voice your point of view now. Remember, your response should be at least two paragraphs in length, you should acknowledge your classmates' comments, you should incorporate textual evidence to support your point of view, and you should, as always, be polite and respectful of one another's views.
I believe that violent video games cause aggressive behavior. If you think about it, it is pretty messed up for kids under the age of 17 to be playing games that has guts just flying all around the place. Not only the gore, but the violence itself, like WWE. If you play a game like that a lot, then you might think, "oh, I wonder what would happen if I..." That's what causes the problem. You go around trying things that are a little stupid. Now thats for kids 7-.
ReplyDeleteTeens are a little different. We (sometimes) think about what we do or say, then we do them. Others just do stupid things without a second thought. However, it does cause people to start thinking about unusual things. I would know because I only have a wii that a don't play and the original xbox. I do play halo and halo 2 every once in a while but now very often. When I went to my cousin's house, I played GTA 5 very often, which caused me to think about what would happen if someone just highjacked a car. Now, I have had some video game experience, but if someone with no video game experience plays an even more violent and realistic game, then it might get a little out of hand. They might go around doing stupid things that a normally sane person would not do.
I like your thought process, but don't forget to use evidence from the articles to support your statements.
DeleteI think that violent video games do cause aggressive behavior, but only in the kids who aren't mature enough. Asha, I agree with how you stated your position. Children ages 9 and below shouldn't be playing those games, though a hour here and there with older brother or sister wouldn't hurt. These kids have no right to be learning how to kill someone at age five. Their imagination is at its peak during this time, and this imagination shouldn't be running off into dark places. Especially at this age, when children are learning what's right or wrong, we don't want them thinking, "Oh, he's killing that man! Let me hit my friend and see what happens!!"
ReplyDeleteAs an example, Dr. Phil says, "If you shoot somebody in one of these games, you don't go to jail, you don't get penalized in some way — you get extra points!" he also states, "This doesn't mean that your child will go out into the world and shoot someone. But they do use more aggressive language, they do use more aggressive images, they have less ability to control their anger and they externalize things in these violent ways. It's absolutely not good."(http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/297) Here Dr. Phil was implying that these games do not teach moral consequences, but it also doesn't mean that children are going to start shooting people.
But once we get into teens, we see their minds have changed. Some teens are plenty mature for these games, know how much time they should be playing them, and know how to react to them. There aren't many of these people though. The adult population also has people like this, mainly because during adulthood, adults are forced to be responsible and take care of themselves. wwww.nytimes.com tells, in an article, "The young men who opened fire at Columbine High School, at the movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and in other massacres had this in common: they were video gamers who seemed to be acting out some dark digital fantasy. It was as if all that exposure to computerized violence gave them the idea to go on a rampage — or at least fueled their urges."
This isn't scientifically proven, but it does make you think a little bit. These men were violent video gamers, and they weren't smart enough to know there are no real rewards for killing. So innocent children died. In the future, your children could be those kids, with bright futures ahead of them. Many people aren't this "mental", but there are some people. Until we get some decent gun laws in the US, or at least more mental institutions, these killers aren't going anywhere.
I'd also like to address the meme up there. It gave me a laugh, but it didn't really strike a nerve. This is because those men are fighting either because they were forced, they were protecting themselves, or they needed more land. We fight in video games because we feel like it.
To conclude, I think video games should be banned. Some of the population can play, perhaps if they take a test early in teen hood. It could be a secret test, disguised in the form of a STAR or any other test. This could gauge the player's ability to absorb the video games and use it to their advantage. Of course, retakes would be available, but only for a couple of tests. All in all, though there are exceptions, we'd all be a little safer without video games.
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As always, thanks for reading! I love feedback and replies, so hit that Publish Button!!
Cheers, Sriha S. =^.^=
Sorry about the spaces- I have no idea how that happened. When I typed it it didn't show up like that. (See my nytimes quote- It's slightly messed up after that, and after the Dr.Phil one)
DeleteCheers, Sriha S. =^.^=
I think that video games can cause violent behavior for kids under the age of 18. The little kids can think that since it's okay to be bad in a video game, they can do it themselves. I noticed that some little kids always play fight and they try to be like a person from a violent video game. My opinion is that video games can be bad influences for small children.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, for 17-18 year olds and up it isn't that bad. They know how to be mature about it. I think that video games shouldn't be available for kids that aren't teenagers at least.
I agree with Asha and Sriha that violent games influences young children bad ways. However, I don't think games should be restricted by age, rather mental maturity somehow. That way young children and immature teens can be kept out of theese games. I did have some experience with violent games, until I quit the majority of them. I think after a while, if you play a violent game for a few years without stopping (not literally), your brain takes killing to be a good thing, because in the game you get rewards to well, kill more players. I think this would happen to people who play theese ganes too much. I also noticed people get really angry if they are not good at something, i.e., a violent video game. The violent behavoir that comes from this is people who take out their anger from games on other people.
ReplyDeleteAlso, id like to point out how young children get theese games. Either their parents don't know about the games or what they cause or their parents don't care. Although there is a small number of parents who don't care out there, the only thing that matters is they are. Another thing is, kids can't go out there and buy it themselves, they usually have little money at their age. So where are they getting violent video games? Their parents? Or for some other reason?
Don't forget to use TEXTUAL EVIDENCE, everybody! I've provided you with an article for either side. You can pull your evidence from either article to support your argument. Just click the link.
ReplyDeleteReminder: without textual evidence, you cannot receive full credit for your blog comment!
I think that video games most of the time cause violence. But not all video games are like that. For example, there is Mario Kart for the Wii but that isn't necessarily violent. Anyway for the video games that are violent some people think/feel that that is real and that that is what you should do or accomplish in life. Even my younger brother does the Wii boxing and is always yelling, "YA TOTAL KNOCK OUT!!" and other things like that.
ReplyDeleteThen like Asha said, some people are just being stupid. Starting fights because they think they are going to win just because they did while playing the easy version of any type of fighting game. I read the article above and saw that "Ever since Columbine, in which two students went on a deadly rampage at their high school, television, movies, and video games have been a popular target for senseless acts of violence. After the shooting, the media pushed the narrative that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold’s inclinations for violent video games, not to mention metal music and goth subculture, were partly to blame for the horrific incident." That is just scary that these boys were playing too many violent video games and listening to a lot of goth music and that this was the outcome. Also it isn't just the kid's fault it is also the parents fault too. They are the ones who buy the games and music for us. They could have easily said no. I'm not saying that violent video games should be banned, but I am saying that when people do use them, they shouldn't play them for a long time everyday. There should be a limit like 1 hour per week.
I think that violent video games cause violent behavior but only for those that aren't mature enough or their parents don't tell them not to do those things. When kids get older they mature more and think about how to respond to something like getting harassed by another student or person. Younger kids think that doing things like killing people and beating people up is funny or cool because they are doing it in the game while achieving more points/money making it more "acceptable". They usually don't understand it is a fake game and shouldn't repeat it at home, school, or public.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the time spent playing the game can also support the child's behavior. If a child has played a violent video game for a long period of time it is most likely they would act out violently rather than someone who played it for 30 minutes. For example, "Problems arose with teenagers who spent more than three hours every day in front of a screen, continuously playing these violent games without any other real-life interaction." So the ones that play less will usually be less violent and stay out of trouble. In conclusion I believe that violent video games cause violent behavior but only in those that aren't mature enough or or their parents don't tell them not to do those things.
There are some games that will warn you about gory things like in Modern Warfare 2, one of the missions will warn you that inappropriate content is going to be in there so it will ask us if we still want to continue or skip the mission. These games actually care about the maturity of games and will warn you. Violent video games influence others because they motivate them like,"Nice job!Now all you have to do is just destroy that random person's car and you'll get bonus points!" Violent games can change kid's behavior if they are impacted by how popular those kinds of games are. Some people will try to reenact some things from games.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, different games that aren't violent still can be frustrating and can still make you aggressive because of its impossible levels or its confusing levels. for example, this quote was from BBC.com,"Players of games without any violent content were still feeling pretty aggressive if they hadn't been able to master the controls or progress through the levels at the end of the session." What I'm trying to say is that violence can be used inside a game, but should not be used in real life in any way at all.
I believe that some games are just too violent for younger kids. They might think that violence is ok and that if you hurt somebody it might not hurt them. "New research shows that hours of exposure to violent media like video games can make kids react in more hostile ways compared to ones who don't spend lots of time controller in hand reigniting the debate about children and gaming"(Time .com). This shows that kids react hostile when watching or playing violent video games.
ReplyDeleteAlthough sometimes kids may not be influenced by some violent games, like Noah said some games will warn you if there will be inappropriate violence or images. They might act aggressive even without the videos games and some parents might blame the video games. What I don't understand is why some parents might buy there kids violent video games if they looked at the game it would probably say violent somewhere on it. They could also watch their kids play the video games seeing how violent they are. I think that if the parents didn't want there kids o play violent video games they would pay a little more attention.
Video games DO cause aggressive behavior. If you think about it, almost all video games include some form of violence, even Wii Sports Resort (sword play). Also, we kids have been playing games for a prolonged amount of time, leading to more violent exposure. Another thing is that the games are changing us, and not in a good way. Since we're spending more time around violence, it's making us think that violence in the real world is okay.
ReplyDeleteIn fact on Procon.org (http://videogames.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=003627), I found that kids who had gotten into a fight are two times more likely to have been playing violent video games. However, some may argue that ,"feelings of aggression after playing violent video games are more likely to be linked to game play mechanics rather than violent content." (BBC News: aggression from video games). However, almost all of the comments so far agree that video games cause aggressive behavior. In fact there are many violent acts that are directly linked to violent video games. In conclusion, violent video games Do cause aggressive behavior.
-Isaac E.
I agree with Megan because the little kids could take their violence from the game on to other people in the real world. "Media violence is teaching children and adults to see the world in a more aggressive way." ( time.com). If kids learn all this at this age (1-7) , then there will be more fighting at school, home ,etc. Another thing is that kids will brag about their scores which could lead to more violence. Lastly, parents could encourage it.
ReplyDeleteWhile we were little kids, we were always told," fighting isn't the answer." To follow up with this quote by our parents I say that our world needs more people saying this. Violent games can lead to an unpeaceful world. If we encourage games like this the we will be nothing but a fighting/ arguing mess. -Kylie P
I have to agree with the fact that violent video games cause violent behavior. Say that you just played a violent video game and you were so into it that you attempt to do the things you did in the game in real life. Not only do you look dumb and like you should go to a mental hospital locked up in a police car, but someone could get hurt. I agree with Quintin that you should be able to control yourself from these actions.
ReplyDeleteEvidence from the text is how it has pictures show kids looking totally addicted to a violent video games. And because they are just dumb kids that don't know any better can act as if they were in the game and be hostile and violent. Lets be real here, you are playing an extremely violent video game where you kill stuff for hours and you don't blink and you stare right at the screen just pressing the buttons. Unless you are mentally in control of yourself you will be knocking down your moms flower pots then getting grounded. It has happened to lots of people so if you are playing something like halo remember this: don't be a Max! thanks for reading my comment. -Oscar O.
These arguments are driving me nuts! This one made my want to punch myself in the face for the side I picked. And I hate myself even more for when I picked the topic that animal testing is right for the argumentative essay.
DeleteOscar, I like that you feel passionately about these real-world topics. They are important debates that most adults don't know the answers to. The fact that there are so many compelling arguments on both sides of the debate does make it hard to be on one side or the other. However, don't be down on yourself for the side you have chosen to argue -- remember, these are "lawyer" essays, and it is really about your ability to construct and write a convincing argument. In your real life, you may take a more philosophical approach in which you see both sides and ultimately can't make up your mind! That us certainly true for me on many of these topics. That is okay! Oscar Wilde said intelligence was being able to hold multiple contrary opinions at the same time. You and your namesake have a similar feeling about seeing all sides! :)
ReplyDeleteI think that violent video games make people more aggressive in a bad way. For example, you get rewarded for killing or exterminating, therefore little kids (1-11) may think that winning fights could get you rewarded. Kids also may get confused that if you kill someone or something it causes no real damage. For instance, a boy who play GTA V got a gun and shot his aunt because in the game you can respawn.
ReplyDeleteI agree with oscar because you would look really dumb doing all of these things. For example, you would be living in oblivion, and not realize reality. You would end in the hospital just because you think you can be as cool as someone in a video game.
I agree violent video games can cause violent behavior, but players should have the common sense to know that it is just a game and not in real life.These games are rated M for mature for a reason.The teenagers that went on the rampage at their school were old enough to play these games,but weren't mature enough, and I think that says a lot about how age doesn't necessarily mean maturity.Players should really consider if playing these kinds of games might affect them.The games even warn you about how violent it is. Children that play these games and show aggressive behavior should stick to Mario and Zelda games because they just can't handle those kinds of things. These types of video games should be restricted to people who are mature enough.
ReplyDeleteAll violent video games make people much more aggressive in many ways. For instance, in some video games, players are rewarded for fighting, killing, and/or murdering other players. Then you get that," Yay! Next level!" feeling. Then you notice its ok to kill or hurt other people because you could get a reward. But in real life, you'd really get arrested. Then, when they see other someone getting hurt by someone else, they'd probably think its ok because in video games it ok. So to them, they think," Oh this is just like video games, they could get rewarded for doing that." Then their attitudes toward people getting hurt is more aggressive because they would probably think the person hurting someone is winning. Now imagine if children played these games. Kids would be hurting other kids thinking its ok. This would really damage children's thought of what's right and what's wrong. Kids would be very aggressive and have a rude attitude.
ReplyDelete-Eliza A.
I personally think that violent video games do affect violent behavior. Although it does that it may be good in some cases. I don't mean violence is good because it is BAD. What I am saying is that if you were kidnapped from a random person then you could use the skills you might have learned in a game for example: Injustice Gods Among Us. Yes I know that we don't have super powers, but what about the low kick, side swing, or a regular punch? (There are many other games but I don't know about those ones) Sure it might be that when you kill someone you get rewarded, but let's not forget they are killing/ hurting the bad guys because they are evil. We shouldn't just let them get away.
ReplyDelete~Sofia K.
I personally believe that these violent video games can cause aggressive behaviors. For example, any individual that may play these games may be led to doing violent actions such as hurting other people or stealing or using violent weapons. These video games tend to glamorize violent behavior, and provide a false sense of reality. An example of this is my older cousin. He loved playing Call of Duty for as long as I can remember. Out of the blue, he decided to join the Infantry Division of the Army. He was 18 years old. It was hard for myself and family to understand if he really knew what he was getting into to. This was not going to be like Call of Duty where you get shot badly and just jump back up. I agree with Eliza in the sense that if you do not have a good idea of what is right and wrong and have good morales, you may be led to think differently. I also agree with Kalila that players should have the common sense to know that it is just a game and not real life!!! -Jackson Troutt
ReplyDelete"Worries about how violence in virtual reality might play out in real life have led legislators to propose everything from taxing violent video game to proposing age restrictions on who can buy them."-Little by Little. This statement shows that what goes on during a video game may be completely different from what happens in reality. In addition, some people believe that certain age groups should be restricted from these games. I myself do believe that there should be restrictions until people are old enough to make mature and educated decisions!- Jackson Troutt
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kylie P. because video games can make kids be more violent. If they are doing something in the virtual world, they will most likely bring it to the real world. If kids bring violence to the real world from an 18 and up video game, it can cause physical fights and more at school. These games are really bad for children. What they do in their childhood normally leads to what they do in their adulthood.
ReplyDeleteI was always told as a little kid that violence was never the answer. I think it is a great and inspirational quote. People today need to keep that in mind. Children and adults included. Video game violence is a main way that children get their own violence. It is a really bad habit.
-Katelyn C.
I believe that violent video games do cause violent behavior. Violent video games can plant little seeds into young minds, causing them to think in unwanted ways. Kids usually look up at role models. If their role model is a violent video game, they will want to replicate it. Giving them war, aggression, and other things to be the only things on their minds.
ReplyDeleteAs well as influencing kids to be violent it teaches kids that being violent is the right thing to do. Kids who play violent video games will most likely try to use threatening, fighting, etc., to solve their problems instead of peaceful and harmless ways. If kids played friendly games where they can do good deeds it will rework their brain to think positive. In addition playing peaceful video games and influence more aggressive kids to become more kind. Sadly this can happen vise versa where instead the positive kid gets influenced to become violent.
I agree with everyone who says that violent video games can cause aggressive behavior, and promote violence. I think that most kids already have a natural attraction to the morbid parts of life, and violent video games fuel that interest. Some games can be very influential, and younger kids are still very impressionable. Parents usually spend too much time trying to figure out where their kids are getting violence-related ideas, that it takes that much more time to reverse the damage.
ReplyDeleteIn the article Ms. Mansour provided for us, I noticed the part about Craig Anderson's study. The study suggested that violent video games did encourage aggressive behavior. It also stated that the games impacted younger kids more severely, which proves that there should be a restriction on how old kids have to be to play violent games.
To wrap up my statement, I think that restrictions should be enforced on the violent games. Kids need to be responsible about how they handle the influence of violent video games.
-Kylee A.
I think that video games are bad for people under 17. Lets say that a little kid gets a violent video game. This kid can be so use to this certain game that he can only solve his problems with violence. His/ her mind will be so used to winning wars in the game that he thinks that he can fight to get what he wants. This kid can end up really disrespectful to his parents and anybody that he doesn't like.
ReplyDeleteAlso I believe that people who play video games are more likely to be smart. Video games can sometimes be good for your brain. But you don't always need to play violent video games to do mental work for your brain. Kids under the right age should not be allowed to play violent games. Even though some children can be very mature for their age, they still shouldn't be allowed to play violent video game If they do act like they are 18.
I agree that violent video games can cause violent behavior. Violent video games can teach youth that violence is an acceptable conflict-solving strategy and an appropriate way to achieve a goal. Kids may copy the actions they see in violent video games. Playing violent video increases aggressive behavior. These games influences kids at an early age. Violent video games cause players to think that pleasure and happiness can come form causing pain in others. It trains kids to harm others. Also, it rewards players for being violent.
ReplyDelete-Julianne R.
Overall I think that violent video games can cause aggression and violent behavior. I agree with Quintin that video games shouldn't have a certain restriction based on age but a restriction based on how mentally mature a person really is. The problem with that solution is that there's not really a way to see if the person who's actually playing is mature enough. Plus an age requirement doesn't real matter because a person who's old enough for the game can always buy it for someone who's not old enough.
ReplyDeleteScientist Craig Anderson did a study including thousands of girls and boys and found that the kids that play video games a lot had more violent answers to questions like "if it was okay for a boy to strike a peer if that peer said something negative about him". They also found that the more video gaming kids would have more violent solutions when being provoked by something. On the other hand researcher Christopher Ferguson found that "the rise of popularity in video gaming has not been matched by a similar rise in violent crime among adolescents". Meaning that crime among younger people hasn't risen with the popularity of video games like it should if video games were causing adolescents to become more violent.
I think violent video games are bad for little kids under 11. Kids that are young would get tricked thinking you get rewarded for kill things. Sometimes kids will act out based on the outcome of game they played. Also, when kids have the game taken away they're likely to be aggressive. I think violent video games should be only allowed for kids older than 11.
ReplyDeleteViolent games should be allowed for kids older than 11. I say this because younger kids if they played the game a lot, they would be more used to violence and be likely to get into fights or hurt others. If you give the game to an older kid and they hadn't had a game that was like that and they had a time limit to play, they would not be so attached to the game. This would cause the game to not have much of an affect on the kid. If that happened the kid wouldn't act out violently.
i think violent video games are bad for kids under 11 like Pierce said. This is because the vioent video games can cause a bad influence to those kids that are 11 and under, you could allow youtr kid to play on the weekends only instead of school days or if you really want to keep them away from the violent games you can either take it/all of them away or you can allow your son/daughter to only play it on the weekdays for either 30 min or 1 hour.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Talyssa and Quintin because they should have a resricted age for the violent video games. Another reason is if you killed somebody in a game like that you would get the "hooray! good job!" and that acheivement/accomplishment is just for killing him/her. My last example is you could suck in the violence of that player and you could do something really really bad and you would/could be take someones life away from them when they were innocent. In conclusion, In my opinion i think that the parent/guardian should let them play on the weekdays for 1 hour or they should take the game away from them.
I believe video games are too violent and I believe it shouldn't be based age wised, but on maturity. A mature person would use common sense and not get into any fights. For example, if your video game character is rewarded for violence an immature person would do this in reality. However, if a mature person was rewarded for violence in a video game, he would simply know it's just a game. Also, sense video game companies could not sell their games based on maturity, would say the average age recommended should be at least 13.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, I believe video games have a huge impact in our current day society. In 2000 FBI reports includes playing violent video games in a list of behaviors associated with school shootings. People who are immature feel happiness in injuring or killing people. Young children could be confused on whats reality and do something terrible that they would do in game. Have video games effected us in reality? Yes, the violent ones had effect us majorly in the real world.
I believe video games contribute to violent behavior. Today all you hear kids talking about is the new Call of Duty or other games that contain shooting or violence. I feel like only older or mature people should be able to play video games. Mature people would be able to not control themselves and not act violent. Younger kids will copy that behavior on the video game and then act violently.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, I believe video games do contribute to violent behavior. Younger people might act violent after playing the video games. The violent behavior will make younger and less mature people act violent. Only mature or older people should be able to play violent video games.
I think that violent video games do cause aggressive behavior. I believe that with all of the violence in games give ideas to kids that killing is good. My evidence is " hours of exposure to violent media like video games can make kids react in more hostile ways". Kid may think that video games are right and you should follow what they do as in killing. Since video games reward violence of course kids think that they would get something good out of violence.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Asha because people do stupid things without second thought. Before people do or say something they should thing twice or even three times. If kids parents would monitor their game usage and not let younger ones play violent games kids wouldn't be very violent. I feel like kids would be more respectful if it weren't for violent video games because they say vulgar things. Therefore that is why I believe that violent video games cause aggressive behavior.
I think that violent video games should be banned from children because it rewards them with bad behavior. Some games teach kids to be a professional assassin and some teach them that you have to kill people to survive. These kinds of games lead children to act more violently and aggressive. Though being aggressive isn't bad unless you don't know how to stop.
ReplyDelete