Video games

Video Games have a negative effect on people

 Video games are form of entertainment which is valued by both children and adult.  However, many videogames are associated with hyper-realistic violence and this affects the actual behavior.  In 21^st century, violence in video games is an issue of concern as numerous studies have confirmed that video games with violent images increase psychological aggression.  Cunningham et al (1249) used a quasi-experimental methodology in examining how violent games cause aggression. An evidence is reported by Uniform Crime Report from 2005-2011.  The finding shows that first, video games are highly demanded by adolescents and adults.  This is an indication that they spend most the time playing games rather than in social activities.  The violent content increases violence and the players engage themselves in aggressive behaviors such as school shooting. Other important point is that the video games have low social cost which young people can afford.  When young people are regularly exposed to violent video games, they develop a biased belief and make the assumption that they live in danger (Cunningham et al, 261). The aggressive behavior is well explained by theoretical mechanisms such as aggression. The aggression mechanism is supported by ‘general aggression model’ which states that video games increase aggressive behavior because, the player develops mental scripts which leads to reasoning biases. This means that the player is able to interpret the social situation and jump into conclusion even before the occurrence of violent act (Cunningham et al, 1204). Other theoretical mechanism which supports the video game negative effect is incapacitation which is supported by economic theory. The two claim that many violent games have complicated plot and take a lot of time. This means that young people spend most of the time on video games and   use less time in recreational activities. The higher exposure to violence affects their actual behavior and school performance. Rather than studying, they feel interested in performing the violence in real world.

 

 A study conducted by Bajovic confirmed that violent video games affect the moral reasoning (Bajovic, 178).  In the study, participants were 109 adolescents and data was collected through questionnaire. The purpose of questionnaire was to examine the adolescents’ preferences, habits, pattern, values and beliefs on video games, and how the effect is associated with sociomoral reasoning (Bajovic, 182). Majority stated that they like playing video games as they spend 1-3 playing vide on daily basis. They also stated that they like playing games with human violence such as Call of Duty series, Super Marion series and more ((Bajovic, 187). The study on these findings showed that adolescents’ moral reasoning skills are affected. The majority of students who spend a lot of time in violent video games were associated with low social moral maturity (Bajovic, 187). This is not caused by the fact that children and adult do not get time to engage in positive social experiences nor do they reflect on positive sense. Moral development is reinforced by social contexts and failure to collaborate with people in social setting hinders moral development. An important point is that violent video games detaches people from outside world and denies them the opportunity to explore and understand the good morals. The world of violence makes players to loss self-control and become associated with aggressive behaviors. Violent games affect the mental health which not only leads to aggressive behaviors but it also causes depression. This occurs when the player becomes addicted and feels restlessness and becomes isolated from friends. This situation affects the life of player especially young people as they are unable to continue with education as they become involved with criminal acts to sustain their lives. (Bajovic, 187)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work cited

Cunningham, Scott, et al. "Violent Video Games and Violent Crime." Southern Economic Journal, vol. 82,

1265. 4, Apr. 2016, pp. 1247-1265. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/soej.12139.

 

Bajovic, Mirjana. "Violent Video Gaming and Moral Reasoning in Adolescents: Is There an

Association?." Educational Media International, vol. 50, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 177-191.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/09523987.2013.836367.