Good Article Review About Are Violent Video Games Harmful?

Jane Doe

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One of the most popular past times of people young and old through the world are video games. Themes of the games range in innocent cartoon characters to violent soldiers killing zombie, and everything in-between. The world of video gaming is diverse and unimaginable in what advances the technology of gaming has invented. Adults enjoy the video games as much as younger people, but the topic of the discussion is focused on children and adolescents. Questions regarding the influence of the violent video games, such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto are examples of games very popular among the younger population. The answer according to the research shows that there is no harm to the regular child or adolescent in his or her exposure to violence in video games.
Numerous psychological studies examine this issue considering the ever increasing popularity of gaming in the high tech world the children are growing up in. Naturally concerns of long term psychological damage from exposure to violence is a valid concern for parents and should be for citizens of the world as well. Based on studies done on numerous children and teens of various age groups, if any effect exits it is on an extremely short term basis, and not necessarily damaging.
An important factor in the study of this topic was in determining what harmful behaviors the researchers are looking for in correlation with observing violence in the games. Researchers looked to see if those who played these violent games were apt to violent behavior by harming another individual or property in an unusually aggressive manner (Browne, K. D., & Hamilton-Giachritsis, C. 2005). Regardless of the exposure or amount of time playing the games, no solid association could be seen in the findings based on their observations.
There is not concern for harmful behavior issues that can be linked with the violent video games. The truth remains that although what individuals are exposed to may have a minor effect, there are other factors that must be considered. “The UNESCO review of research findings8 suggests that everyone is negatively affected in some way by media violence, but that these effects depend on an individual's cognitive appraisal and physical and social environment” (Browne, K. D., & Hamilton-Giachritsis, C. 2005). Individuals who are already expressing cognitive, emotional, and social problems are the people who these violent images may create problems for.
A person who is mentally disabled or disturbed may not have the capacity within their cognitive skills to differentiate what they see from reality. Individuals under the influence of drugs or alcohol fall under the category of a higher risk group to act out the violence that they view while playing these games. The other people susceptible to harm could be people who exposure to violence in their environment is common, may be hurt by excessive violent images.
The normal healthy child or teen without any severe issues did not show any problems in their exposure while playing the games. With this evidence the conclusion to the topic of whether or not violence in video games is harmful to children and adolescents is null and void. It is time the battle of this subject be fought elsewhere where there has been proof unacceptable behavioral response. Parents can stop feeling guilty about allowing their kids to play the popular games, as long as none of the other issues are present in for their family, then let them keep playing. These days it is no different than asking your child to stop watching the cartoons that were popular back in the 1980’s.

Reference

Browne, K. D., & Hamilton-Giachritsis, C. (2005). The influence of violent media on children
and adolescents: A public-health approach. The Lancet, 365(9460), 702-10. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/199017060?accountid=458