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Violent Games Children

The Effect of Violent Video Games on Children

The focus of discussion of this research essay will be the cause and effect of violent video games on children. Whether they have a direct or indirect effect on the behavior of the children patronizing this type of video games, and if there are long term effects after exposure from this type of video games.

The issue here is the increasing number of children and adolescent that are engaged into violent acts, where in, most of them were found to be hooked in playing violent video games. Different points of views have been raised with regards to this topic.

There are opposing reactions from different sectors that have direct concern in this matter. First, the manufacturer denies the fact that there is significant correlation between media violence and violent behavior. May 12, 2000, CNN interview on The World Today, Doug Lowenstein, said “I think the issue has been vastly overblown and overstated often by politicians and other’s who do not fully understand, frankly this industry. There is absolutely no evidence, none, that playing a violent game leads to aggressive behavior” (Bushman & Anderson 353).

Similarly, Steven Johnson said, “I believe that the Sleeper Curve is the single most important new force altering the mental development of young people today, and I believe it is a largely a force of good: enhancing our cognitive faculties, not dumbing them down” (Johnson 12). Second, some research studies have shown the significant effect of violent video games on a child’s behavior. One of them is Joanne Cantor, which conducted a study entitled, “The psychological Effects of Media Violence,” in her conclusion she stated that media violence has unhealthy effects in children.

And lastly, there are those who were not convinced of the possible effect of violent video games in developing aggressive behavior. Aimee Tompkins concluded in her study “The Psychological Effect of Violent Media on Children” that, not one research conducted could prove either positive or negative long term outcome of violent media. With all this contradicting evidences the researcher was also interested in answering the same question: do violent video games have significant negative effect on developing aggression and violent behavior among its user, most especially children?

The researcher takes the side that indeed violent video games have a significant negative effect on children’s behavior. The researcher believes that there is an effect on the physiologic aspect of the player as well as psychological aspect. Early experiments using physiological measures of arousal such as: galvanic skin response, heart rate and respiratory changes found that children are emotionally responsive to even animated television violence (Grossman & DeGaetano 70-71). The physiologic changes happening are the changes that turn on the excitement and exhilaration to these players, which makes them feel good.

The feeling of excitement and exhilaration makes them want to repeat the action. Can this be correlated to the idea that they want to do it in reality? The answer is yes. Aimee Tompkins in her study, she cited different incidents where in teenagers and adolescents were engage into shooting incidents. They found out that these students were fanatics of violent video games. Another concern would be, those people saying playing computer video games is a means of learning.

Yes, there is learning in playing computer games; you learn mastery of skills and hand eye coordination, as well as reinforcement of action done by means of rewarding. But what kind of learning does it give? Douglas A. Gentile states that: “Reward increases imitation. And there are at least three processes involve” (136).

In psychology, there is what we call positive reinforcement, the researcher defines it as the act of rewarding a good act for the child to repeat and reinforce the behavior. This is the irony of what computer games are teaching, they reward the player after killing the opponent, and that deviates to the purpose of positive reinforcement. That good act is rewarded to reinforce the action or behavior.

Indeed, violent video game has a significant effect on children, not only on their behavior but also on their physiologic state as well as the emotional state - especially that of a vulnerable individual. The government sector should be more critical and sensitive on how to protect its citizen with this kind of media.

Parent’s on the other hand, who have the first hand decision whether to buy this violent video games or not, since they are responsible in giving money or buying this for their children, and what ever decision they would take they should know the consequences of the possible effects of this materials to their children. And patronizers should be reminded that everything in excess is not good.

Annotated Bibliography

Anderson, Craig A., and Brad J. Bushman. "Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: a Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature." Psychological Science 12.5 (2001): 353-359. Apr. 2008 <http://www-personal.umich.edu%7ebbushman/01ab.pdf>.

Dr. Craig A. Anderson, a professor and chairman of Department of Psychology in Iowa State University. He has his PhD in social psychology from Stanford University. He is a distinguished professor and Director of the center for the study of violence. Most of his current researches focus on aggression especially on the potentially harmful effect of exposure to violent entertainment media.

Dr. Brad J. Bushman, a professor in University of Michigan, has a PhD in social psychology in University of Missouri in 1989. His focuses are the consequences and causes of aggression. He researches includes the violent media have an effect on aggression; venting anger reduces aggression; violent people suffer from low self-esteem; violence and sex on TV sell products; and warning labels on TV programs reduce audience size

The authors used methods such as literature search literature, criteria for relevance, coding frame and meta-analytic procedures, to test if violent video games increase aggressive behavior in children and young adult. They found out that after conducting the experiment using experimental and non-experimental designs, in both male and female, that it poses public health threat to children and youths including college individuals.

Exposure is negatively associated with prosocial behavior, and exposure is positively related to the main mechanism underlying long term effects on the development of aggressive personality. In contrast to the study made by Tompkins in 2003, which shows no proof that signifies either negative or positive effect of media violence. It is important in this research as it illuminates the side taken by the researcher

Cantor, Joanne. "The Psychological Effects of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents." Joannecantor. 19 Apr. 2002. HEC Montreal. 19 Apr. 2008 <http://www.joannecantor.com/montrealpap_fin.htm>.

Joanne Cantor is an expert on the effects of the mass media on youth. A Professor Emerita and Director of the Center for Communication Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a well-known expert on children and the mass media. She contributed Physician's Guide to Media Violence to the American Medical Association's and a consultant to Wisconsin Public Television in their improvement of children's programs and their anti-violence initiatives.

The author in order to clarify issues regarding the psychological effects of media violence on children and adolescents, she discussed the research consensus about the major consequences of exposure to media violence and illustrate the general trends in the data with specific studies such as the meta-analytic studies done by Bushman & Anderson and the other made by Paik & Comstock.

They also made their own research by experimenting through 6th grade boys. The author concluded that media violence has unhealthy effects on children and adolescents. This gives another highlight to the side taken by the researcher that there is a significant negative effect on the part of the children.

Gentile, Douglas A. Media Violence and Children: a Complete Guide for Parents and Professionals. London: Praeger Publications, 2003. 131-152.

Douglas Gentile is a known developmental psychologist. He is the assistant professor of psychology at Iowa State University and the director of research for the National Institute on Media and the Family. He conducts many researches about children and adult. Dr. Gentile has authored several researches such as The Effects of Violent Video Game Habits on Adolescent Aggressive Attitudes and Behaviors, A Validity Test of Movie, Television, and Video Game Ratings, and A Normative Study of Family Media Habits. He is the editor of the book Media Violence and Children (2003, Praeger Press), and co-author of the book Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy (2007, Oxford University Press).

The authors of this book contend that learning comes from repetition. The fact that the violent games require violent acts to be played over and over again creates an ideal learning situation. But what the players are learning is antisocial behavior and the idea that violence is a good way to resolve conflict. He used data from other books, studies made by different authors, and other references in order to come up with a book that serves as guideline for parents and professional with regards to the effect of media violence to children.

One important insight was when he said that the difference between television and computer games when it comes to the response of the individual is that violence in televisions are rarely sustained, because of commercial gaps and changing of scenes, in contrast to video games where violence and continuous. Where in players should always be alert for hostile enemies and must constantly choose and enact aggressive behaviors.

Exposing children to continual stream of violent scene. In contrast with the book of Grossman and DeGaetano, where in the authors were more subjective of the subject matter; by trying to make a call and make action on media violence, Douglas A. Gentile showed neutrality on the issue and focused more on how to guide parents and professionals decide on the issue after presenting the data’s.

Grossman, Dave, and Gloria Degaetano. Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: a Call to Action Against TV, Movie & Video Game Violence. First ed. New York: Crown, 1999. 9-22.

LT. Col. Dave Grossman ia retired US Army, a professor of military science inArkansa State University. He is the author of On Killing: Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, and specialized in the study of psychology of killing, which he called “killology.”

Gloria DeGaetano is a known educator in the field of media violence, and the author of Screen Smarts: A Family Guide To Media Literacy.

The authors, used data’s from different resources: books, journals, researches of different authors, in order to come with a book which calls for an action against T.V.., movie and video game violence... The book talks about different factors as to the effect of media violence on children. The authors are very much concern of the negative effects of this violence in media as well as video games to children.

They presented in their book the negative effects of media violence to society, that in reality there are a lot of children and teenagers engage themselves into violent acts, and the disadvantages that this gives to the individual, their family and the society. The researcher used this book, because it gives a distinct description on what the researcher is trying to pint out, that there is significant negative effect on the child’s behavior, it does not only gave comprehensive details, but the insights of the authors made it more meaningful.

Johnson, Steven. Everything Bad is Good for You. Canada: Riverhead Books, 2005. 27-61.

Steven Johnson is the bestselling author Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life. He is a well-known writer in New York University. He currently writes a column on Discovery Magazine the “Emerging Technology,” and editor to New York Times Magazine

The author put emphasis on his book that violence on television and video games are not really bad for children. For the author, the kind of education that video games are giving is not learned in classroom situations or cannot be seen in museums. There are benefits in playing violent computer games.

The author wants to tell the reader that the learning in computer games enhances cognitive faculties, not dumping them down. Parents should not worry about their children playing violent computer games. In contrast with the study made by Bushman and Anderson and that of Joanne Cantor, where in the two believed that there is significant negative effect of violent video games on children

Tompkins, Aimee. "The Psychological Effects of Violent Media on Children." AllPsych Journal (2003). 20 Apr. 2008 <http://allpsych.com/journal/violentmedia.html>.

The author used the reports of the studies made by the Academy of Pediatric Society, The National Coalition on Television violence and cited stories where in violent video game fanatics were involved in shooting incidents and killing people, in order to assess the psychological effects of violent media on children.

After presenting and analyzing the studies Made, the author concluded that there was no proof either positive or negative long term outcomes of violent media and that parent’s should pay more attention on the activities of their children. In contrast on the result of the study made by Bushman & Anderson, that there is a significant effect on the behavior of children by increasing their aggression. This study was given importance in this essay because it gave another perspective on the issue discussed.

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