Do Children who watch/Play Violent Videos for Hours Become Physically and Emotionally Violent?

Abstract

Over the last few years, there has been a very heated debate in the courts, the house of senate, house of congress, and in the public domain concerning the effects of video games on children. There are people who believe that watching violent videos and playing such games actually causes violent behaviors among the young people. However, others are of the opinion that only playing video games does result in such behaviors. On the other hand, other groups of people believe and argue that only playing violent games rather than watching such videos brings such behaviors.

Introduction

The issues of whether watching violent videos and games does have an influence in making children develop emotional and physical violence has been openly talked about, more so in the United States. Although there are some people who oppose the idea that watching violent videos and games for long periods of time make young people violent, some people think that this is not the case.

Discussion for the idea

Senator Jay Rockefeller was asked by Michael Venables why he had earlier suggested that there is a very close link between watching and playing violent videos and games and developing violent behaviors by children. He replied that there had been some casual studies that pointed to the direction that watching and playing violent videos had influence on the behavior of the young people. He has interacted with several people and families thus giving him a lot of experiences with families. In addition, several observations show that watching violent videos and games actually has influence on developing violent behaviors among young people (Rockefeller). Moreover, he believes that there is enough evidence showing that there is an effect of watching such videos and playing the games. Nonetheless, he acknowledges that scientifically there has been no prove, but believes that the national academy of sciences would work a way out to prove that watching violent videos and games has an effect on young people.

When playing video games, young people are actively involved. According to Bushman, active involvement in playing such games creates violent thoughts and ideas among the players. Additionally, in most cases, they would want to associate with the characters in that game, more so their favorite ones.

According to Bushman, watching and playing violent videos create the eye-hand condition. Nevertheless, he acknowledges that non-violent videos and games could also create similar eye-hand conditions. According to Bushman, some of the reasons as to why people believe that there is nothing wrong with watching such violent videos is the notion that no one is killed in reality.

In addition, lack of understanding of personal characteristics as much as one does to biological characteristics is another effect. For instance, he argued that people who watch these videos and games do not understand their own emotions but only look at the physical impact. This makes the impact of watching and playing such video games psychological rather than physical. This psychological impact could lead to the violent behaviors and activities when unmanaged (The Future of Children 2).

Studies done in the past have shown that video games are closely related to children becoming cognitively aggressive emotionally and behaviorally. People who watch these videos and play such games become more positive towards violence and develop the use of violent language and genres. In several schools, there have been reports that children who play violent video games are often more physically aggressive than their counterparts who do not play or watch violent videos.

A research on the effects of violent movies and videos came to a conclusion that watching them has an effect since it increases violence and aggressive behavior. Findings indicated that there was 49% increase in violent behavior among a group of people who were heavy viewers of violent television programs. There is no evidence that watching violent videos leads to violent crime. Nonetheless, violent behaviors are very common judging from some of the findings (Hall, Day and Hall, 315). There is also a question of the differences in the impacts of watching and playing violent videos and video games respectively. Moreover, the negative impact of playing games is more significant than that of watching videos.

Discussion against the Idea

There has not been any scientific relationship between violent behaviors and watching and playing violent movies and games respectively. Chris Ferguson, the Chairman of Psychology and Communication at the Texas A&M International University said that he believed that there was no scientific relationship between watching violent videos and crime (Gardner). He said that if the government would consider reducing the amount of violence in movies and games, then this would be the wrong way to achieve a reduction of crime. Furthermore, children could distinguish between reality and fantasy. She argued that these people seldom would do the things in fantasy, in reality (Gardner). Furthermore, kids grow older to become more and more aware of the difference between fantasy and reality. Both Ferguson and Laura were of the idea that parents bear the biggest responsibility when guiding their children. Consequently, they should guide their children and advise them accordingly.

There has not been any scientific connection between watching violent videos and games and being aggressive. In addition, playing video games gives people an opportunity to actively exercise their minds just like in sports (Hall, Dayand Hall, 319). The report observed that playing video games had a similar impact as what people get from playing sports, which allows room for a better functioning of the brain. Although violent language may be common among people who play violent video games, violent crimes have not been attributed to watching or playing such videos or games.

Most of the researches that have been done in the world on violent videos do not prove the cause of violence. In fact, the rates of crimes that have involved young people have been reducing since 1996. However, during the same time, the numbers of violent video sales have been on the increase according to Harvard University, which proves that essentially, watching violent videos does not lead to violence and crime.

Dr. Patrick, from Villanova University and Dr. Charlotte, his compatriot from Rutgers University said that some young people are affected by watching violent videos and games, but most of them do not get affected. Moreover, it is the personality of these young people that has a big role to play in determining whether they would be affected. Additionally, Dr. Cheryl from the Massachusetts Hospital conducted a study on 1,254 students and realized that those who played games with their siblings opted for mature rated versions. She concluded that the situation in which the young people watched these videos determined their behavior (Hall, Day and Hall, 317).

A report released after the comic books debate that was phenomenal in the 1950s said that reading them had severe negative influence on the good psychological development of young people. The report said that the books taught contempt of police and other authorities. After the report, there was a development of codes of ethics on which comic books were written henceforth. In the case of Schwarzenegger vs. Entertainment Merchants Association, the judge was highly expected to base the ruling on the report on the comic books (Hall, Day and Hall, 321). However, the judge did the unexpected. The court ruled that banning the violent videos was uncalled for and would interfere with the freedom of speech. In addition, judge said that the bill was unprecedented and mistaken.

Conclusion

There are several cases of young people becoming violent of late in the United States. Most people have blamed watching and playing violent videos and games for developing violent activities among these people. Despite the fact that there has been no scientific prove that watching violent videos develops violence among the youths, there are several casual studies and researches that have proven that watching and playing violent videos have a negative effect on young people (Hall, Day and Hall, 320). However, critics of banning violent videos in the United States have argued that they (violent videos) have not created violence. They blame misconduct on other activities and failures in the responsibilities of parents and guardians to advise the youths accordingly.

The impact that violent videos have on the emotional and physical health is also an issue. Some studies have shown that watching violent videos only has an emotional impact with very little physically (The Future of Children, 1). However, emotional violence could easily lead to physical violence. The president of the United States, Barrack Obama, asked the Congress to allocate funds for an investigation towards the matter. Therefore, a better understanding of the underlying issue will be clear when the report will be out to provide truth.

Nevertheless, one can conclude that watching and playing video games have an impact on developing emotional violence among the youth. Even though, there has been no scientific prove that watching and playing such videos lead to physical violence, emotional violence can easily lead to violence. Parents and guardians are tasked with the role of ensuring that youths understand the difference between reality and fantasy. They should also make sure that the conditions are very favorable for their children. Children who watch and play violent videos are likely to engage in violent activities only if the conditions are not favorable. Most importantly, parents, guardians and the society as a whole should come in to guide the young people.

Works Cited

Bushman, Brad.“The Effects of Violent Video Games. Do They Affect OurBehavior?” International Human Press,12 Feb. 2013. N.p. Web. 10 April 2013. <http://www.ithp.org/articles/violentvideogames.html>.

Gardner, Joshua. “Do Video Games Make Kids Violent?” ABC News.ABC News Network. 17 Dec. 2012. N.p.Web. 10 April 2013 <http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/12/17/do-video-games-make-kids-violent/>.

Hall, Ryan, Day, Terri and Hall, Richard. “A Plea for Caution: Violent Video Games, the Supreme Court, and the Role of Science.”Mayo Clin Proc., 86. 4 (2011): 315–321.

Harvard University. “ Violent Video Games and Young People.” Harvard Health Publications. 3 Oct. 2010.N.p. Web. 10 April 2013 <http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Mental_Health_Letter/2010/October/violent-video-games-and-young-people>.

Rockefeller, Jay. “Causality Question.” Interview by Michael Venables. West Virginia, Feb. 2013. Web.

The Future of Children. “Children and Electronic Media”.The Future of Children, 18. 1 (2002): 1-2. Web. 10 April 2013. <http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/18_01_FullJournal.p>.