vicious acts and video game

The sort of socialization that a child experiences in society have a direct effect on his or her actions. The style of games that children play, the television that they watch, and the peers that they retain are all social forces that affect the behavior of many children in the United States. However, with the recent trend of many children preferring to play video games, the influences they derive from the games drive their behavior when they are around their peers. According to the American Psychological Association, violent video games have raised rates of social violence and decreased sensitivity among many adolescents (Toppo 1). Other notable influences that are drawn from the addiction to the video games include aggressive effect and aggressive behavior towards peers and the elderly. However, there are limited studies that have been conducted on how the video games could exacerbate the criminal behavior of an individual. Studies have affirmed that video games contribute to vicious acts especially amongst teens.

Relationship between Violent Video game and Vicious behavior

The negative influence that many teens receive from the violent video games is a result of poor or limited parental control. Many parents, especially those of the millennial age, tend to ignore the influences that their children receive from the various forms of media. As a result, the press is the sole source of information from which the children could learn on the behavior that they need to guide their conduct. The primary objective of the video games is to entertain the children. However, the combination of the game with some social issues that are recorded, such as, the persons going through awkward moments when they are still young, and bullying could be a motivating factor for the children to continue with the indulgence in violent activities.

The video games are a big industry within the United States that attracts about 7.3 billion dollars in the form of purchases that different people have to make for the various games. Additionally, there are reports that approximately 700 million dollars are utilized annually in the process of renting the video games. Such states the high level of influence that the video games have to the ordinary members of the society children and adolescents included. The role that the video games have to play in the shaping of the human behavior is immense owing to the endorsements that the industry has continually attracted. The messages that an audience receives from the content that watches through the various media is stored within the subconscious with the individual having a perception of why staging or beginning a fight is an ideal thing.

A human being has the potential and capability to learn through the indirect means. Notably, many people get to know the celebrities and their fashion styles even without having to meet with the prominent personality. The personalities that one gets to meet the various form of media play a crucial role in dictating the kind or nature of a person that he or she could be. Therefore, the regular watching of the video games could activate indirect learning, but in an active way. Some of the issue or subjects that one may get to learn to include how to use a gun and the tactics that he or she may employ for self-defense. The media that we often watch has a piece of its content that is engrained within the subconscious. The building of such knowledge through the current watching of such movie genre is contributory to the behavior of aggression that the individual is likely to come up with.

Factors such as being bullied, having a mental illness and being socially isolated together with the aspect of playing competitive video games cause an increase in aggression as can be shown through the studies of school shootings. Although several factors contribute to acts of aggression, violent video games play a critical role in the increase in aggressive actions of the gamers. Studies have shown that violent video games increase antisocial behavior such as a decreased feeling of empathy, kindness and increase the intensity of aggression. Compassion prevents instances of assault, therefore, without it, an individual’s beliefs for other people decreases thus leading to an increase in aggressive acts such as bullying. Increase in aggressive cognitions and aggressive affect are caused by violent video games which increases aggression. Violent video games tend to normalize acts of aggression making aggressive actions more appealing to the modern generation. Young children who play violent video games have not mentally developed their perception and personalities, therefore; exposure to such aggressive games makes them violent. This is because they are yet to understand the difference between reality and the fiction portrayed in the games making it easier for them to be aggressive as they imitate the game. Violent video games desensitize violence for the children used to playing them as they become applied to the force that is simulated in the games, therefore, increasing the chances of engaging in the aggressive and deviant behavior. Exposure to violence especially in young children impacts negatively on their behavior thus violent video games causes them to be violent in real life as they practice what they see on the screens. Due to the nature of rewarding acts of aggression to simulated video games, attack in the outside world may also increase with the expectations of getting a similar reward, especially among young gamers. It also leads to an increase in bullying and other aggressive acts as it teaches that conflicts can only be solved through forceful means. They also lack excellent decision-making skills thus identifying with the violent characters and copying the violence that they witness while playing the games.

Video games enhance the cognitive aggression of the player as they use realistic controllers which the gamer may project in real life thus demonstrating aggressive behaviors. They reward active participation in violent acts thus encouraging aggression as a result of the pleasant feeling of the gamer when they commit the violent act. Video games act as a sufficient training ground for players as their violent acts are highly rewarding thus, training the brain to engage more in acts of aggression. Video games that portray women as sexual objects increase the gamers attitude of objectifying women in real life and hence an increase in hostility towards women leading to rape and cases sexual harassment cases. It is because an increase in playing video games that feature sexual violence towards women males the game desensitized to sexual abuse. Video games are used by the military to train soldiers, it is an advantage to them because they possess discipline and maturity to handle the violent scenes but for most gamers who are children such games males they develop problematic behaviors. Excessive exposure to video games may lead to low grades in schools which result in aggressive behavior.

The issue of the powerful influence that is found through the continual playing of the violent games tends to have the same effect on both girls and boys. In a study by Anderson and Christine, the young women also tend to develop a more violent approach in the way and manner through which they intend with their professional peers. Therefore, the effects of such games are universal and are not only more prominent in the male gender, despite the reliance on some studies on the male gender as being the most affected by such games.

Parental mentoring is another valid form of regulating the habit that a child may develop the influences that he or she receives from the media. Parental guidance enables a child to teach good morals and to avoid the negative pressure that they may develop from the press Gentile, (Douglas et al 5). Many teens adopt what they see of lean from the media owing to lack of parental guidance and the need to feel personal satisfaction due to the lack of direction from their parents. The hospitality that a teen also tends to get from his or her colleagues and the teachers could neutralize the effects of violence that he or she receives from the regular play of the computer games. As such, the quality of socialization of the child is critical in enhancing the nature of relations that he or she may develop.

The moderate playing of the violent games could also be of benefit to the healing process of an individual. In a study conducted by Griffiths, the regular playing of the violent games by a team, healing from injuries, could help facilitate his or he recovery process owing to the fun that they receive from playing the game (1). As such, the video games are therapeutic and can be used to advance the treatment process that the child has to undergo the injuries that he or she may have developed. Therefore, to the extent that the video games entertain, they are therapeutic and can be used to facilitate recovery for some patients.

The growth in the technological uptake across many societies is changing the manner through which tens are playing their preferred violent games. Currently, many teens prefer to play the games online. The online option enables the children to play with another online player without even knowing each other, online games are growing to be a preferable source of entertainment. However, the negative influence that could be drawn is the inability of the children to meet and socialize with their peers. One of the games that is being mostly preferred by the teens is Call of Duty Black Ops (Greitemeyer and Hollingdale 3). As such, the progress that is made in making the violent games to be available to the online option works against their need to interact better with their peers, thus, undermining the quality of life that they ought to enjoy. The online option also tends to limit the benefits that the children may draw from social interactions.

The impact that the video games may have on the individual behavior needs to be analyzed with the intent of regulating the gaming industry. Studies have indicated that the violent games goes contrary to the need of nurturing good traits within an individual, thus, could be a motivating factor for the teens to engage in various forms of crime. The video games tend to lower the level of self-control that the teens ought to enjoy to make more rational decisions. Instead, the violent games make the children to have the perception of using violence to gain access to what they may need, thus, hampering their process of development within the society. Criminal psychologist are of the view that the violent video games are detrimental to the normal development process of the children, thus, the need to bring up a policy that would regulate their content (Shaw 1).

Games are not only created with the objective of entertaining, but to have a role in the shaping of behavior for their intended users. The influence is superficially evident in the extent through which they become addictive. Many teens spend up to 8 hours each night playing the computer games and tend to have limited tome for recreation. As such, the minds of the kids who ate addicted to the computer games tend to have the propensity of applying that which they have learnt in the game in their real life contexts.

The vicious acts that the teens tend to exude are solely based on their limited interactions with their peers. Playing the games often is done indoors where the child has to physical reach to his or her peers. Additionally, the vicious acts are products of the negative values that the children tend to develop while playing the games. Some of the negative values is the use of foul language and portraying of women as being women. Majority of the teens who admitted to engaging in criminal activities owing to the negative influences that they receive have women as their victims. The violent video games tend to pave way for the sexual provocations that mainly target women, thus, leading to the male teens losing respect for women and viewing women as objects of abuse and sexual pleasure.

Vicious behavior that is often evident in the children is further driven by the low self-esteem that they develop owing to their physical health and attributes and the poor performance in schools. Children who are addicted to the violent video games tend to play them at night, thus, spending most of their day time sleeping. Such leads to the children spending the class duration sleeping, thus, undermine their need to learn. Therefore, the low self-esteem that they receive from the low grades and the tormenting comments that they receive from their peers of them being obese could lead them into developing the vicious behavior.

Counterarguments

Playing the violent video games could be of benefit to the children and could not exclusively lead to the children engaging in any vicious act. Playing of the computer games, including the violent ones, serves to enhance the cognitive development of the teens. Playing the violet computer games often requires concentration and drive up the adrenaline levels in the child. Such leads to the strengthened of nerve circuits in the brain, thus, enhancing cognitive development in the teens. The violent computers also require an accurate hand to eye coordination that enables the use to enhance their visual spatial ability (Park 1). Such is a benefit to the development of the teens. The violent games often call for higher level of concentration and the need to act swiftly and accurate. Such may serve to improve on the critical thinking capability of the children, thus, enabling them to inculcate problem solving skills in their lives. Fourth, the computer games enable the children to foster teamwork in their practice. The games often require the children to work in team or to look for an opponent to whom they have to agree on the ground rules for the game. Such serves to build on the interpersonal skills that the teens need to exude.

Recommendation

There is need to come with the entertainment software rating board that gauges the nature of influence that a video game could have on children. Additionally, there is need to offer advisory to the purchasers of the video games on the extent of control that is required and the children of a given age set who are authorized to participate in playing the game, owing to the influence that they draw and based on their cognitive development rates. Psychological developments of the end users need to be taken into consideration in the design of the various video games before they are brought to the market for use by the children. Furthermore, there is need to focus on the long-term effects that the video games may have on the psychosocial development of the children, with the focus being on a longitudinal study of children with the ages of 10 to 15 years. The influence of the violent video game son the psychosocial development of the children needs to be further aggregated based on gender, with the aim of determining how the violent video games influence girls and boys differently.

Conclusion

Teens who are addicted to the violent video games are highly likely to develop vicious behavior. Such teens are likely to be socially isolated from their peers and may draw little or no inspiration or guidance from their parents or caregivers, the values that such children receive is based on the games that they play. The habits such as being physically violent and having the propensity to engage in sexual assault against women since they perceive them as being a weaker gender constitute some of the negative influences that the children tend to receive. Therefore, there is need for proper parenting to ensure that the children have limited influence that they draw from the video games that they engage in for a major proportion of their times. Additionally, each video game needs to be properly vetted and age recommendation laid before they are allowed to retail or made available to the teens. Teen counseling also needs to be on the increase. The counseling needs to target the children who have been identified to be having social exclusion behavior that prevents them from socializing with their peers. The of the video games tend to be more prominent on the boy child, but tend to overlap on the girls too owing to the equal access of such games either at home or in school. As a solution to the issue, there is need to develop fun and educative games that would please the children as opposed to the violent video games.

Works Cited

“Why Video Games Make You Aggresive.” YouTube, Uploaded by Seeker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm_l4jEb6us.

Anderson, Craig A. and Christine R. Murphy. “Violent Video Games and Aggressive Behavior in Young Women.” Aggressive Behavior, vol. 29, no. 5, Oct. 2003, pp. 423-429. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.555.8340&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Accessed 27 May 2017.

Gentile, Douglas A., et al. “The Effects of Violent Video Game Habits on Adolescent Hostility, Aggressive Behaviors, and School Performance.” Journal of Adolescence, vol. 27, no. 1, Feb. 2004, pp. 5. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140197103000927. Accessed 27 May 2017.

Griffiths, Mark. “Video Games and Health: Video Gaming Is Safe for Most Players and Can Be Useful in Health Care.” British Medical Journal, Vol. 331 ,no. 1, 2005. http://www.academia.edu/429548/Griffiths_M.D._2005_._Video_games_and_health._British_Medical_Journal_331_122-123. Accessed 31 August 2017.

Park, Alice. ”Violent Video Games Change Kids to Think More Aggressively.” Time, http://time.com/34075/how-violent-video-games-change-kids-attitudes-about-aggression. Accessed 24 Sep 2017.

Shaw, Julia. ”Time to Rethink the Video Games and Violence Debate.” CNN, http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2013/12/05/time-to-rethink-the-video-games-and-violence-debate. Accessed 24 Sep 2017.

Toppo, Greg. ”Do Video Games Inspire Violent Behavior?” Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-video-games-inspire-violent-behavior/. Accessed 31 August 2017.