There have been many arguments that have been brought up arguing that violent video games are making kids more violent. Some arguments go as far as saying all video games are making kids more violent. However, the argument can go both ways. People have brought up that video games help kids with hand eye coordination and allow them to vent their frustrations. The earliest videogame has been around since 1958, and this game was a simple game that had no human and no violence in it. As technology became more advanced the videogames became more violent.
Starting with a ball bouncing right and left in a videogame called Tennis for Two and ending with an incredibly violent video game that encourages killing other humans in Manhunt 2. There has been much research done on violent video games and their effects on kids, but no outcome has been decided yet. One side of the argument views videogames as a good thing. They think that videogames do not affect kids in any way and that some are good for kids. Talking about two boys that have ADD, “video games, as prescribed by their psychologist, have helped them learn to focus” (Mike Snider, 2005 p. ).
Video games are helping train kids to focus, and it is doing it in a fun way. Kids learn better when they are interested in what they are doing and video games make learning fun and interactive. When playing a video game the fun parts are remembered by the kids and if the fun parts are educational, they will learn it. Other studies have shown that video game violence does not make kids more violent like people say, but at the most it just desensitizes them to violence.
This is only true if they play violent video games, but a study showed that “the three most popular types of games are nonviolent. Instead, they involve racing, puzzles and sports” (Sieberg, Daniel 2008 p. 1). Some kids are playing violent video games, but the majority of kids are playing games that may actually help them. Puzzle games make kids think more on how to solve problems and sport games make kids want to get up and try the sport that they see. With all of the new technology coming out, it allows kids to be more active. The newest system from Nintendo is the Wii.
This is a game system that makes kids get up and move to play forcing children to get some exercise even if they do not know it. So video games really are helping the kids in today’s world. On the other side, arguments have been raised saying that video games are making kids more violent. A study done in American Psychology Association showed that kids that play violent video games have a rise in violent thoughts and actions. The Washington Post wrote, “Playing violent video games increases violent thinking, attitudes and behaviors among players.
And does nothing to promote positive social behaviors” (2010 p. 1). When kids that played a violent videogame for 30 minutes have a scan of their brain, there is a rise of activity in the emotion part of their brain showing that violent video games causes these kids to think differently. Because the emotional part of the brain is more active, kids will have a harder time making wise decisions. There have been arguments that video game violence desensitizes kids to violence and that since they do not feel remorse for murder, they will just go out and kill someone.
Kids learn from everyday experiences and the kids in today’s world play hours of videogames a week, so kids are learning from the video games that they play. Because a video game shows that killing is good, that the more creative the kill the more money, and the more violent the better, kids might pick up on this idea and bring it to the real world. If at a young enough age some kids will believe anything and with the age of kids playing violent video games dropping, the young kids will learn bad things from these video games. As early as the first Space Invaders game there was violence.
Back then it might just have been a spaceship exploding into tiny pixels, but there was still shooting involved. The ways of violence seems to be the same; it is just that everything now is bloodier and more graphic. Bernard Farrales says, “Even though the levels of realism and gore have increased, it can be said that video games have NOT become more violent since the basic goal is the same: shoot and kill everything in your way” (Farrales p. 1). Even from the beginning there has been violence, but as time went on and technology became more advanced the videogames became more graphic.
Now not only are people destroying small pixilated spaceships, they are killing anything that moves in many gruesome ways. Many video games are violent they might not be as violent as people being decapitated but there is some hidden violence within. A video game called Mario Cart may seem like a simple racing game with no violence, but there is some violence when one of the characters throws turtle shells or even bombs at the other characters. There is violence in so many video games whether it is horrific or minor people may not see it.
Is the violence in video games violent totally necessary? To some it seems like it while to others it does not. Parents of the kids that have these video games feel that this violence is not needed because of what it might do to their kids. Susan Grinde, a mother from East Wenatchee, says “Violent video games encourage disrespectful and violent behavior as it distorts fantasy and reality. ” Parents do not want their kids to grow up to be violent because they care for their kids and want the best for them. Video game companies on the other hand love the violence.
Violence is the number one seller in video games because the majority of the buyers are teenage boys who love the violence. In today’s society violence is wanted by many people because it gives them a way to vent their frustrations. People have violence and killer instincts within themselves, and people play violent video games to fulfill their killer needs. This makes for a very good business in the video game industry. Times have changed and so has the video games. October 18, 1958 brought about the firs ever video game called Tennis For Two.
People in this time period were so entertained by this phenomenon because it was new and interesting. More games came out like Tennis For Two, like Pong. When one video game comes out and is a big hit with society, other games come out because that is what interest people. When violent video games began to come out, the people did not know what to think about them. Mortal Combat was one of the first violent video game, and some people did not know what to think about it because it was the first to show death on a computer.
As time went on people began to like these new forms of video games more and more so video game companies tried to give the people what they wanted. Violence began to sell incredibly well so the companies tried to make their games more violent so that people would buy them like the video game Gears of War which has blood in every scene. In today’s world, so many video games are violent because of the addiction to violence we have. So from Tennis For Two to Gears of War, video game companies are just trying to give the people what they want.
