The effects of violent video games on children

Effects of Violent Video Games on Children
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Effects of Violent Video Games on Children
Abstract
The paper discusses the effects of the violent video games to the children. The study has shown that the violent video games have increased aggressive behavior in children and hence their behavior is affected negatively. The academic performance of the children who engage in the violent video games is poor. The games also make the children to lack passion in the realization of their talents. The children easily engage in fights. The violent video games make the children believe that heroism is acquired through fighting. Additionally, the paper shows that the children have poor socialization skills since they spend most of their time alone on the computers playing the games. The project recommends that parents should check the games that their children are playing. They should be the supervisor to ensure that no violent video games are played by their kids. Therefore, the paper will play a major role in educating various parties on the effects of violent video games.
Keywords: Violent video games, children, negative consequences, aggressive behavior, poor socialization skills, effects on children, and gamers.
Introduction and Problem Statement
Computer games encompass all the video games that are played on personal computers and require user engagement to win. Over the years, there has been the development of complicated hardware and software that have helped in the advancement of the computer.

For instance, violent computer games have become more common with the invention of the digital distribution. Besides, the vast market of the smartphone has expanded the distribution of the violent computer games and diversified the players. One of the most significant markets for the violent computer games are the children and young generation. Some of the games such as Hatred trigger a response that significantly contributes to aggressive behavior among the children. The game embodies a character that behaves like a sociopath and shoots innocent bystanders and police officers. There extensive use of crude weapons such as guns and axes to take the lives of innocent citizens and rescue teams. On the other hand, in Bloodborne, there is the use of devastating weaponry such as axes and scythes to hunt and destroy creatures in the game. Similarly, Dying Light has many scenes of blind thirst player that kills zombies using crude weapons, incineration, and electrocution. The violent computer games are based on killing, aggression, and hatred; the player has to hunt and kill the opponents to amass points and emerge the winner at the end of the game.
The diverse players of the violent computer games do it to pass the time and release stress. In fact, there is research showing there are psychological benefits in engaging in activity that involves the brain. Other groups advocating for the computer games note is an expressive medium for the payers. In some studies, there is an argument for violent computer games noting it increases patient and cognitive skills among the children. The supporters of the computer games push for protection of the violent games owing to their positive impacts on the development of children. However, there are other studies and social groups that call for banning and restriction of the computer games due to their adverse impacts on the children. For instance, violent computer games have been noted to change both the behavior and attitude of the players. With such changes, the children tend to be aggressive and ultimately engage in violent activities such as mass shooting and terrorism. The interactive nature of the computer games due to calculated moves to kill the enemy affect the attitude of the children. In the long run, the child may tend to hate the police officers and other social groups based on the nature of the game. According to the General Aggression Model, violent video games have a cognitive impact that causes aggression among the children. The physical arousal tends to influence the player to be hostile in dealing with issues that could be handled with a simple conversation (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Smith, & Tosca, 2015). Besides, the violent computer game has a significant impact on the thought process of the player. Such changes could lead to hate, aggression, and addiction.
Despite the controversies associated with the violent computer games, there is scarce research on the effects of computer games on the children. A significant portion of the current literature of violent computer games is based on conjecture; therefore, it is insufficient to for policy change targeting the computer games and the users. The research will focus on impacts of the violent computer games on the children based on survey.
Context
The project will focus on the effect of the violent video games. It will mainly focus on the consequences that they have on the individual child, the parents, teachers, other children and the society at large. The project will base its facts on research that could collect data from sampled members of the society. Additionally, it will do a consultation with the teachers and psychologist who may be having the first hard information concerning the negative consequences of the violent video games on the children. Schools, homes and counseling centers will be the common places where reliable information will be obtained. Changes that may occur will not affect the results of the project since the consequences of the violent video games will remain the same since they affect the child psychologically.
Target Audience
The intervention has many target audience who are affected by the violent video games either directly or indirectly. One of the target audience are the children who engage in the violent video games. The intervention will provide knowledge concerning the video games and how they may affect the behavior of an individual. The main objective here is to discourage the child from participating in the violent video games. In most cases, children engage in the games for the lack of knowledge. After reading this document, the children will be able to know facts concerning the effect of the video games to their lives. The research is mainly focused on the child since he or she is the one who is greatly affected by the behavior. Delivering the knowledge to the student will ensure that the information is distributed to the other peers thus they can also reduce the involvement in the violent video games. For instance, if a child is aware that the violent video games have negative consequences, he or she may also inform the classmates, and hence the intervention may be successful.
Secondly, the parents and guardians are also the target audience for the intervention. They are the people who spend most of the time with the children hence they should know the effects of the games their children are engaging. The parents and family members should aim at ensuring that their children do not play games that may have negative effects. The lack of knowledge concerning the effects may push the parents to be happy when their children play games without knowing the problems that may be caused by the games. Therefore, after the information, the parents and family members will be able to select the video games that are friendly to the children. For instance, they should first check the video games before allowing the kids to play them. Additionally, the information will enable them to know how to discourage their children from engaging in the violent video games despite the demand and pressure induced by the peers of the child. For example, a child may demand to have the video game that his or her friend was brought by his or her parents. With the knowledge, the parent will research the game and know whether it has negative consequences or not. Thus, it is essential for the parent to understand the effects of the violent video games.
The teachers may also be targeted by the research since they spend a lot of time with the children. Teachers are the people who spend a lot of time with the kids after their parents and family members. They have the objective of acting as counselors to ensure that the children avoid the violent video games. For instance, teachers may give precaution to the children for them to avoid the games. Additionally, the intervention may call for the school management to avoid installing violent video games that may affect the behavior of the children. For instance, they should avoid the games that involve people who are hurting others since this may lead to the coping of that behavior by the children and thus affect their character negatively. The violent video games at the schools may make the children engage in fights after copying what they saw in the games. Thus, the games may cause conflict in schools. Therefore, the teachers should ensure that no child play such games.
Goals and objectives
The study of the effects is based on achieving several goals. One, it aims at informing the children of the risk of playing the violent video games. For instance, the intervention may explain to the children that the games may lead to the involvement in fighting and other violent activities. For example, the games that involve boxing may influence the students to box the other in the schools or other areas in the society. Therefore, it is important to reduce the games so that the children can live peacefully in the society. Additionally, in many cases, the children engage in the violent video games due to the lack knowledge. Thus, the presence of the knowledge could ensure that the children avoid the practices.
Secondly, the children have to be studied and checked how they related with the classmates, teachers and parents. Children should be educated the need to socialize well with other people to ensure that there is a peaceful co-existence between the children and the other people. Additionally, they need to be educated that the society life is not as it appears in the video games. The problems that may exist among the children should be solved by talking but not fights as the violent video games may instruct. Furthermore, it is important to listen and respect the elderly in the society. This objective will ensure that the problems which related to the disrespect due to the influence of the violent video games is reduced. Therefore, in case the children are behaving in unappealing way, they have to be counseled and brought back to the reality so that they can avoid viewing the world and other occurrences based on the influence of the violent video games.
Thirdly, the study will also aim at educating the parents on the games that they should avoid buying for the children. Most of the children engage in the violent video games as from when they are too young because the games are purchased by their parents with the aim of making them happy. However, the intentions to make the children happy may end up ruining their lives. The games are mainly new technologies that were not present at the time when the parents were being brought up. Therefore, the parents or guardians have no idea of the best games to engage the children. Most of the parents are only sensitive to ensure that their children do not play games that expose them to sexual matters. The study will also help them understand that they should not also engage the children in violent video games since it may make them violent.
The study may also aim at calling for knowing how the violent video games access can be reduced to the children. It will involve the point of view of the members of the society so that they can give the best idea that can be applied to ensure that the children only engage the games that cannot affect their behavior. For instance, research will be done to know how the government can be engaged to ensure that the violent games have an age limit and that children do not play the games. Additionally, the study will educate the teachers on the games they should install in the schools. Friendly video games will ensure that there is a peaceful relationship among the students in school.
Literature Review
Violent video games have great effects on the lives of the children. The behavior of those engaged in the practices is affected negatively. According to Gentile, Bender, and Anderson (2017), the violent video games increase the aggressive thought in children. The experiment conducted aimed at checking the extent to which violent video games may influence the character of a child. Participants were randomly selected where some were assigned nonviolent video games while the other group was assigned violent video games. The outcome showed that the people who engaged in the violent video games had increased cortisol and also cardiovascular arousal, especially for the boys. Additionally, it increased aggressive thought. On the other hand, those who played the nonviolent video games were not affected. Therefore, they concluded that the violent video games might increase the rate of fights among the children.
According to Greitemeyer and Mugge (2014), the violent video games affect the social relations of an individual. The study discovered that the violent video games increased aggression and hence resulted in aggression-related behavior. Additionally, the children who engaged in the violent video games had poor socialization skills since they easily got angry. They were poor in the speech because they spent most of their free time lonely on the computers playing the games. Therefore, it was evident that the violent video games made the children poor in socialization.
Need Analysis
Various methods were applied to collect data that could express the effects that are caused by the violent video games on the children. The methods chosen were the most convenient since they involved the majority of the people based on their different characteristics. The varying characteristics may be level of education, race, social class, and gender among others. The information gathered contributed greatly in the process of the coming up with a precise conclusion. The methods that were applied to different people are based on their level of education and the availability of an individual respondent. The method that was applied in this study as survey.
Data Collection Instruments
Survey
The study selected this method since it could give information that could be trusted in the research. Various people needed to be included in the process to ensure that the information collected was from all the fields. Mobile methods were used to obtain information from people who lived in areas that could be expensive to reach. Also, questionnaires were sent to those areas so that they could be sent back later. Additionally, some online surveys were done to collect the data that could be filled by people who could only be reached through the internet (Durrant et al., 2016). There were the online questionnaires and the paper questionnaires. People who could not be reached by the paper questionnaires were requested to fill the online one that could be accessible through the internet from any part all over the world (Couper, 2005).
Sampling has been applied to ensure that the data collected is distributed equally from various parties. The data that was collected to research the effects of violent video games came from people of different social classes, education levels, race, age and gender among others (Csikszentmihalyi, & Larson, 2014). The sampling enhanced the efficiency of the data since it engaged all members of the society. The experience for a particular group concerning the video games is different compared to that of another. For instance, the youths had more information on the violent video games compared to the elder people who do not have experience in the games. Therefore, the youths can be relied upon since they may have experience in the violent video games. Additionally, individual in a higher social class have more experience compared to those in the lower social classes. People in low social class aims at getting food and clothing thus they cannot afford to purchase the video. In fact, most of them have never used or seen the video games.
Sampling has enhanced the success of the data collected since it can be relied upon because many people are involved. The dependence on a single group of individuals may be misleading since they can only give information concerning the experiences that they have had concerning the video games. For example, depending on only the youths to give information concerning the issue may be misleading since they may talk in favor of the games because they may also be playing the games. Professions such as psychologists may be involved to give their point of view concerning the issue. The professions can be trusted more since they could have had the victims of the violent video games. Therefore, it is important to use sampling to avoid collecting data that is inclined to only one line.
Questionnaires were applied in the surveys to assist in the collection of data for the sampled groups. The method was applied where the respondents were learned, or they were not available for the face to face interviews. The questionnaires that were used had two parts. One of the parts was open-ended while the other was closed. In the open-ended questionnaires, the respondent could state the all the information he or she had concerning the effects of violent video games on the children. The ideas, in this case, are to be listed in the space provided. For instance, there can be a question asking how the video games may affect the behavior of the children. In such a case, the respondent is allowed to express all the ideas in the space provided. On the other hand, the close part of the questionnaire required that the respondent should choose among the answers provided by the researcher. Therefore, in this case, the extra ideas of the respondent was not needed. For instance, a question may require an answer of yes or no. Thus, in this case, the information needed did not require the explanation of the respondent. The closed part of the questionnaire was applied where the researcher only needed short and precise answers so that he or she could avoid confusing the respondent. For example, the researcher may need to know whether the respondent has ever been near someone affected by the violent video games. Hence, in such a question the answer needed could be either yes or no.
The feedback of the study was positive and many people who were asked to participate in the research turned up. There were about 100 paper questionnaires and among them, 92 were responded to and replied back to the researcher. 82 of the respondent in the questionnaires stated that they had experienced the effects of violent video games among the children. The other ten stated that they had heard from other close people of the effects of the violent video games to their children. Mostly, they had received information from either counsellors, teachers or the parents of the children. Therefore, although the information could be second hand, it was from trustworthy sources. Eight questionnaires did not reach the researcher. Three of the respondent stated that they had sent back the filled document. Thus, they could have missed in the process of sending them back to the researcher.
The response for the online questionnaires was more appealing compared to the paper questionnaires. Seventy people had been requested to give a response concerning the violent video games. Sixty nine of the sent questionnaires were filled. Only one questionnaires was not filled and the intended respondent gave a reason for the failure to respond. He stated that he had an urgent job commitment to a place where he could not access the internet. Among the 69, sixty five stated that their children had an addiction to the violent video games and their behavior had started changing abruptly. Half of them replied that they had uninstalled the violent video games from the computer. The other half stated that they were looking for advisory from professionals on the steps that they should take. Additionally, the three who had not had their children affected were people who were closely linked to the children. One of them was a counsellor and the other two were teachers. They stated that children were greatly affected by the violent video games. Furthermore, they stated that children who engaged in the violent video games performed poorly in their studies. Any child who is introduced to the violent video games start deteriorating both in terms behavior and academic.
The questionnaire method was advantageous for the study for several reasons. One, it did not require the researcher to be present for him or her to get the information. It could be sent to the respondent where he or she can fill the required fields and later send it back to the researcher. Therefore, the cost incurred is low since the interviewer did not have to travel to the area of the respondent (Rowley, 2014). Additionally, the questionnaires can give room for the response from individual who is very busy for an interview. For instance, the counselors may be very tight such that they could not get time for an interview. However, their experience on those affected by the violent video games may still be acquired. The counselor could give their points of view during his or her free time by filling in the questionnaire.
The questionnaire also had some disadvantages. One, the use of questionnaires was not applicable to the illiterate people. The method was only applied to correct information from the learned people who can be able to read and write. Additionally, some of the questionnaires may be lost after they are issued to people who cannot read and write. People may find it embarrassing to state that they cannot write. Thus, they just take the questionnaire with an argument that they would fill it later but only to keep it. Additionally, the absence of the researcher to intervene may make the respondent fill in data in a careless manner thus cannot be relied upon. Moreover, some of the questionnaires sent got lost on the way and hence did not reach the preferred destinations. Also, some of the respondents failed to send back the questionnaires.
Most people who participated in the research had the idea that children who engaged in the violent video games spent most the time in the computers and rarely talked to anyone. Additionally, they are arrogant to the elderly people and also their classmates. The respondents also stated that the children engaged in fights and disrespected the members of the society. They performed poorly in their academic work. Any child who could join such games could immediately start performing poorly due to the negative effects of the games. The children seemed to be less interested in other games thus they did not discover their talents. Teachers could note talents in these gamers but the process of nurturing them was hard since the children were not interested. Counsellors stated that the parents had the greatest role of ensuring that their children did engage in the violent video games. They argued that the parents fail their part of supervision and thus the children engage in the unethical games.
Summary of the Data
The study discovered that most of the children who engaged in the video games were less social. They spent most of the time indoors and hence lacked the socialization skills. When they were with other people, they talked less since they did have experience in engaging in conversations. Additionally, they avoided places which had many people since they could be forced to engage in conversations. Also, it was observed that they isolated themselves with other people and spent most of their free time in the houses playing the games. The video games seemed to be the best friend. The children who engaged in the games on had friends who also played the games. Most of the times their discussions are based on the games. For instance, they could state the games that are recent. Furthermore, it was observed that these children talked less in the classes and could rarely ask questions even if they did not understand a certain concept.
Analysis of the Data and Summarization of the Analysis
Children who engaged in the violent video games were seen to have aggressive feeling and behaviors. They were seen to be violent and developed conflicts with the other members of the society. In school, they engaged in fights with the other children (Ferguson et al., 2014). Additionally, they disrespected the teachers. The video games had made them have a certain feeling of heroism such that they felt that they were great and no person should control them. In case, they were wronged by the age mates; they tried to fight them rather than forgiving them. The games also make the children angry most of the times. Furthermore, the games keep them away from the reality of nature. They make them feel that there should be no reconciliation when there is conflict. In most of the games, conflicts were resolved through fights. Therefore, the children tend to copy what they see in the video games.
The violent video games were seen to make the children have confusion between reality and fantasy. The video games have a lot of fiction that may appear to be real to the children below the age of ten (Markey, Markey, & French, 2015). They may believe that whatever is observed in the games is a reality. Therefore, most of the children may try some actions that they had seen in the video games. For instance, many children were injured trying to jump from a high place like the balcony as they copy what they had seen in the games. Thus, they are injured. To some extent, some of the children have died in the process of trying to copy the actions they saw in the games. On the same, the children at school may fight the teachers and other students due to the influence of the violent video games.
The violent video games affect the academic excellence of the children. The kids spend most of the time in playing the violent video games fail in the exams. The psychologists argued that the concentration of such children is very low since their minds are mostly linked to the games they were previously playing. Their concentration is taken away by the fictions in the games. The children have the games in their minds, and thus they cannot understand the teaching in the class. Also, the games make the children believe that one becomes successful through fighting. Therefore, the lack the importance of education. They believe that one day they may be famous for being violent. Additionally, it is argued that the children are addicted to the games thus most of the times they spend on the games rather than studying. Students who do not engage in the games may use their free time in studying, and hence they perform better in class than those who engage in the games.
Summary of the Findings
The games may also teach the children wrong social values. They may be taught that the violent behavior is heroic (Boxer, Groves, & Docherty, 2015). Additionally, some of the games were viewed to disrespect the women. They showed that women were a weak gender and they should always do whatever the man wanted. Therefore, the children may tend to disrespect the females, and this may also include the elder ones such as the mothers and the teachers Furthermore, some of the violent video games may expose the children to sexual activities. The violent video games mostly have some episodes where the people may engage in drug abuse. The abuse of the drugs may be linked to extra power that could make an individual more powerful. The influence may make the children grow up having a desire to use the drugs one day. Therefore, they end up being drug addicts and realize that it could not make them a hero but was making them less productive. When the people note this, it could be too late such that they must be taken to a rehabilitation center for the treatment.
The study realized that the video games made most of the children to lack a chance to realize their talents. The violent video games are addictive, and hence the individuals who are involved in them may lack time to engage in other activities. For example, some of the children could be having a talent in athletics, but this may fail to be realized since they spend most of their time in the video games. Additionally, some may have some good skills in drama, but they may fail to use the talent since the video games make an individual to be isolated, and hence he or she cannot realize the potential he or she has in speech and socialization. Therefore, the violent video games may make an individual to lose a path that could have made him or her great in life.
Finally, the research found out that the children who were addicted to the violent video games did engage in the outdoor activities and hence they have bad health. For instance, most of the children were realized to be suffering from obesity. Additionally, some also had muscular and skeletal disorders resulting from spending a lot of time seated and failing to engage the body in movement activities. For example, some suffered from tendonitis, and other had nerve compression. Due to the addiction, the children experience stress during the times when the games are not available. Such cases are experienced when there is no power supply. It arises since the children do not have any other activity that they can engage in to keep them happy and busy.
Conclusion and Reflection
The study has noted that the violent video games have great effects on the individuals practicing it and also to the members of the society. The methods that were applied to get the reliable information concerning the issue included; observation, use of questionnaires, interviews, and sampling. The methods ensured that all the data collected was from various members of the society that were seen to be of interest to the study. Additionally, it was important to approach various stakeholders to have more data that could lead to a reliable and precise conclusion. Therefore, a recommendation can be made for the same.
Violent video games had adverse consequences that include poor academic performance and also acts as a barrier to the realization of the talents of the children. Additionally, it leads to health problems because of failing to engage in practices that improve the health of an individual. Also, it leads to the development of wrong social values that later cause aggressive behavior. Violent video games make the children have poor socialization skills, and hence they can have problems in relating to the other members of the society or the schoolmates. Moreover, the children may have confusion between reality and fantasy.
The research has come up with various recommendations that could solve the problem. One, the parents should ensure that they check the video games that they purchase for their children. Most cases the children are not the ones who purchase the video games. Thus, the parents should first consult whether the games are violent and also know the effects it may have on the children. The parents and guardians should not provide access to all the games that the children have requested. Therefore, the provision of the games should be controlled by the parents since they are the ones in charge of the purchase.
The parents need to limit the time that the children spend on the games. Spending too much time on the video games is the one that leads to the boredom of a particular game and hence aims at discovering a new game. In the process, the children may be influenced by the peers that other games are interesting. Therefore, the parents and guardians should engage the children in other activities that could keep them busy so that they do not engage in the violent video games.
The parents should also keep monitoring the behavior of the children. The violent video games affect the behavior of the children negatively (DeCamp, & Ferguson, 2017). Thus, if the parent or guardian notes that the child has started behaving weirdly, he or she should check the video he or she is playing. Additionally, when the parent notes that the child has been affected by the violent video games, he or she should keep away the games, and if the character is changed much, a counselor should be engaged. For example, a parent may note that the child has started engaging in many fights with other children. In such a case, he or she should research with the aim of checking the video games that the child is playing. If he or she notes that the child is engaging in the violent video games, he should stop it as soon as possible.
Additionally, the parents or guardians should check the ratings and review of the games before purchasing them. Also, they should check on the title and the cover picture since they give an overview of what the game may contain. For instance, the cover image or title that have characteristics of violence may give an idea that the video game may be violent. Furthermore, the parent can read the reviews from the internet and know what the video game may contain. Furthermore, the parents should act as a supervisor as the child plays the game.
The parents and guardians should have the overall power to control the games that the child could play in the house (Calvert et al., 2017). He or she should tell the children that violent video games are unacceptable. The reason for the decision should be given to the child so that he or she can know why the games are forbidden. For instance, the child can be told that if he or she plays the games, he will be last in the class since his concentration will be low. Additionally, the teachers should liaise with the parents so that they can control the engagement in the games jointly.
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