Paper Example on The Impact of Violent Video Games on Teenagers: Why a Ban Is Needed

Introduction

Video gaming has become a prevalent activity in the United States, especially with the proliferation of high-speed internet and affordable computers. According to Salceanu, playing video games has been in the US for nearly five decades and has grown to a multibillion-dollar industry that generates significant revenue (38). Research has shown that 94% of American girls and 99% of boys play video games (Salceanu 38). On average, American adolescents video games for 20 hours per week (Salceanu 38). While some video games can potentially enhance lives among adolescents, its benefits are far less than the adverse effects. Playing video games makes adolescents aggressive, violent, and emotional. Besides, exposure and addiction to this media content are associated with poor academic performance for both sexes (Hastings et al. 42). Therefore, policymakers should ban violent video games among school-going children because it has adverse effects on cognition, behavior, and emotional development.

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Aggressive Behaviors and Academic Performance

Violent video games trigger aggressive behaviors in children. Exposure to violence in virtual reality makes adolescents emulate evil characters. Such school-going children are likely to hit, push, and bully their classmates because of increased aggressive feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Hasan et al. found that the longer teenagers are exposed to violent content, the higher the chances of becoming aggressive (26). Besides, it lowers one's level of empathy, which refers to the ability to understand and help others. This phenomenon occurs because such content desensitizes teenagers from seeing aggressive behaviors. Here, an increase in the level of aggression and a decrease in prosocial behaviors that comes with playing such games provides compelling evidence that school-going children should not watch this media content.

Video gaming is addictive, and it leads to a decline in academic performance. Research has indicated that children that participate in this activity are likely not to do their homework (Salceanu 38). Also, the activity is associated with copying homework from other pupils and overall poor academic performance (Hastings et al. 42). While in school, children exposed to violent video games are fond of vulgar language and quarreling with colleagues, among other indiscipline cases. Salceanu said that when such teenagers are provoked in school settings, they react much like they do when playing violent video games (41).

Moreover, there is evidence that more than 63% of boys that play such games record poor academic performance (Khalil et al. 33). About 33% of girls that engage in this activity get poor grades (Khalil et al. 33). Addiction to violent content leads to gaming syndrome, which means children would have little time to socialize with family and friends. This situation, in turn, leads to poor social skills. Staying indoors for a long time also increases the risk of obesity.

Additionally, a comparative study of school-going children playing violent online games and those that do not do it indicated that the former basted their colleagues with loud, unpleasant sound (Hasan et al. 24). Again, such children had hostile expectations and aggressive thinking within and outside classroom settings (Hasan et al. 24). Typically, all children should be disciplined in school and are expected to show responsible behaviors. They should also live in harmony since schools are like any other society. For policymakers to eradicate violence in school, it is necessary to prohibit teenagers from playing violent video games. Parents, guardians, and teachers should help adolescents understand that fighting and having hostile emotions is bad. In this regard, banning violent video games is one of the strategies to discourage undesirable behaviors and teach children that they should trust adults to solve problems.

Physical Fights and Mental Health Problems

Children often fight when playing violent video games. Teenagers that lose the game resort to violence as they are determined to apply the action of violent games to bully the opponent. According to Khalil et al., 55% of boys who participate in such online activities fight with their friends and siblings after losing it (32). However, a vast majority of girls are willing to congratulate their opponents and do not start a fight after losing the game (Khalil et al. 33). The research also showed that more than 62% of boys playing violent content are willing to apply actions of extreme games to bully their counterparts (Khalil et al. 33). As these adolescents grow, they are likely to apply video games actions in real life. This phenomenon suggests that playing violent games can result in severe physical fights that can harm children.

Parents and guardians should not allow their children to play violent video games, whether in play stations or online. Sibling rivalry may pose serious health effects as it can traumatize children. At a society level, such behaviors increase instances of anxiety, depression, and anger in later stages of life. Society can prevent these mental health issues by lobbying for a total ban on violent video games. With a rise in the number of play stations and similar online sites, children are at risk of developing negative behaviors that can ruin their lives.

Conclusion

Video gaming has become a popular form of entertainment in present-day society. However, violent video games have detrimental effects on teenagers. Such media content encourages aggressive behaviors that breed physical fights among school-going teenagers. Besides, such games are highly addictive, meaning it increases the risk of gaming syndrome. School-going teenagers addicted to violent video games record poor grades and are likely to have poor social skills. These cases provide compelling evidence to prohibit such media contents in children and adolescents below the majority age. In the future, policymakers will likely ban violent video games to encourage school-going children to play prosocial computer games and other content that improves problem-solving, team-building, and social skills.

Works Cited

Hasan, Youssef, et al. "The More You Play, the More Aggressive You Become: A Long-Term Experimental Study of Cumulative Violent Video Game Effects on Hostile Expectations and Aggressive Behavior." Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 49, no. 2, 2013, pp. 224-227, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022103112002259. Accessed 20 July 2020.

Hastings, Erin C., et al. "Young Children's Video/Computer Game Use: Relations with School Performance and Behavior." Issues in Mental Health Nursing, vol. 30, no. 10, 2009, pp. 638-649, doi: 10.1080/01612840903050414. Accessed 20 July 2020.

Khalil, Salman, et al. "Impact of Playing Violent Video Games Among School-Going Children." Indian Journal of Community Health, vol. 31, no. 3, 2019, pp. 330-337, www.researchgate.net/publication/337680188. Accessed 20 July 2020.

Salceanu, Claudia. "The Influence of Computer Games on Children's Development. Exploratory Study on the Attitudes of Parents." Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 149, 2014, pp. 837-841, doi:10.1016/J.SBSPRO.2014.08.323. Accessed 20 July 2020.