Free Essay for You: Video Games and Violent Behaviours

Do video games influence violence among those that engage in them? A large number of people play video games as a form of leisure while others prefer it as a way of taking things off their mind to yoga, work out or eating. Video games that have access to violence have been associated with aggressive behaviour. During angry episodes, some may prefer to use video games with fighting, gun, and violence to express their rage. Research shows that eventually, a majority of video game players become aggressive when continuously exposed to these violent video games (Anderson and Brad).

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The top-selling games in video games are the ones that consist of violent content such as fighting and killing. These exposures, especially to children of a young age, increase aggressive behaviours mainly because their impressionable nature views are fighting and violence as cool and better way to resolve problems.

Most of these games reward the player for their violent nature, and this presents the wrong message. Games like god of war allow players to proceed to the next level if they complete a mission and kill a certain number of children. Violent video games, with the aim of aggression, gift players according to killing adversaries and end up reaping benefits. Players end up being brainwashed about how the world works in real life and according to the game because, in real life, murder is a crime while in video games, murder is the most strengthening behaviour.

High levels of depression symptoms significantly accompany aggression caused by playing video games for a long period. This observed depression is experienced due to the struggle to control aggression while playing severe violent games. During a violent game, a player has the intention of winning the game or getting to a higher score. When the player is unable to hit the desired target, emotions like sudden rage develop, and they experience bursts of anger, that in turn reflecting on their social experience. Having to control, this rage may result in emotional orders like depressions.

Video games tend to capture fully the attention of the player. When the player has to leave the game and face real life, they may experience bursts of attention. The attention given towards the games is not the same attention required for other tasks. Players, especially kids that spend a lot of time playing games tend to feel the games more compelling than hanging out with their friends, which is caused by the constant shifting focus in games. Continuous repetition of this indulgence gives the kids a false understanding of the world outside. They end up not being ready for a tougher world.

Socializing with people regularly increases the way we can express how we feel or address issues in the most appropriate way, and one can learn from that. Research shows that constant exposure to media especially gaming platforms results in the reduction of the ability of a kid, an adolescent or an adult to communicate efficiently (Sherry). However, players that remain glued to the screens are unable to communicate much and are at risk of being unable to communicate to people when they need to. However, the debate has risen arguing that some games, such as call of duty, allow players to commute with others. Despite such arguments, one on one interaction has social skills benefit compared to communications through these games.

The somatic disorder is associated with physical symptoms such as fatigue and pain that may be too much and result in emotional distress and difficult functioning. Most video games require the general use of hands rather than full physical body motion. Gradually, the repetitive posture of the body in one position, mostly sitting, leads to back pains or shoulder distresses that result in lack of emotional comfortability for the player that wants to keep playing. Additionally, lack of physical activities results in conditions such as obesity.

Producers enhance video games in order to lure the players to engage in them. One of the main enhancements includes high definition graphics that make the games more realistic and closer to the player. When violent games enhanced graphically, contain factors like bloodiness, spookiness, and inhuman nature of the attackers are making more lifelike towards the players. Exposure to these kinds of violent behaviours affects sleeping patterns between the players (Anderson, Douglas, and Katherine). This is either caused by the addiction of playing the game until late hours or horrifying images constantly affecting the individual's dreams and causing nightmares.

Well-designed video games provide excellent training space for responsiveness, engagement, and high motivation to the player's skill, however the lessons gained from these games can either result in positive or negative outcomes. The aggression-related knowledge gained from violent games drive the behavioural nature of the player. They end up reflecting the same aggression in their personal lives affecting the nature of their day-to-day social life.

Work Cited

Anderson, Craig A., and Brad J. Bushman. "Effects of violent video games on aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behaviour: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature." Psychological science 12.5 (2001): 353-359.

Anderson, Craig A., Douglas A. Gentile, and Katherine E. Buckley. Violent video game effects on children and adolescents: Theory, research, and public policy. Oxford University Press, 2007.

Sherry, John L. "The effects of violent video games on aggression." Human communication research 27.3 (2001): 409-431.