Violent Video Games Should Be Banned - Essay Example

During my childhood years, I was lucky enough to have a close, supportive family such that if I made a mistake, it's like the whole universe was summoned. But thanks to such an upbringing, I was able to grow to a respectable person as I am today. My philosophy is almost similar to the doctor's oath "do no harm." Following this perspective, I have a strong belief in karma that whatever you send out will surely come back around. The issue of the rising violence in schools and the neighborhoods is as a result of our increasing demands for violent video games right from our childhood ages to adulthood. The phrase 'violent video games' as used in this essay refers to video games that portray sexual violence, killing, torture, and other forms of aggressiveness used towards other humans. Without request and the addiction for such games, then they would not be in the market, and maybe we would be experiencing fewer cases of aggressive behaviors among children. Violent video games where there is a portrayal of harassment, use of drugs, sexual assaults, and physical harm on humans, needs to be banned for underage individuals since they might have negative impacts on their moral growth and increase violent behaviors.

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Times, when young ones would take their free time to play with friends in the neighborhoods, is fading away. Teenagers and children in the contemporary world prefer more calm types of entertainment, like playing video games or watching television. Even though video games could influence a child's mental and creative development, unfortunately, most of them turn out to be extremely violent. Games spreading violence and ideas of murder, like Grand Theft Auto, Outlast, and Mortal Combat, are commonly advertised in every market of the entertainment industry, motivating teenagers to play them often and of which some become highly addicted to them.

Even though there is considerable variance between attacking fantasy beings in games and harming humans in real life, it is still not ok to expose children into decision making when it comes to violent acts that involve humans in a game. That is because, such exposure might distort their view of reality, and make them confused about unjustified things and those that are acceptable (Schneider 325). But on instances where there are androids or imaginary monsters in the games, there will be minimal effect. Young ones playing video games can distinguish between a made-up event in a game and the reality where there is involvement of animated creatures. Nevertheless, when there is the inclusion of human figures in the games, comprehending this concept might become complicated (Ferstl, Kokkinara, and Mcdonnell 2), and hence, kids need restrictions from purchasing such video games or accessing them without the parent's guidance.

Apart from harming their moral development, these games could also influence their aggression and empathy. Playing bad computer games is thus a hazardous issue for increased violent behavior. Research by Anderson et al. found that introduction to such games highly related to aggressive affect, aggressive cognition, and violent behavior (155). According to research by Gentile et al. teenagers who get exposure to these games have a higher chance of getting into school fights which would, in turn, affect their school performance negatively (6).

Furthermore, violent games straightforwardly compensate aggressive conduct; most games today do not just make players execute virtual reality characters of different players on the internet, but they additionally give them points or scores for prolific demonstrations of viciousness. These rewards are typically spent on making a player's character much progressively productive in unlocking more powerful ways of executing their killing mission and to acquiring more tools and weapons that would cause more damage (Anderson et al. 155). This experience is much more terrible than watching the television since TV programs never give direct rewards linked to the audience' behavior and rarely do they applaud viewers for engaging in antisocial, aggressive, undesirable acts.

Most of these games are generally costly, and even though that serves as a barrier by making it hard for most teenagers to afford them, there are still other ways for them to get access to the games. For instance, there is the option of renting out the games which are even cheaper in most video shops that are seemingly yielding profits from the young ones in the society. By banning video games, it would prevent children from accessing violent video games, without approval and guidance from their parents. Since parents may not be available every time to monitor their teenagers' activities throughout, the government needs to come in and take up the 'parenting role' where needed.

Calvert et al. support the idea that violent video games increase a child's aggression and hence they ought to be banned (122). The main negative impact is they seem to solve anxiety issues by expressing it inappropriately. That is, when teenagers are nervous, rather than easing themselves, calming down, discussing it, talking to their friends or parents, or even letting it out through an emotional breakdown, they tend to hit a wall or project their anger to pets or other kids by bullying them. Additionally, there is a rising rate of aggressive responses from teenagers aged twelve to fourteen years who play such video games (Calvert et al. 133).

Watching a violent game or movie could have less of an impact than when teens get to act as characters completing levels by accomplishing a murder mission and destroying 'communities' that come across the character's way. Such circumstances are bad, as a teenager or a child's brain creates new insights daily - they fundamentally comprehend and recall the events of their favorite games (Calvert et al. 130). Thus, violent video games need to be banned because, for the human brain's, there is no significant variation between an imaginary situation and a real-life one; that is why people become upset even by thinking about something hostile. Virtual experiences for this group of humans could feel more real; that happens because of the advancement in technologies which make computer graphics appear more closer to reality, and also since players take a first-person approach of the killing process through a character's eyes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is regrettably clear that most modern games include violence in their content. Having children play such games is dangerous to their growth, interpersonal relationships, and the community at large since the players take the first-person part in the execution process, and in turn, get rewards for their skills. Most studies find this to influence the big issue of violence experienced in schools and at homes by young ones, hence to control this, the government needs to ban all violent video games. Games played by children need not include any form of violence or harassment content or acts applied by the player towards a person in the game. Similarly, there should not be any sex scenes or the use of drugs in the game. Video games containing any of this factor needs to be identified as a violent game and should be banned.

Works Cited

Anderson, Craig A., et al. "Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression, Empathy, And Prosocial Behavior In Eastern and Western Countries: A Meta-Analytic Review." Psychological Bulletin vol. 136, no. 2, 2010, pp. 151-173. doi: 10.1037/a0018251

Calvert, Sandra L., et al. "The American Psychological Association Task Force Assessment of Violent Video Games: Science in The Service of Public Interest." American Psychologist vol. 72, no.2, 2017, pp. 126-143. doi: 10.1037/a0040413

Ferstl, Ylva, Elena Kokkinara, and Rachel Mcdonnell. "Facial features of non-player creatures can influence moral decisions in video games." ACM Transactions on Applied Perception (TAP) vol. 15, no.1, 2017, pp. 1-18. doi: 10.1145/0000000.0000000

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, 2004, pp. 5-22. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2003.10.002