Effects of Video Games on Violence Among Young People (Essay Sample)

Effects of Video Games on Violence Among Young People
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Effects of Video Games on Violence Among Young People
Video gaming is a hobby enjoyed by billions of people across the world. Technological advances have led to immense online games production and developments, providing quality and interactive content to enthusiastic gamers. Generally, young people tend to spend more time in video gaming than any other form of media. The impacts of the increased usage in this demographic sparks debate on the consequences of aggressive media and video games. Research is critical in elucidating how the rising usage relates to societal violence. While the consumption of video games does not project increased social violence, playing violent media is associated with desensitization and aggressiveness.
Essentially, violent video games usage is a risk factor to desensitization and aggressive behavior among consumers. Adult consumers of violent media are highly likely to influence children’s gaming tendencies (Prescott et al., 2018). A typical violent game encapsulates captivating plots of defeating enemies through vicious and extremely belligerent methods. Early exposure to harsh and intemperate videos teaches that aggression pays, where the winner or aggressor gains attention, power, money, and reverence. These games fail to adequately address virtues and ethics necessary for a stable society, such as responsibility and harmony. In consequence, playing spiteful games desensitizes adults who, in turn, fail to put the necessary safeguards against violent and R-rated content to younger users.
In like manner, aggressive media usage leads to increased ferociousness among players and viewers. Prescott et al. (2018) categorize such hostile responses into “cognition, affect, arousal, empathy/sensitization to violence, overt aggressive behavior, and overt prosocial behavior” (9885). The continued gameplay and viewing of violent media can increase an individual’s belligerent thoughts and behavior. While this disposition is evident primarily in laboratory settings, it can also extend to actual life. Even so, it is imperative to dissociate the impact of general video games from those of violent media on societal vehemence. Only intense and extreme games lead to the ferocity recorded among young people.
Contrarily, proponents of media consumption challenge these widely construed negative impacts, particularly the association of gaming with social violence. Recent scientific developments show that the link between playing games and real-world antagonistic behavior is usually overstated (Markey et al., 2015). The study also discovers that individuals charged with severe criminal acts engage in violent games less often than the average player (Markey et al., 2015). These findings indicate an unexpected decline in barbarity in response to the increased use of aggressive media. Research also indicates a reversed link between vicious media use and homicide cases and youth ferocity rates (Ferguson, 2015; Markey et al., 2015). The long-held presupposition that destructive media consumption leads to intemperate behavior is changing drastically.
In summary, playing games leads