Is There a Correlation between Video Games and Juvenile Delinquency (Essay Sample)

Video Games and Juvenile Delinquency
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Video Games and Juvenile Delinquency
The market for video games is growing at an alarming rate. According to Gartner (2013), the volume of sales for video games increased from $100 in 1985 to $4 in the year1990. In 2013, total market volume around the globe reached $ 93 billion. Children and the adolescents are the primary consumers of this product. However, according to many researches done by psychologists, there is a correlation between video games and juvenile delinquency. This paper seeks to find out the relationship between video games and delinquency among the youth.
According to Bushman and Anderson (2009), violent games are more popular with the young people than any other type of video games. A study done by Bernard (2014) shows that violent video games have adverse effects on younger people. For example, children playing violent video games exhibit a predisposition to anger and aggression as opposed to those who play cool games. Besides, children who engage in violent video games are anti-social and perform poorly in academics. However, according to Jerabeck, Ferguson, Miguel, and Garza (2012, p. 144), violent video games do not have any correlation with juvenile delinquency. Instead, these games help to decrease the number of violent cases during in relationships.
Exposing young people to violent video games for a long time may lead them to become indifferent to violence and heartless to individuals in pain. (Greitemeyer & McLatchie, 2011). These character traits, are borrowed from the characters in these violent video games. Furthermore, youngsters tend to practice the violence they see in this video games in their real life. According to Ferguson (2013), media violence is not the sole cause of juvenile delinquency, but there are other factors such, poor parenting, domestic violence and depression among children in their formative age, could be the leading cause of criminal behaviors among the young people.
On the other hand, not all video games are violent in nature. Some are educative, and they teach young people skills that would benefit them in their future. For example, some games require the participant to multitask as the game intensifies. This knowledge can be beneficial to a person in the real life situation where multiple tasks are taken concurrently. Another skill that young people get from video games is critical thinking. According to Daphne Bavelier, a scientist in cognitive psychology, individuals who participate in video games, are attuned to their surrounding very well and can spot their colleagues in the crowd (Bavelier et al., 2009). Lastly, according to Florida Hospital (2013), Video games enhance, eyes and hands coordination, motor skills and also reasoning. For instance, during a shooter game, the information is processed by the brain and later coordinated through the hands. This skill comes in handy in real life circumstance such as in medical operations.
In conclusion, it is clear that to some extent, juvenile delinquency is caused by video games which are violent in nature. Juveniles tend to practice the violence witnessed in these video games into real life situation (Bushman & Anderson, 2009). However, it is evident that there are some of the video games that have a positive impact on the lives of young people. Such video games equip them with skills that would help them in their day to day activities (Florida Hospital, 2013). Therefore, it is incumbent upon parents and the so