Video Game Violence

Video games are as popular as ever as companies continue to make advancements in the quality and substance the games possess.  These games however are becoming more and more violent as it seems as though that the more violent the game the more popular it become amongst many gamers.  As many studies have been done that show these violent games having a large impact on these individuals as it “increases aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, physiological arousal, aggressive behaviors, and decreases helpful behaviors.” (Carnagey, Anderson, Bushman)  These video games have proven themselves to hinder the growth of our youth by the negative mindset these games are able to put these kids in.  It is important to understand “the casual flow between technology and society” (Baym) however when and if the actions portrayed within these games are applied to society, huge negative consequences will be suffered by all parties involved.  Along with the psychological problems these video games raise, they also have been noted to impact the gamers by having “desensitization to violence is a related physiological reactivity to real violence.” (Baym)  After doing research on the effects of playing a violent video game for “just 20 minutes, can cause people to become less physiologically aroused by real violence.” (Carnagey, Anderson, Bushman) This goes to prove that if only 20 minutes of playing a certain violent game has this effect, than the effect of playing for hours at a time can make some numb to real world violence. 

The technology advancements that video game companies have been making are more interactive than ever, making the games more real to a point.  As these advancements take place the impact will only become worse and worse on the individual’s mindset having played these violent games.  Having personally purchased and played many violent games growing up I have felt that certain games released today have been over the top violent.  A game that really took my attention at a young age was when my oldest cousin played the first ever Grand Theft Auto.  As the graphics were terrible you understood what in fact you were doing as you ran throughout the city.  I now have Grand Theft Auto 5, the images you can see are very gruesome and the activities or challenges that you complete are completely against the law and completed in a violent way.  There are many things that reflect how negative of an impact certain video games have on society as the gamers have been seen through these tests and studies to have a more negative way of thinking.  More often than ever before shootings that takes place within our society, at schools, malls, and movie theatres, the gunman is often noted to enjoying these extremely violent games.  These new technologies that video game companies offer have impacted our society greatly and have changed the mindset of young children forever.  The video games that are most violent expose our youth to things not shown on television however through the gaming consul are just a power button away.

Citations

Carnagey, Nicholas L., Craig A. Anderson, and Brad J. Bushman. "The Effect of Video Game Violence on Physiological Desensitization to Real-life Violence ☆." The Effect of Video Game Violence on Physiological Desensitization to Real-life Violence. N.p., May 2007. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.