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The Impacts of Video Games on Teens
Video games have existed since the 1960s. Some of these games include FIFA, God of War, Grand Theft Auto, and Tetris, among others. These games not only help players relax (Olson et al. p. 82); they also educate on several issues such as civic engagement (Ferguson and Adolfo n.p.). Despite these positive effects, video games are harmful to teens in society. However, the US Supreme Court still upholds the notion that the games do not have any effects on children in society, despite researchers conducting surveys on the matter. Sufficient research indicates that the games promote violent and aggressive behaviors, and also harmful attitudes towards women. As such, this paper seeks to look at some of the negative impacts of video games to teens and the youth in the community; and why they are not beneficial to them.
Video games harm the emotions of players. Studies have found that exposure to video games decreases the player’s empathy (Anderson et al., p. 155). Empathy is the ability to understanding the emotions and feelings of other people. Anderson et al. (p. 155) found that video games are linked with empathy reduction among players. As such, exposure to violent games such as God of War and Grand Theft Auto have the ability to affect the emotions such as sympathy, empathy, and kindness of the players. Research (American Psychological Association, n.p.; Anderson & Brad, p. 7) has also indicated that exposure to violent video games leads to an increase in aggression and a decrease in prosocial behaviors among teens. As such, there is a decrease in the correlation between helping others and playing video games because the players have higher chances of being aggressive rather than kind to those around them.
Video games may also lead to violent actions and harmful attitudes towards women. Research (Dietz, p. 438) indicates that video games sexually objectify women, make them look inferior to men, and promote violence against them. According to Dietz (p. 435), more than 21% of the video games played by teens involved violence against ladies. On the other hand, 28% of the games portrayed them as sex tools (Dietz, p. 425). These statistics indicate that exposing a child to video games increases their chances of becoming violent towards women (Dietz, p. 430). Dietz (p. 43) further adds that some of these games bring out the idea that women put themselves in positions for rape, and they accept it. As such, parents should monitor the amount of time their children spend playing video games that have rape scenes. If possible, parents must eliminate these games from the lives of their children because play during childhood becomes an essential component of socialization (Dietz, p. 426), and these games may affect the morality of children in society.
The US military utilizes the aid of video games in helping its soldiers to shoot and kill. Research (Susca, n.p.) found that the US military and government produce violent games for use within its ranks of soldiers. Since the year 2002, the USA has created America’s Army video game and used it within its military positions and sold to the public too (Susca, n.p.). The military uses this game to recruit soldiers and prepare its recruits for war missions (Susca, n.p.). While the army of the country may benefit from the game as it trains soldiers to shoot, Susca (n.p..) believes that playing the game exposes children to violent behaviors and indiscipline. The supply of this game by the US government not only exposes children to violent behavior at tender ages but also weapons technology. As such, children playing this game may grow up with the desire to have a weapon or more, and they may inflict pain on others and even kill.
Despite these arguments, the US Supreme Court upholds that violent games do not lead to a rise in aggressive behaviors. In the Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, the US Supreme Court ruled that violent games have no impact on the aggression levels of the youth. In the case, the court held that California could not restrict the sale of these games to children. Justice Antonin Scalia stated that researchers who purport that there is a relationship between violent video games and violent behavior among the youth are flawed. According to the Justice, every court has rejected their findings as they do not prove their correlations between the two (US Supreme Court, p. 12).
In conclusion, video games are not beneficial to teens. Despite them being a source of entertainment and education among teens, video games’ research has shown that their adverse effects outweigh the positive. For instance, they harm the emotions of players and render them less empathetic and kind. Also, these games lead to violent actions and harmful attitudes towards women. However, the US military and government still produce these games for use among their military ranks and sale, while the US Supreme Court upholds that they have no effects on children. As such, it is vital for parents to critically restrict their children to video games that do not support violence of any form.
American Psychological Association. (2015). Resolution on violent video games. See http://www. apa. org/about/policy/violent-video-games. aspx. Accessed from the Web at https://www.apa.org/about/policy/violent-video-games
Anderson, Craig A., and Brad J. Bushman. “Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature.” Psychological science 12.5 (2001): 353-359. Accessed from the Web at https://www.human.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/HD/circ/VideoGameLesson.pdf
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 136.2 (2010): 151. Accessed from the Web at http://xyonline.net/sites/xyonline.net/files/2019-01/Anderson%2C%20Violent%20Video%20Game%20Effects%20on%20Aggression%2C%20Empathy%2C%20and%20Prosocial%202010.pdf
Dietz, Tracy L. “An examination of violence and gender role portrayals in video games: Implications for gender socialization and aggressive behavior.” Sex roles 38.5-6 (1998): 425-442. Accessed from the Web at http://www.marissabellino.com/uploads/7/6/6/1/7661682/content_analysis_video_games_and_gender.pdf
Ferguson, Christopher J., and Adolfo Garza. “Call of (civic) duty: Action games and civic behavior in a large sample of youth.” Computers in Human Behavior 27.2 (2011): 770-775. Accessed from the Web at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222840501_Call_of_civic_duty_Action_games_and_civic_behavior_in_a_large_sample_of_youth
Olson, Cheryl K., et al. “Factors correlated with violent video game use by adolescent boys and girls.” Journal of adolescent health 41.1 (2007): 77-83. Accessed from the Web at https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/11564689/Olson_JAH%207-07.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DFactors_Correlated_with_Violent_Video_Ga.pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIATUSBJ6BAGLFJS5FI%2F20200424%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200424T155232Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEFAaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIHvifeABf7MVMiYb20ES7kQSbGL5UOXlUH5ZiMymAVdgAiAZ1b47jxUmFwHaF78B7q2DX9c0bPijID9vzi4MoXJyRCq0Awh5EAAaDDI1MDMxODgxMTIwMCIM7kJY2EheFj%2FoAphJKpEDkpebBSHtK4C%2BJ9bsOftGN6pAr8sMmiCzJ6opU%2Fh%2F6X6E8r7%2Fa5n1wLXA8luS%2FBhSxaCkI9216Wf5ADWddUWfnouUp9Dw5fe6uB%2BbRf01greKcPG1XHhDAKn%2F%2FGHlBkA2LmsIKdtC7TyrPacxqohnfnSAs7P3tDMgnjoaFfQMX%2Fyh0BCh3Pvr2hkdK29uP%2FdhONIjvpbfhnKj2WbWQkoFelfBY8cPDQmL7FrKz30%2BN%2FgjFlk4EGQB1RGdp0MqHIaDwctsku3WPpfxVYHwYzm1DihNOwAnV0qmB3hsGAyzOUFCo1%2BySZlTSy6n1x%2FPYYADoa315saJTW%2BQ825hl%2FHQOfV6ukF57iZ2BkSgHDIvX6CIgTUug%2BL5R1llrYN4uDuHYPMZfhFk2gAz%2FeKzJbpjl1dTQYwyvFl%2BfxyytJ62SZx0NAeEbYu02pXU%2FooMlcEgobTxSPBBzFsPv6wOrGHRdqYfaQRCczz%2ByV2O08Y56v7hW6fy%2F4IuUZxVXDcatZCeEu9jM3hpvXw1Oi52LvqxRmQw14uM9QU67AF35C%2Bf2wt3joS05YbtIePfH6FRsgV6X%2FLgYYvhlFHyYgmX%2BeoilBgvhNOWxu8mp2eKXT0wg8fYkRR0gwVOu8xeHS9433hLeorwLWCiCFUZEN6SBuUBFIaSFV35zk%2Fuz2tAZcF0jI7aqcd9DTNIJ1YDUgvoKJg3%2B6VN%2BJzSNyTWvX9YT%2B0b6juZCbONRx0eSb%2Bk7lMPFUaZt0B9O6gkpoY5YNa%2B5%2BmPPTD8jkjnXS2Uy6OPhHwUfHyD4uLLbRso8KYxm447IQq0qJoXrwk4lYNIFrKg1YVkT3V9gbr75dRtmMY73EVz54Q2dhxWNg%3D%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=815ed20821b976079e24b708a380da6ad4a9fb0e94854519d08f0c81c80dfd5d
Susca, Margot A. “Why We Still Fight: Adolescents, America’s Army, and the Government-Gaming Nexus.” Global Media Journal 11.21 (2012). Accessed from the Web at http://www.globalmediajournal.com/open-access/why-we-still-fight-adolescents-americas-army-and-the-governmentgaming-nexus.php?aid=35335