Video Game Violence
"In the game Carmageddon, players run down pedestrians, including elderly women with walkers. If a player completes all levels of this game, he or she will have killed a maximum of 33,000 people" (Mediascope Press 2). Violence in video games has been a topic of debate in recent years, with concerns on whether violence in video games has an aggressive effect on children. Violence in video games makes children more aggressive and hostile; in addition, "video game violence makes children desensitized to violence, which can lead to violence at school and home" (Barnes 1). Video games that incorporate violence shouldn't be played by young children. Young children don't fully understand the difference between fantasy and reality. On the other hand, older kids know the difference between fantasy and reality, and right and wrong. Therefore older children should be allowed to play video games that contain violence. Some people say that kids are attracted to video games not so much by the violence, but because the games present puzzles or problems to solve (Sherry 1). If this is true, then why in a 1998 survey "80% of the video games preferred by young people contain violent or aggressive content; of these, 21% depict violence a
John Sherry, a professor at Purdue University claims that of the 27 studies he found, outcomes were mixed. Other people argue that virtually every new video and computer game released today carries a rating that is both informative and easy to understand, and it seems clear that many parents are using the ratings to guide their purchases or rentals (Lieberman 1). These subjects were instructed to give their appropriate age if asked by retailers. This is simply not true, "In a test using subjects aged 13 to 15, with parental consent, 32 video games rated "M" for mature were purchased in 7 different cities. targeted children under 17"(FTC report qtd. In another study by the Contemporary Pediatrics, "the majority of the studies show that children do become more aggressive after either playing or watching a violent video game" (Canadian Journal of Psychiatry qtd. In some instances there was no effect on aggressiveness, while other studies showed moderate effects. John Sherry, a professor at Purdue University believes that video games represent fantasy, while television more closely imitates real life (Sherry 2). 1% of teens report that their parents have ever prevented them from buying games due to their ratings. According to the test, cognitive aggression was higher if the participant read aggressive word (such as "murder") more quickly than non-aggressive words (such as "consider")" (Wired qtd. Statistics from the National Institute on Media and the Family's revealed that, "Teens who play violent video games do worse in school than those who do not.
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