Do video games increase violence in children?

Round 1

Samm Stein – Over one billion people play video games according to a state of the industry report by Spil Games. That’s one billion people who are ex­posed to all sorts of behavior including dangerous, violent behavior. Due to how much violence people are exposed to, they are becoming desensitized to it. If video games continue to do this, kids will no longer understand the moral wrongdoing that’s involved in violence. After a time, kids will start to assume violence is OK because it’s normalized in video games. Of course, video games do have a lot of merit and skills that kids can learn. Increasing exposure to violence is a concern for many parents. In one study conducted by Andrew Gizzard, it was dis­covered that after five days of repeated exposure, the guilt that players felt when doing something immoral decreased. How are kids expected to know that violence is wrong when video games are desensitizing it?

Shan Amarnani – The argument could be made that newer video games have become more lax when it comes to some in-game violence. However, accord­ing to a study done by Oxford University, the effects of non-violent and violent video games are the same. According to the study, the amount of time spent playing video games is a more significant con­tributing factor when it comes to school performance and behavior. Kids nowadays tend to play more video games than in the past decade. However, according to an annual report published by the Entertain­ment Software Association, online gamers spend 6.5 hours a week on average playing with other gamers. This equates to less than an hour per day for the entire week. Think of a kid or adult coming home from a hard day’s work looking to blow off some steam. One of the most accessible sources of entertainment is a computer or video game con­sole and so they play, on average, for an hour or less every day.

Round 2

Amarnani – Video games are often stigmatized and viewed as a waste of time when in fact, they actually have some benefits. Aside from being a great source of entertainment, according to several studies in American Psy­chologist, video games may actually strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception. This is more evident with people who play shooter-based video games, such as Call of Duty, which are usually violent. An analysis of the re­sults found that playing shooter-based video games improved a player’s capacity to think about objects in three dimensions just as well as aca­demic courses. There have been numerous studies done on the effects of video games such as the one conducted by the American Psychologi­cal Association which show similar results to the study mentioned ear­lier. Video games are given a bad reputation by parents and the media nut they’re not as bad as they are made to be.

Stein – Video games have proven very useful in developing cognitive skills. The concern, however, is that there is little emotional val­ue to them. As I mentioned above, emotional desensitization can be a real threat to morality. Beyond that, video games normalize violence. Kids playing Grand Theft Auto are learning to normal­ize things such as prostitution, stealing and killing. As a person that will one day be a parent, I do not want my children to think that it’s okay to be a bad person who steals things or beats up any­one. I don’t think that video games are the only cause of violent behavior or emotional desensitization in children. It is a large medium though and has a lot of power over culture and how chil­dren learn cognitive and emotional skills. I think it’s important to really evaluate what we want to show children in media.

Round 3

Stein – Video games actively reward violence. In some games, such as Call of Duty, you are fighting against terrorism and threats to global security. While promoting violence, CoD is promoting fighting for peace and justice as well. Other games such as GTA are teaching violence for the sake of violence. These are the types of games that are potentially hazardous to children. GTA is rated M for mature content but often children can still gain access to the game. When you’re young, even a teenager, you are suscepti­ble to being easily influenced by media and trends. Not all media and trends should be glorified. Yes, violent video games are fun and can help people relax and develop fine motor and cognitive skills. At the end of the day, we have to assess the consequences on youth as well.

Amarnani – The Entertainment Software Rating Board has given GTA a “Ma­ture” rating for a reason. Games in the mature rating category are “generally suitable for ages 17 and up.” The ESRB even adds that these games “may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexu­al content and/or strong language.” These games are not meant to be played by little kids. Parents should be responsible for ensuring that their children play age-appropriate games. After hundreds of research studies, there is still little evidence to suggest that video games make you a more violent person. Prostitution, stealing and killing have been present since the dawn of mankind. There is noth­ing wrong with creating a video game that incorporates facets of life. People understand that video games are meant to be a source of en­tertainment. The violence helps keep it entertaining.