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Video
Game Violence Effects Children
Two
international students from Switzerland and one
from Russia share their ideas the effects of video
game violence on children.
Video Games
Lead to Aggressive Behavior
Silvia
Bopp from Switzerland
Since
increasing violence has become a part of our
culture today, we have to think about its influence
on children and adults.
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Photo:
Sandy Peters
When
you play the game, you have to react fast
and kill as many persons as you can. You
have to destroy somehting. This behavior I
would call destructive; you have to build
a tidal wave of aggression to win the
game.
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Video
games today are mostly violent. My own experience
tells me that the impact of playing these kinds of
games is enormously negative even though some
children and adults get a good feeling playing
them.
When
you play a game like that, you have to react fast,
and you have to kill as many persons as you can.
You have to destroy something, and finally, you
have to survive. This behavior I would call
destructive; you have to develop a tidal wave of
aggression to win the game.
Obviously,
there is no doubt that it has a certain negative
influence on children. If children play video games
constantly, they are likely to feel restless,
aggressive, and combative.
In
video games, they have their own world where they
are allowed to do everything thay want. It can be a
way of calming down frustration, but if there is
too much consumption of destruction, a child might
tend to overreact because he is not able to handle
in his mind what he has just experienced.
Violent
Video Games Desensitize Kids
Nicole
Meier from Switzerland
Even
if it is only a game, kids become more and more
desensitized. For them it is fun and later they
can't distinguish between reality and
fantasy.
Almost
every child has already played video games or has
his own game boy. I think in some video games there
is too much violence and it influences youngsters,
teaching them the wrong values.
In
violent video games such as Duke Nukem 3D, kids
kill many people and blow up many places without
any reason. Even if it is only a game, kids become
more and more desensitized. For them it is fun and
later they can't distinguish between reality or
fantasy. These kids have some problems at school
and are more restless and combative thatn
others.
Also,
their attention span decreases because they are
used to seeing action all the time. Unfortunately,
there are guns which look real and are used for
playing video games. Whenever these children are
exposed to a real gun which belongs to the father,
they are in danger. They still think this is a fake
gun and start to play and sometimes somebody gets
hurt or is even killed.
Violent
video games are ruining children and parents should
monitor which games they can play. Even if there is
a rating system like for movies, youngsters find a
way to play them. It is easy to go to another place
like the home of a friend to play these violent
games.
Video Games Promote the Wrong
Values
Max
Popov from Russia
Children
easily become addicted to video games, and the
aggressive content of some of these video games can
unknowingly cause them to behave
aggressively.
I
think that video games include too much violence.
Children who watch and play these games can be
impacted by very aggressive content. Even though
they like to play strategy games where they figure
out how to kill someone, they don't understand that
they are becoming aggressive. Those video games
promote the wrong values and sometimes a very evil
reaction.
Before
video games were made some years ago, teens played
some sports and read books. Now, instead of taking
part in those activities, they have computers.
Teens
get addicted to these games very fast. For example,
they can spend a whole day playing a video game in
which they shoot and kill some monsters or enemies.
Sometimes they forget to do their homework and
other things. They enter a new unreal world in
which they may enjoy virtual reality.
More
on media violence
Return
to: Violence
in the Media
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