The Consequences of Digital Worlds: The Effects of Violent Video games on the Youth
For as long as video games have existed, people, especially parents, have wondered what effects such devices have on children. However, interest in this topic reached new heights during the 90’s when video games got blamed for the violent behavior of kids. Multiple stories were released by the press that accused violent video games such as Mortal Combat for many violent activities happening around the country. As a result, many parents panicked, but the question still remained if video games could actually have such a big effect on kids. Research shows that violent games do, in fact, affect adolescents in several ways, specifically, increasing aggression and …show more content…
Depression is one of the most talked about mental illnesses, but many people do not think to relate it to video games. Interestingly, the two are related because it has been observed that that watching violence can increase depression symptoms (610Tortolero et al. 610). One survey was done to see if there is in fact a correlation between violent video games and depression. The study asked participants of multiple ethnicities multiple question such as how long they played video games, how violent they were, and other questions to determine if the subject had depression symptoms. The results of this survey found that kids who played violent video games for more than two hours a day had more symptoms of depression than those who played nonviolent games for more than two hours a day (Tortolero et al. 609-615). So there does in fact seem to be a correlation between violent video games and depression; however, this was found in a controlled situation with variables taken out of the equation. In everyday life here could be multiple reasons why a kid might be depressed, in fact, in some cases depression might lead a kid to violent video games and it has been shown the in small doses could help (Tortolero et al. 610). So it is up to parents to see what kind of condition their kids are in and ask themselves what kind of effect the games will have on them. In any case it is probably for the best to limit the amount played
For as long as video games have existed, people, especially parents, have wondered what effects such devices have on children. However, interest in this topic reached new heights during the 90’s when video games got blamed for the violent behavior of kids. Multiple stories were released by the press that accused violent video games such as Mortal Combat for many violent activities happening around the country. As a result, many parents panicked, but the question still remained if video games could actually have such a big effect on kids. Research shows that violent games do, in fact, affect adolescents in several ways, specifically, increasing aggression and …show more content…
Depression is one of the most talked about mental illnesses, but many people do not think to relate it to video games. Interestingly, the two are related because it has been observed that that watching violence can increase depression symptoms (610Tortolero et al. 610). One survey was done to see if there is in fact a correlation between violent video games and depression. The study asked participants of multiple ethnicities multiple question such as how long they played video games, how violent they were, and other questions to determine if the subject had depression symptoms. The results of this survey found that kids who played violent video games for more than two hours a day had more symptoms of depression than those who played nonviolent games for more than two hours a day (Tortolero et al. 609-615). So there does in fact seem to be a correlation between violent video games and depression; however, this was found in a controlled situation with variables taken out of the equation. In everyday life here could be multiple reasons why a kid might be depressed, in fact, in some cases depression might lead a kid to violent video games and it has been shown the in small doses could help (Tortolero et al. 610). So it is up to parents to see what kind of condition their kids are in and ask themselves what kind of effect the games will have on them. In any case it is probably for the best to limit the amount played