Research Question: Do violent video games contribute to violent youth behavior?
Introduction
As the media has been rapidly integrated into society, many inquiries have emerged that question its negative influence. The media is seen as very beneficial by those who are exposed to it because it provides hours of entertainment in many forms, the most prominent of which are movies, television programs, and video games. The latter is a somewhat recent favorite, and many studies have focused on the influence that it exerts on players. The first voices against video games, especially the violent ones, spoke out after it was revealed that the two high school boys who had killed students, teachers, and then themselves at Columbine High, an event which was …show more content…
Some studies show that the benefits of violent video games with a “role-playing” aspect outweigh the drawbacks that the violence presents. For example, the game Neverwinter Nights contains a great deal of heavy reading material that is challenging to young readers (Adams, 2009). Playing this video game improves reading skills, which come into play in the classroom. Eventually, a player’s reading proficiency would be enhanced with prolonged exposure to the game. However, despite the fact that there are some video games such as Neverwinter Nights, most video games that are played by people do not challenge students; many recent games are not like Neverwinter Nights, which does not create enough evidence to make a comparison. In addition, Wilson reports that while there were early experiments conducted in which violent video games did not elicit violent behavior, those video games were mild in violence compared to the games that are available today (2008). As the media develops, so does the violence; the increasing amount of violence can have a negative impact on children’s behavior, causing them to become more
Introduction
As the media has been rapidly integrated into society, many inquiries have emerged that question its negative influence. The media is seen as very beneficial by those who are exposed to it because it provides hours of entertainment in many forms, the most prominent of which are movies, television programs, and video games. The latter is a somewhat recent favorite, and many studies have focused on the influence that it exerts on players. The first voices against video games, especially the violent ones, spoke out after it was revealed that the two high school boys who had killed students, teachers, and then themselves at Columbine High, an event which was …show more content…
Some studies show that the benefits of violent video games with a “role-playing” aspect outweigh the drawbacks that the violence presents. For example, the game Neverwinter Nights contains a great deal of heavy reading material that is challenging to young readers (Adams, 2009). Playing this video game improves reading skills, which come into play in the classroom. Eventually, a player’s reading proficiency would be enhanced with prolonged exposure to the game. However, despite the fact that there are some video games such as Neverwinter Nights, most video games that are played by people do not challenge students; many recent games are not like Neverwinter Nights, which does not create enough evidence to make a comparison. In addition, Wilson reports that while there were early experiments conducted in which violent video games did not elicit violent behavior, those video games were mild in violence compared to the games that are available today (2008). As the media develops, so does the violence; the increasing amount of violence can have a negative impact on children’s behavior, causing them to become more