Video Games and Violent Activities

Video Game and Violent Activities

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Video Game and Violent Activities

There are increased concerns from most parents on what may happen to their children as they are playing various video games corrupted with the use of drugs, blood, punching and shooting among many other violent activates. With the rise in technology, advanced graphics and animation software have been created that allow programmers to design violent video games with high tech graphics, which provide a real experience for most video game players. The real experience provided by today’s violent video games has led to increased violent activities among gamers.

Violent video games teach the youth that conflicts can only be resolved by the use of violence as they learn the various ways in which they can express themselves physically and in a violent manner. It has made it easier for a youth to shove his or her friend when angry at each other than to convey their anger and resolve the conflict through dialog. Violent video games offer the youth a golden chance to not only learn but also practice how they can incorporate violent solutions when it comes to solving conflicts (Eden, & Eshet-Alkalai, 2014). A child who does not play violent video games is less likely to react to a situation with more hostility as compared to one who plays violent video games; hence, it is clear that violent video games lead to vicious related feelings and thoughts among the gamers.  

Violent video games have also led to gamers demonstrating reduced empathy to acts of violence as players initially get horrified by the scenes they come across but eventually, they are desensitized to the violent scenes. Most youths who take part in violent video games become less willing to demonstrate a helping behavior that can be of assistance to a person or the society due to dampened empathy. Empathy is an important characteristic in an individual as it is used to connect with other people in the society by learning their sorrows, pains, and desires among others. An individual whose empathy has been dampened is more likely to carry out intended acts of violence which may be disastrous in a neighborhood with children whose empathy have been eroded by violent video games.

Learning effect is a long-term result associated with the playing of violent video games considering that humans learn how to judge, interpret and respond to events early in their childhood. When children play video games on a daily basis, with each violent gaming episode, they expose themselves to learning trials that change their knowledge structures. Taking part in violent video games daily leads to the rehearsal of these knowledge structures; hence, making them more intricate, distinguished, and difficult to change. Five learning structures a subjected to change due to playing violent video games, which are aggressive belief and attitude, aggressive perceptual, aggressive expectation schema, aggressive behaviors scripts and aggression desensitization (Engelhardt, Bartholow, & Saults, 2011). The combination of these learning structures leads to increased aggressive personality, which makes an individual more violent in the end.