Does violent games cause behavior problems?

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Abstract
The modifications created by technology have revolutionized the entertainment industry. Video gaming is one of the aspects that has undergone tremendous advancements to meet the changing client needs and attract additional users. Currently, the games range from simple activities, for example, football matches to complex games that entail violent contents. The rise of the latter is the principal concern because some people argue that such games promote aggressive behavior amongst the users. The point of contention is that these games expose kids to a falsehood life involving the use of weapons. As a result, youths embrace similar acts and try to emulate the actions in the real life circumstance. However, other fractions are of the opinion that violent personality is inborn. Mostly, people having this view indicate that personality is a reflection of the social standards regarding good acts and evil. Therefore, violent video games have minimal contribution to the development of character. The paper sought to identify the main viewpoints and to support a broad conclusion regarding the violent video games and human cognitive growth.
Do violent games cause behavior problems?
Advancements in technology particularly video gaming is an extensively debate concern. Just like other recreational activities, the intent of video gaming is to improve livelihood aspects of people by providing a means for recreation. However, the rise of social and psychological disturbances amongst the youth, for instance, aggression has prompted fierce criticisms of the game content (Fritz 11).

Both fractions namely the proponents and the opposing side incorporate the psychological principles to indicate the violent video games influences behavioral patterns of the humans especially the youth. However, violent video gaming has a multifaceted outlook that the public should comprehend when analyzing the issue. First, the transformation is an inescapable process, and violent video gaming is an instance of modification from the traditional recreational process. Second, the technology is a multi-billion opportunity that supports the cognitive, economic, and social development of individuals and the nation. Third, the personality development encompasses an interplay of various concerns including the parental roles, the influence of the social environment and genetic characteristics of an individual. Through the process of operant and classical conditioning, the users acquire concepts that affect personality development either positively or adversely.
Positive influences
A good percentage youth spend the leisure time playing video games, and this has contributed added the profitability of the domestic video game commerce. However, some of the videos have violence content, which has been attributed to victimization, and school shootings. Arguably, the video games are pivotal for enhancing the aptitude of the users to become useful members of the society. However, the rigidity of the older generation to appreciate the advancements in technology supports this biased opinion of violence creation (Ferguson 312). Extensively, the notion that violent video gaming promotes aggressive is a form of ‘moral panic’ by the past generations. Just like other resistances, the viewpoint about new technology in video gaming is exaggerated to instill fear in the populace. In addition, the adverse psychological behavior is a notion progressed by people who lack any form of awareness regarding the benefits of the games to the social and individual growth.
Besides, the video games producers entice the users to develop a competitive culture to win a contest. Usually, this form of competitiveness if unchecked can lead to the violent behaviors amongst the users. This implies that the content has no correlation with the aggression of the users. Instead, it arouses the individuals to portray their nature to the public. Even though these violent behaviors may be severe, video games provide a platform for triggering the traits and enabling formulation of a quick response to address the issues.
Besides, these games appeal to most youths. Therefore, they spend most of the leisure time playing the video games. This culture keeps the youth away from negative peer influence that may lead to aggression (Carr and Blanchfield 81). In this case, nations or communities that offer resources to the youths to access video games have a sustainable youth population characterized reduced anti-social behaviors. In addition, violent video game provides a visual representation of a real problem of violence. This educative platform enables the youths to appreciate peace and avoid any circumstance that may lead to the social unrests.
Negative Influences
As hinted video games have attracted so much criticism due to the negative behavioral changes it causes to individuals. Going by the nature of video games, it entails active participation in activities such as stabbing and shooting. These activities capture the emotions and physical strength of the player. In psychology, anything that engages the mind for a long time is likely to result in addiction and learning (Fritz 13). Furthermore, a child learns and imitates behaviors in their surrounding especially from people. Most games are designed in a way that a player is a character and choose a weapon to fight. The more violent the player becomes, the more points he or she earns. This kind of obsession results to practice to a violent activity as it makes one be insensitive and lack empathy. Many mass shooters were later discovered to be obsessed video game players. This means a youth or kid would go to the extent of acquiring a gun and try out what they have seen with no mercy or kindness. In schools, there has been reported confrontation between teachers and students because they learn from the virtual games that the only way to sort out any problem is by violence.
In the current world parents, get video games for their children as a necessity as opposed to the earlier day where children would go out to the garden, play hide, and seek, singing games, and other physical activities. Such activities helped kids be physically fit, unlike virtual games that are associated to cause health related complications like obesity, video-induced seizures, postural, muscular, and skeletal disorders (Ferguson 312). The health of kids is affected due to inactivity, and during such games, they develop a culture of taking junk food as a snack. Some children would prefer to stay indoors, locked in their rooms other than going to social events. They end up being socially inactive and isolated that later affects how they interact with other people. Engaging in a sound argument can be difficult because they are not used to losing games.
Studies show that the aggressive behavior of virtual games addict causes them to argue a lot with tutors, fight with colleagues and perform poorly in academics as compared to others who play video games less often. A child’s performance is affected by concentration, and it has been known that video games alter long-term concentration (Funk et al. 137). An addict would want to engage in an activity that involves their emotion while some subjects in school may not appeal to their emotion hence poor concentration.
Development is a gradual process that should not be rushed. Children need time to process their thoughts, reverse and manage their anxieties, question their parents on issues bothering them to get guidance. Particular problems and fantasies that children have can only be answered by parents and thus having a great impact on their thoughts (Carr and Blanchfield 83). When we leave the responsibility of parenting to video games so that they do not bother us at times, make children unable to separate fantasy from reality. Online video games further expose kids to crude language and others pick immoral behaviors from what they see.
Additionally, there are virtual games that have sexual content and objectify women as weak characters and always the victim. Statics have shown a significant number of video games that portrays women as sex objects and another violence against women .This has led to rising in the number of rape cases as the offenders develop a rape-supportive attitude and aggression towards rape victims. The more sexual offensive game an individual play it heightens the desire to rape.
Understanding the role of violent video games
Perhaps, exposure to the violent acts in these videos influences the perceptions of teens to adopt or emulate some of the scenes. The viewpoint is in line with the notion that cognitive and behavioral frameworks that people learn from the external environment. The operant approach also illustrates that the continuous exposure to a certain element becomes part of an individual’s thought process. In this view, if a person watches or plays numerous violent acts such as shooting, murder or other antisocial acts in a movie, he or she might be tempted to try the acts (Olson 189). Besides, a person’s mastery of the violent video games that involve aggressive actions like combat may provide an illusion that he or she has the skills to engage other people in similar circumstances. In this context, a person may start a fight with other people out of the influence of what he or she does in the games. The perspectives highlight that the games have a role in the personality development of people especially the young adults.
Equally, youths spend most the time to play video games. These type of culture detriments the social relationship or interpersonal skills of the young generation. Therefore, video gaming might not necessarily lead to the aggressive behavior but deprives the youth a chance to learn how to associate with others. As a result, the affected persons may become insensitive to the needs or feelings of others out of ignorance rather than the reality of violent video gaming.
Also, naturalistic view pinpoints that behavior of a person results from the genetic inheritance from the parents. This conception denotes people’s behavior has no correlation with the exposures in the environment. Therefore, video gaming has nothing to add to the character of a person. Instead, the violent attributes are inborn features that a person has. In addition, there is no scientific documentation to validate that people develop aggressive attributes when they play certain games (Funk et al. 138). The viewpoint also indicates that people can watch or play the violent video games but maintain their peaceful nature. Also, video games only function to enhance the creative skills of individuals to have a different perception of the world. When a person plays these games, there are high chances that he or she learns new ideas about the universe. In addition, the exposure to the video games sharpens the cognitive aspects of people to handle or internalize complexities of the environment. Other than creating the relaxation, video games whether violent or not improves the concentration of the users that enable them to develop positive mindsets regarding the social environment.
As evinced, violent games represent an aspect of the recreational opportunities or games for the users. Predominantly, people have varying preferences making the creation of violent video games a necessary venture to address the divergent needs of the clients across the globe. In this view, it is hard to relate the effect of the violent games on character development of a person
Other than portraying the violent video games as the basis for various social issues, the public should consider the following factors. The violence in these videos is a mechanism to add dynamism to the games and offer the users a new taste. Besides, the violence aspect exposes the users to other relevant social issues that formal education or observation cannot enable a person to acquire. The notion supports that violent video games enlighten the users to have a broad understanding of the causes and consequences of violence. In this context, they can develop appropriate responses that are in line with the accepted standards of the society and family (Hastings et al. 639). Also, these type of games also equip the users with the practical skills to understand the diversity and relate with the violent members of the society. Prior exposure to the games gives people the practical skills to progress a positive social change and help other people to overcome the hindrances.
Conclusively, the portrayal of a violent behavior results from an interplay of various personal and social issues. Primarily, moral decay emanating from the decline social institutions and parental roles is partly to blame. In this view, the behavior of a person is a reflection of the social environment and nature of standards that the family inculcates in them. A morally upright person shows that the family imparted the appropriate values to enable his or her development. On the contrary, a violent person shows some denotes possibility of some lapses in the order of upbringing. Similarly, the human attributes are learned from other exposures including the social background and economic status. Even though it appears illogical, people that grow up in informal settlements tend to adopt certain aggressive behaviors. In addition, the environment nurtures the attributes of a person meaning that despite the level of exposure, a person can have a remarkable personality. This evidence shows that video games have minimal effects on the human character.
Nonetheless, the videos play a role in the development of secondary characters. Therefore, appropriate stakeholders should collaborate to reduce the extent of exposure to the violent video games. Parents should also educate their children about other beneficial recreational activities and enhance bonding activities. Precisely, proper parenting coupled with appropriate psychological and spiritual development is the correct way of minimizing aggression amongst the youth.
Works Cited
Funk, Jeanne B., et al. “Aggression And Psychopathology In Adolescents With A Preference For Violent Electronic Games.” Aggressive Behavior 28.2 (2002): 134-144. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
Hastings, EC, et al. “Young Children’s Video/Computer Game Use: Relations With School Performance And Behavior.” Issues In Mental Health Nursing 30.10 (2009): 638-649. CINAHL with Full Text. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
Carr, John, and Blanchfield, Peter “A Game To Aid Behavioural Education.” Proceedings Of The European Conference On Games Based Learning (2009): 78-85. Education Research Complete. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
Olson, Cheryl K., et al. “M-Rated Video Games And Aggressive Or Problem Behavior Among Young Adolescents.” Applied Developmental Science 13.4 (2009): 188-198. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
Ferguson, Christopher. “The Good, The Bad And The Ugly: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Positive And Negative Effects Of Violent Video Games.” Psychiatric Quarterly 78.4 (2007): 309-316. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
Fritz, Gregory K. “The video game paradox.” Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter Apr. 2008: 8. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.