“A lot of children spend more than 40 hrs per week using some type of media” (Anderson & Bushman) children use the computer at school and at home to do their school work. With today’s society everything is computerized. They also use computer to play games and play video games on TV using consoles. Due to the increase in crime and child abduction, parents prefer for children to stay indoors so they can be safe. Because the children stay indoors there is nothing much to do other than watch television or play video games. Parents are too busy to take their children to the park to play instead they purchase video games to keep the children entertained.
Some parents use these video games as babysitters instead of spending time with their kids. Children are parked in front of the TV all day long. There is a lot of peer pressure to have the latest video games and electronics. The children want to have what there peers have at school so they don’t feel left out. Some parents believe that video games are just harmless fun, they don’t correlate that with repeated exposure to violence children can become just that ” violent”. Ignorance is the worst mistake that parents make when it comes to purchasing games for their children. They don’t take time to investigate or research the content of the game.
They don’t even look at the ratings of on video game.” Many games involving violence by cartoon like characters are classified as appropriate for the general audience” Anderson & Bushman). Just because it has cartoon features on it does not appropriate for kids. It is the parents responsibility to make sure the game is appropriate before purchasing it. Video games are very highly marketed.
“The most heavily marketed and consumed games are the violent ones” (Anderson & Bushman). This is what attracts many parents and teenagers to purchase the game. Video games can be good too they are not all bad. Some games can help the child learn patience because they have to one step at a time. One goal has to be accomplished before they can advance to the next step in the game.
Video games are also said to have a greater potential for education a claim made by MIT educator Henry Jenkins(Jagodzinski). Playing video games can also be fun they help relieve stress. Video games also make a lot of kids smarter by enabling them to search for new solutions, to problems, meet challenges of technology form and test hypotheses (Jagodzinski) Video games have a lot of negative effects too. To start with video games have become more realistic and sophisticated. Some connect to the internet which can allow children and adolescents to play online with unknown adults and peers”(AACAP 2006) When playing online children have no idea who is on the other side of the screen.
It can be a child molester or some kind of perpetrator pretending to be a peer. This may lead the teen to release some personal information endangering not only themselves but their whole family. Because of the realistic measure of the games, some children after playing for long periods of time they cannot differentiate what is real from what is unreal. “Studies of children exposed to violence have shown that they can become immune or numb to the horror of violence, imitate the violence they see and show more aggressive behavior” (AACAP 2006). This might be the reason why there are so many shootings in high schools, colleges and universities around in the country.
For example the shootings at columbine high might have happened because these teenagers spent numerous amounts of time playing video games. “Violent media increases aggression by teaching observers how to aggress, by priming aggressive cognition, by increasing arousal or by creating an aggressive affective state” (Anderson & Bushman). Children learn by watching and observing. They also learn by listening and doing. When they are exposed to the repeated violence in the video game they can become immune to it. They will think that its normal to be aggressive to their peers because of what they see when playing the game.
Most games encourage aggression one has to kill the opponent before moving to the next stage of the game. “Video game experiments show that graphic violence such as that including blood, realistic portrayals of violence and rewarded violence are likely to increase aggression” (Shibuya, Sakamoto, & Yukatawa). Children’s brain is like a sponge it absorbs everything that it hears or see.
Their brain is still developing and learning a lot in the process. Given that the danger of physical pain drops out when playing a video game, the risk holds no bounds. Video games enable vicarious experience to take place: the thrill with no danger(Jagodzinski). Some teenagers will not know how to leave the virtual world behind and continue with the real world one they are done playing. If they do the same thing as they were doing in the virtual world there are consequences to be held. If they go out there and shoot someone they will be held accountable and have to spend most of their life in a jail cell. That is a life wasted just because they were not able to separate fantasy from reality.
Some children are addicted to video game. They only feel alive when playing the game but not when they are participating in regular activities (Jagodznski). They become antisocial all they care about is playing the game. Their grades at school might drop because they can’t concentrate on school. All they think about when they are at school is when they will get home so that they can play the game.
There is also an increase in obesity because children are spending most of their time sitting on the couch playing video games. There is no physical activity at all. Even though some gaming companies like Nintendo and Microsoft have new games that involve some movement when playing. This does not compare to the exercise kids get when playing outside. When kids play outside with their friends they build their social skills which are important for their future.
Another benefit kids get from playing outside is the fresh air they get and the stress-relieving endorphins that are released by exercise. Some video games can be hazardous to their health. “ small print warning on some game packages state explicitly that epileptic seizure can occur from overuse and eye strain” (Jagodzinski). Most consumers do not read the fine print and manufacturers know that.
That is why its in fine print so that just incase something does happen such as a person suffers a seizure while playing the game the manufacturers will not be held accountable. Playing video games has its positive and negative effects. The negative effects tend to be higher than the positive effects. Everything has to be done in moderation so that means that kids can play their video games but not all the time. Parents need to set limits on how much time kids can play the game per each day and make sure to follow through with consequences if rules are not followed.
Consumers need to be educated about the consequences of playing video games. They can make smarter choices by researching the content of the game before purchasing it. They can also look at the rating of the games before allowing their kids to play it. Just because it has a cartoon character on it doesn’t necessarily mean its safe. Parents can be proactive by being involved in their kids’ life. Learning what is wrong, what they are thinking or doing, being involved in their school to get the whole picture of their kids life. They can also play the games with their kids so they can have a clue what kind of content is in the game.
