Reference no: EM13160714

There have been many accusations over the years over the harm video games are causing children and teenagers. Experiments have been conducted trying to associate a link between video games and aggressive behavior. Even the media has been known to point fingers at video games for the cause of children committing criminal activity. Despite there are many accusations, I tend to argue that video games are not as harmful to the mind as portrayed by the media, and instead beneficial.

Video games evoke aggression in children. A majority of video games contain some level of violence, and the purpose of many of them is to kill people to win the game. Children who play these games begin to relate the killing from the games to real life which they start to think is acceptable. For example, the popular game “Medal of Honor” portrays the relationship of violence in a video game to evoking violence in children. “Medal of Honor” is set to take place during the time of World War II at the battle of Normandy. A win will result if the player successfully kills the rest of the Germans without being killed first in a gruesome battle. When you shoot someone in a video game, they magically come back to life unharmed; however, when you shoot someone in real life, they are gone forever. In the article, “Does game violence make teens aggressive?” Larry Ley states that “There’s enough data that clearly indicates that [game violence] is a problem,” he says. While the game is violent, there is still no conclusive evidence that they could influence a person to acting it out in real life. It still remains: games don’t kill people, people kill people.

Even though there is a presence of violence in video games, studies have comparatively shown that video games can prove to have positive outcomes and effects. One benefits and uses that of physical rehabilitation, such as the patients recovering from hand treatment. More commonly though proponents of video games suggest that video games could be a friendly way to introduce children to computers, improving hand-eye co-ordination and attention to detail. This benefits them as they become detailed thinkers and puzzle solvers. This benefit has also been taken advantage of successfully in the armed forces; the armed forces want their soldiers to pay more attention to details and have found that video games offer this benefit in a unique way. They actually involve the soldiers, rather than watching videos. They are interactive.

The first and foremost reason that I enjoy playing computer games is that they are fun to play. It's no secret that people enjoy being thrilled; a huge segment of our economy is devoted to satisfying this thirst for entertainment. Video games fill a niche in this industry. For a large portion of our history, the methods of satisfying our needs for thrilling entertainment were limited; books and theater plays were all the entertainment industry had to offer. But the major limiting factor of these forms is their lack of interaction with the person being entertained. Our technology has given us the power to reach out and make the watcher a part of the story, you control the fate of your player, and you are intertwined with the action. This is the compelling feature of the popularity of video games.

It is quite easy to become completely absorbed in the action of the game. This is the point where the imagination takes over completely and where, I feel that the true essence of entertainment is achieved. Your mind is allowed to escape reality, to suspend disbelief, and for the duration of the game allow the computer images to shape your reality. Unfortunately, this is also the point where the most strident attacks against computer video games. Since they are so realistic in their depictions of death and destruction, many feel that they contribute to greater manifestations of violence in society. Video game manufacturers say that this problem can be solved by stricter parenting.

The people who say that video games are the root of most of the violence from kids are mistaken. Kids have fun playing video games. How many kids say, I stole his money because the video game made me? Or how about I ran over this little old lady because it was on my video game? Kids have emotional problems, just like adults. When adults do these things we call them thieves, deranged, murderers. When a kid does it, we blame it on video games. Kids have a mind of their own. Some kids grow up emotionally faster than others. Kids are capable of these things without video games.

Video game violence sells itself to young adults, adults and even parents all over the nation. Personally I really can’t see how a video game could turn someone into a stone cold killer. A video game is fantasy, and killing in a video game is fiction. People should distinguish fiction from the real thing.