Topic > The effects of violence in video games on the desensitization of children

Not surprisingly, America attributes a model that feeds on controversial issues. Do you choose not to believe me? Go to the nearest gas station or grocery store and I guarantee you will find an array of tabloids talking about the personal lives of Hollywood celebrities and the problems they face. For example, Miley Cyrus became a hot topic for weeks due to her lackluster and inappropriate performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Furthermore, the correlation between whether an individual wants to discuss her skimpy clothes or the amount of money she contributes to private organizations shows that people prefer to gossip about the negative rather than the positive. Rightly so, personal debate makes us human. We are passionate about topics that we believe should be defended and support arguments based on common knowledge and moral law. Today's society is built on a melting pot of diverse actions experienced in both children and adults. As a result, different cultures have different beliefs about what is needed for their children to grow both mentally and physically. In retrospect to the controversy over whether violence in video games contributes to the desensitization of a child's social, emotional, and physical background, one might agree that children are greatly influenced by what they see and react to in specific environments. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay From a social perspective, children are surrounded by an accumulation of video games organized by their rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board or ESRB for short. As a matter of fact, according to Karen and Jody Dill, the two authors of "VIDEO GAME VIOLENCE: A REVIEW OF THE EMPIRICAL LITERATURE", state: The popularity of video games has reached phenomenal proportions. The video game industry leader, Nintendo, sold an average of three games per second in the 12 years from 1983 to 1995, for a total of one billion games sold. To put that number in some perspective, that's a game for every teenager on earth, or a game for every person in North America, Europe, and Japan, or enough games that, if placed one after another, would come in around 'equator two and a half times (Dill and Dill 408). For perspective, the statistics are based not only on children, but also on adults who play video games. However, the Dill sisters also mention: Egli and Meyers (1984) found that 13% of the adolescents they interviewed exhibited what could be described as compulsive behavior toward video games and sacrificed other attractive activities so that they could devote time and money on video games. game. Braun and Giroux (1989) called video games “. . . the perfect paradigm for inducing “addictive” behavior,' and noted that this, '. . . should be of some concern especially regarding children as consumers" (p. 101) (Dill and Dill 409). Although some people would disagree with this information, it remains infallible that some societies contain children, who prefer to surround themselves with a virtual reality containing their favorite animated characters who actively participate in free time outdoors or by other means. My niece, for example, will come to my house and play with her Nintendo DS, a compatible video game console , instead of using his time to entertain his stuffed animals or create vivid, imaginary worlds. I'm not suggesting that video games destroy children's imaginations, but I believe they play a rolein influencing what children imagine. Furthermore, Dill and Dill use information from L. Berkowitz and R. G. Geen to correlate the relationship between television and video game violence to suggest that the more children are exposed to content, the more susceptible they become to reducing their inhibitions about it. which is considered socially acceptable behavior. Coincidentally, they state that “learned behaviors” through video games become justifiable because that is what the video game, for example Mortal Combat, is portraying (Dill and Dill 410). By learned behaviors, I'm referring to when a child sees a man he idolizes in karate slashing someone's neck, he in turn will sometimes imitate the move. Not to say that the next child who sees such an image will mirror the action, but children have a way of repeating actions and behaviors that they learn in their own society. In addition to being desensitized by learned behaviors, children's educational backgrounds are sometimes negatively impacted compared to what society standardizes as acceptable. Several authors of “Brains on video games,” an article in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, stated: “At the same time, it should be noted that daily time spent playing video games in school-age children has been shown to be inversely related to academic performance . achievement of results, probably because the time spent playing video games is time stolen from reading and academic study related to the curriculum” (Bavelier, Gentile, Green, Han, Merzenich, Renshaw 763). Plus, I for one can say that I've sacrificed missing classes in the past to sit back and shoot a bunch of Nazi zombies or listen to people argue on Xbox Live. Go ahead and ask a child whether they would rather play with flashcards or a video game. The answer is usually obvious. He or she will choose the latter because, although it provides little stimulation to the brain, the child enjoys the bright colors and vivid images that the game entails. More importantly, by choosing this over studying, the action could become habitual and could inversely affect studying behavior, or whether the child would be engaged in studies in general. Children's minds absorb information like a sponge and are sometimes influenced by what they see and hear. A child's emotional development becomes crucial to the behavioral patterns he or she will display later in life. Sometimes, the content they are influenced by becomes detrimental to their emotional capacity and empathy. Michael M. Merzenich, one of the authors of “Brains on video games”, expresses his concern and says:…action games with antisocial (violent) content – ​​which are particularly addictive and provide particularly strong motivational bases to drive positive cognitive changes – have been shown to reduce empathy, reduce stress associated with observing or initiating antisocial actions, and increase conflictual and destructive behaviors in the real world (Bavelier, Gentile, Green, Han, Merzenich, Renshaw 764). the empathy of a child, whose mind is still maturing and is experiencing specific situations, this could be a factor leading to why he or she shows little or no interest in social or romantic relationships. You simply cut the root before the bud has bloomed and left the flower stem in the way; the bud will never bloom and the remains will become nothing. Likewise, when a child is at the stage where their emotions are profoundly affected by their experiences, the possibility remains that their mind may be hindered by constant exposure to violent video games. Furthermore, two authors corresponding to thereport of children's desensitization due to video game violence both noted: “Thomas et al. (1977) also suggest that desensitization occurs when initial arousal to violent stimuli is reduced and thus changes an individual's current internal state. Similarly, systematic desensitization has been shown to reduce avoidance behavior, and when there is no direct negative consequence of fear-provoking behavior, the possibility of fear extinction exists (Bandura, Blanchard, and Ritter 1969). Concerns associated with desensitization are that individuals may not notice aggressive events, may perceive resulting injuries as less severe, may feel less sympathy for victims, and may have less negative attitudes toward violence (Carnagey, Anderson, and Bushman 2007).” (Becker-Olson and Norberg 84). The authors' concerns show that they believe that, over a long period of time, constant exposure to violent video games may help explain why children may show less empathy towards emotional traumas such as loss or may be less affected by fear. Now, I'm not suggesting that kids will steal the car from the nearest person and go on a rage-induced rampage, but they might take part in risky behaviors like challenging heights or testing their mettle by other dangerous means. They might also see learned behavior that their character can "regenerate" if they die, so they in turn might believe they possess the same omnipotence and try to dive off a roof or cliff. Knowing how important a child's emotional development is, we can help him shape his mind in a positive way by monitoring the content of the games he plays. Statistics and analysis show that children's physiological development can be hindered by exposure to violent video games. Finally, children are socially and emotionally inclined to external exposure, but their involvement is fundamentally based on their physical well-being. However, violence in video games has been shown to negatively impact the brain and other physical aspects of a child's life, which in turn affects how he or she interacts emotionally and socially. Specifically, Marilynn Larkin, author of “The Amygdala Differentiates the Fear Response,” collaborates with scientists and concludes that at the site of the amygdala, a memory gland in the brain, “'The amygdala is not just there to mediate fear and anxiety, as many people think. It is a fundamental learning device that mediates associations between stimuli and reinforcers, regardless of whether they are good or bad, and thus the impact of these conditioned stimuli on future behavior" (Larkin 268). As stated earlier, statistics have showed how violence in video games could negatively affect a child's perception of fear and empathy towards different situations in his life. The amygdala is the brain's receptor for almost every emotional feeling transmitter for storing information and a fight response. or escape from dangerous situations. Try to imagine that the response is hindered or stopped altogether. The similarity would be that of placing your hand on a hot stove without having the stimuli of your brain telling you to remove it they may feel pain or loss in some way but not know how to handle it because their receptors prevent them from doing so due to their mental conditioning through constant playing of violent video games. Additionally, research shows that significant decreases in heart rate and skin response measurements show that the