Video Games | Teen Ink

Video Games

May 27, 2015
By cupcake254 BRONZE, Reno, Nevada
cupcake254 BRONZE, Reno, Nevada
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

In the world we live in now there are many influences.  Some include school, people, and technology.  These days technology seems to rule our everyday lives.  One of these pieces of technology is video games.  Video games influence the young, old, male, and female, and affect you physically and mentally.  Some games are more violent than others and can portray brutal sequences throughout when played.   These same games are being played by many children.  When they are played as much as they are, the kids are exposed to violent sequences in these video games.  Although many children like to play violent video games and enjoy them it actually can contribute to violence in children.
           

As we all know, there is always violence in basically any game on the market.  The key is how this violence is being portrayed and to what degree of severity.  For instance, if you’re talking about Mario Cart, it has violence in the sense that they crash into things or “die”, but it is easy to tell that it is just a game.  It doesn’t show the actual character of Mario dying.  He just resets, as opposed to a game like Grand Theft Auto where the whole objective of the game is to speed, steal, and evade.  This is done through the use of weapons, usually guns and involves shooting pedestrians, cops, and even animals.  This differs from Mario Cart because it is very graphic and uses realistic people and surroundings that may be hard for a child to differentiate between the game and real life.
           

One might say that Mario Cart and Grand Theft Auto are totally unrelated, which might be fair because  Mario Cart is in a way a cartoon made for children as opposed to Grand Theft Auto which is rated “M” for mature.  The thing is that children are still playing these video games that are rated “M” for a reason.  The games specifically say why they are rated this way and give fair warning.  Maybe it isn’t always the child, but the parent who lets them play these games or doesn’t supervise their children. There are still enough games out there for a child to play that won’t portray violence I such a brutal manner.
      

Some parents don’t care what their children watch or play but they should. Video games effect on your mental and physical state. The violence that is shown in video games is so vivid that people think is real, and that makes people feel like it’s really happening. In Grand Theft Auto you are doing the actions, you are controlling what’s happening you are the one stealing, you’re the one killing. You might say that this doesn’t affect you. Many people would say the same thing. Physiology researchers say other otherwise. In a 2008 study Grand Theft Childhood reported that" 60% of middle school boys who played at least one Mature -rated game, hit or beat up someone, compared to 39% of boys that did not play Mature-rated games".
  

Video games affects the brain especially at a young age. The brain is still developing, some people can't distinguish reality and fantasy because they play all these video games that have violence in them. It messes up the progression and development of the brain.  Children learn from what they see and what they hear. "Video games often reward players for simulating violence, and thus enhance the learning of violent behaviors"(pro/con). They aren't able to see the that it’s just a game, because they grew up playing violent game that told then that killing someone  is something that should be rewarded.
       

Children shouldn't have in their minds that you should be rewarded for killing and stealing. Children shouldn't learn from violent M rated games. Their parents need to be aware of the things they hear, see, and play, even if they don’t need parent supervision, they still need to be aware of the dangers of video games.  They are rated for a reason. Listen to that reason, follow it because it affects how you think and the operation of your brain. If you’re violent think to yourself why, what is the origin of that violence? Is it because of video games and is if is why damage your brain, your temper and mental state. Ask yourself that the next time you play a game.


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Work Cited

• "Video Games ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2015.
• "Video Game Addiction." Violence and Video Games. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2015.
• "Study: Violent Video Games Encourage Racist, Aggressive Attitudes Toward Blacks." CBS Cleveland. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2015. 
• "Video Game Addiction." Violence and Video Games. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2015.


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