The Effects of Video Games on Society : Part Two

            Here follows the second half of the paper on violent video games. The works cited are available in the links on the side of the page. 

            Some other studies have shown that, while not all children and young adults exhibit violent tendencies, the instances do rise immediately following the consumption of violent media (Anderson). While some aggressive children do play more aggressively themed games, they actually do not commit significantly more aggressive or violent crimes. However, they do exhibit other behaviors, such as lower grades and lower attendance scores. These children also tend to be more anti-social in environments other than co-operative gaming. Some aggressive children are, in more extreme cases, more likely perform a direct imitation of the depicted violent acts. Even college-aged subjects have shown increased aggression, proving that it is not the age of the subject but the media content providing the impetus. A major gap in the studies, according to Dr. Craig Anderson, is the fact that no studies have been done on the longer-term effects of violent games. He questions how to select the correlating amounts of aggression in order to compare video games to other media, for example television and horror movies. A study along these lines could shed some light on increasing aggression and violent crime by gamers as they progress into adulthood (Anderson). While there have been some positive uses for some violent games (i.e. military training and a game named “Re-Mission” used to teach cancer patients about after-care (Simnacher)), these games are primarily about senseless violence and general mayhem.   

            Although addiction issues and violence are serious problems, even more disturbing are the experiments conducted by researchers at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, which have shown that violent video games and movies desensitized the subjects to the perception of actual violence (Bushman). In a number of subjects, even the perception of the severity of violence or an emergency presented in the study was lowered or negated. The desire to help a person perceived to be in danger was reduced (or in extreme cases, eliminated) during and immediately following consumption of violent media. Subjects in the experiment were given a bogus questionnaire after a gaming experience. During the questionnaire, a simulated fight was played out just outside the door to the room. The verbal questionnaire given following the staged fight dealt with the subject’s perception of the violence outside the door. A similar study was performed with violent movie content, with much the same result. Subjects presented with content that is more violent were markedly less likely to show a desire to aid the victim and most claimed the violence was not as severe, even though there were simulated injuries involved. In other studies of violence in games, this is a common trend among consumers of violent media.

            In conclusion, we should be aware that, while there are some beneficial effects from video games in general, the more violent games only bring about negative effects on society. Addiction in younger children, anti-social behavior, and a general desensitization to violence are occurring in our society. Parents and older teens can aid in the reduction of negative effects by reducing the amount of time spent playing these games and helping to insure that younger children cannot purchase adult or mature rated games. Spending more time with our children instead of parking them in front of the electronic babysitter is also a way to reduce these effects. Less violence and more educational content could also be explored as an alternative in co-operative gaming, as these types of games seem to promote teamwork and lowered aggression in most gamers, even though the content itself is violent.