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Paul Sommers Eng 103 Violent Video Games Many children in today’s society play violent video games. There are unbelievable amounts of violent games for children to get their hands on. There are games that you can steal cars, kill people, fight in an army, and several other violent actions. More than 60 percent of Americans play video game on a regular basis, and only 32 percent of people who play video games are 35 years or older (“No Strong Link”). Now the question is with all of these violent video games, do they have any lasting affects on children in the future? While playing the games they become emotionally involved but does it affect them at all after they are done playing? I myself played violent video games growing up. I had a brother who was three years older than me and I wanted to do everything he did. When he played a video game it made me want to play a video game. There was a game called Grand Theft Auto. The basic idea of the game was to go around stealing cars and killing people. You would simply go around drive stolen cars and shoot who ever you wanted to. My brother and all his friends would play and I would watch. As soon as they would all leave I would begin to play. While playing the game I would be very into it and my adrenaline was up. As soon as I would stop that adrenaline or anger would all just go away. For me that was what made it fun was the rush I got playing it. As soon as the game was done though the violence would just leave me. I am now nineteen and definitely would not call myself a violent or angry person at all. A test was done by Dmitri Williams to see if there is a link between violent video games and aggression. They had a playing time of 56 hours in a month and had a pre-test and post test. Through these test there was no extra aggression between the before and after testing. They also had a group that didn’t play any video games at all and they all had the same results. There was no relation between violent video games and the aggression caused by them (“No Strong Link”). It is hard to say that violent video games are causing extreme violence by looking at statistics. While violent video games are at an all time high, juvenile violent crimes are at a 30-year low. It is shown that kids who play video games do young school shootings in America but 90% of boys and 40% of girls play video games (Jenkins, Henry). So statistically more kids who play violent video games do no commit antisocial acts. It is easy for almost all children to determine the difference between the imaginary fighting and real fighting. Even animals know the difference between play fighting and real fighting. When animals play they fight each other but they know not to hurt the other one because it is only playing. Game designer and play theorist Eric Zimmerman describes the difference between playing a video game and real life as a magic circle of the mind. Most children know the difference between real life interactions and playing. Just like when children play house or have a tea party. They know that it is not real and are simply playing. It is the same with violent video games, they know that it is a not a real interaction but it is pretend and not real life. If a child cannot distinguish the difference between real life and a video game than that child is showing symptoms of being very emotionally disturbed (Jenkins, Henry). Now violent video games should still not be taken lightly. Anything that has to do with the youth needs to be very carefully looked at. Even though the problem really only occurs with disturbed children it still should be looked at and further experimented on. The Pew Research Center reported in 2008 that 97% of children between the ages of 12 and 17 play video games (“Violent Video Games And”). With such a large amount of children involved in this activity it should be very much researched and not be overlooked. Video games especially violent video games are threatening to some because they are interactive. The player in the game does what you tell it to which confuses some children into the difference between real life and a virtual world. There should be little risk taken with children and even though it is not likely for children to have aggression from violent video games if done with the wrong child it can be dangerous. Video games can be very helpful and work in a positive way too though. Minds need to encounter fear and anger to be able to manage it. By encountering it at a young age the mind can learn to control this anger and better understand it. If someone never encounters these extreme emotions how will they know how to control it? “Children need violent entertainment in order to explore the inescapable feelings that they’ve been taught to deny, and to reintegrate those feelings into a more whole, complex, more resilient selfhood.” Says Ph.D Melanie Moore a psychologist who works with urban teens (Jones Gerard). Though not very often looked at, there are many gains from playing violent video games. In many of these games you do online. Many military games you have teammates and have to work together to accomplish your goal. This teaches children at a young age how to work together with others. It also teaches them how to manage. At any time you need to be able to tell your other teammates during the game what to do. By doing this children are teaching themselves how to work together and manage others. It also teaches them problem solving. While playing these video games they have to find out which way to go, how to beat levels, and through trial and error beat the game. It is easy to focus on all the negatives that come with video games but above are many lessons that can be taught through these same games. There is no direct correlation between violent video games and aggression after the game. There is no real way of telling if it affects children in the future and as far as studies go many have shown that it does not affect them right after playing. Most children know the difference between playing a game and real life. There are also has many benefits to playing video games. Playing video games has no direct line to aggression after playing a violent video game. **Work Cited** Jenkins, Henry. "The Video Game Revolution: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked" //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. Web. 31 Oct. 2010.

Jones, Gerard. "Violent Media Is Good for Kids | Mother Jones." //Mother Jones | Smart, Fearless Journalism//. 28 June 2000. Web. 31 Oct. 2010.

"No Strong Link Seen between Violent Video Games and Aggression." //PhysOrg.com - Science News, Technology, Physics, Nanotechnology, Space Science, Earth Science, Medicine//. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 11 Aug. 2005. Web. 31 Oct. 2010.

"Violent Video Games and Young People." // Harvard Mental Health Letter // 27.4 (2010): 1-3. // Academic Search Premier //. EBSCO. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.