Do video games make children more violent and aggressive?
Anderson- claim- violent video games are “significantly associated with: increased
aggressive behavior, thoughts, and affect; increased physiological arousal; and
decreased pro-social (helping) behavior”
Anderson fact- “High levels of violent video game exposure have been linked to
delinquency, fighting at school and during free play periods, and violent criminal
behavior”
Well they surely affect the kids… Anderson- “analyses reveal that violent video game
effect sizes are larger than the effect of second hand tobacco smoke on lung cancer”
arousal is the reason for aggression from video games
Anderson- claim- Arousal cannot explain the results of most correlational studies
because the measured aggression did not occur immediately after the violent video
games were played. Furthermore, several experimental studies have controlled
potential arousal effects, and still yielded more aggression by those who played the
violent game
---- final conclusion--- NOT AROUSAL.
Anderson- If violent video games cause increases in aggression, violent crime
rates in the U.S. would be increasing instead of decreasing. 
Three assumptions must all be true for this myth to be valid: (a) exposure to
violent media (including video games) is increasing; (b) youth violent crime
rates are decreasing; (c) video game violence is the only (or the primary)
factor contributing to societal violence. The first assumption is probably true.
The second is not true, as reported by the 2001 Report of the Surgeon
General on Youth Violence (Figure 2-7, p. 25). The third is clearly untrue
H.B. Duran- Fact- Teaming up with Stephanie Rueda (also of Texas A&M
University), Dr. Ferguson gave 103 young adults a "frustration task."
Their results showed that subjects who played violent games were
"less hostile and depressed." suggesting that such games "reduce
depression and hostile feelings in players through mood management."
Anne harding- Factual study- In every group, children who were exposed
to more video game violence did become more aggressive over time than
their peers who had less exposure. This was true even after the
researchers took into account how aggressive the children were at the
beginning of the study -- a strong predictor of future bad behavior
AVALIBILITY OF VIDEOGAMES The availability of video games has led to an
epidemic of youth violence- FALSE
Henry Jenkins- Facts- “The overwhelming majority of kids who play do NOT commit
antisocial acts. According to a 2001 U.S. Surgeon General's report, the strongest risk
factors for school shootings centered on mental stability and the quality of home life,
not media exposure. The moral panic over violent video games is doubly harmful. It has
led adult authorities to be more suspicious and hostile to many kids who already feel cut
off from the system. It also misdirects energy away from eliminating the actual causes of
youth violence and allows problems to continue to fester.”
Rick Nauert-- In the study, researchers determined that competitiveness,
rather than violence, may be the main video game feature that influences
aggression. (The study was conducted by lead author Paul J.C. Adachi, M.A., a
PhD candidate at Brock University in Canada with the findings published
online in the journal Psychology of Violence)  In review, researchers found
video game violence alone did not elevate aggressive behavior. However,
more competitive games produced greater levels of aggressive behavior than
less competitive games, no matter how much violence was in the games.
“These findings suggest that the level of competitiveness in video games is an
important factor in the relation between video games and aggressive
behavior, with highly competitive games leading to greater elevations in
aggression than less competitive games,” wrote Adachi
Sebhatleab- Claim- Many reputable sources such as the Harvard Medical Center for
Mental Health, the Journal of Adolescent Health, and the British Medical Journal have
concluded there is no link between playing violent video games and acting in manners
shown in the game. The Palo Alto Medical Foundation have found many positive attributes
to playing video games. Two positive attributes are that these video games “improve a
player’s manual dexterity and computer literacy.”
Fact- Taking on virtual identities allows people to express themselves where they wouldn’t
have the courage to in real life. Violent video games allow people to take their anger out
virtually, which is much safer than physically
After many powerful establishments have proved there is no relationship between these
violent video games and violent actions there should be less if none at all controversy about
these video games.
-if so how should parents solve this issue when their kids
want the new videogame?
Henry Jenkins- Children are the primary market for video games.
The game industry caters to adult tastes. Meanwhile, a sizable number of parents ignore
game ratings because they assume that games are for kids. One quarter of children ages
11 to 16 identify an M-Rated (Mature Content) game as among their favorites. Clearly,
more should be done to restrict advertising and marketing that targets young
consumers with mature content, and to educate parents about the media choices they
are facing.
Commission has found that 83 percent of game purchases for underage consumers are
made by parents or by parents and children together.
DR PHIL
Claim- Children spend a great deal of time with violent video games at exactly the
ages that they should be learning healthy ways to relate to other people and to
resolve conflicts peacefully.
Claims- How can parents minimize any potential harm?
Psychologists have found that when parents limit the amount of time as well as the
types of games their children play, children are less likely to show aggressive
behaviors. Other research suggests that active parental involvement in children's
media usage — including discussing the inappropriateness of violent solutions to
real life conflicts, reducing time spent on violent media, and generating alternative
nonviolent solutions to problems — all can reduce the impact of media violence on
children and youth. If you play video games with your child, Dr. Phil suggests
alternative activities that allow you to have more interaction with your child, such
as playing a board game together or going for a walk and exploring together.
Can video games be created with ulterior motives besides
being a gaming system?
Dr. Cheryl k Olson Claim- "It's not the violence per se that's the problem,
it's the context and goals of the violence," said Olson, citing past
research on TV violence and behavior.
Henry Jenkins- Because games are used to train soldiers to kill, they have the
same impact on the kids who play them.
Claim- Former military psychologist and moral reformer David Grossman argues that
because the military uses games in training the generation of young people who play such
games are similarly being brutalized and conditioned to be aggressive in their everyday
social interactions. Grossman's model only works if:
• we remove training and education from a meaningful cultural context.
• we assume learners have no conscious goals and that they show no resistance to what
they are being taught.
• we assume that they unwittingly apply what they learn in a fantasy environment to real
world spaces.
Do video games “desensitize” its’ players if it is violent
and gory?
Anne harding- Claim/fact (not sure)- There are two ways violent
media can spur people to violent actions
First is imitation; children who watch violence in the media can
internalize the message that the world is a hostile place, and being
aggressive is regular and ok.
Second, kids can become desensitized to violence.
NOdaniwebGreat quote- columbine killers “Harris and Klebold
reportedly liked playing Doom - as did my husband and I. We have yet to
go on a homicidal rampage, and so it was hard for me to relate to such a
simple connection.”
-although H.B. Duran played “Doom” she did not have any need to kill
anyone like done in the violent video game “Doom”.
NOT ONLY DESENSITIZE, but also video games teach disrespect. ClaimDr. David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the
Family, a Minneapolis-based non-profit, argues that the pervasiveness
of violence in media has led to a "culture of disrespect" in which
children get the message that it's acceptable to treat one another rudely
and even aggressively.
NO IT DOESN’T DESENSITIZE—
Henry Jenkins- Federal Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner noted "Violence has
always been and remains a central interest of humankind and a recurrent, even obsessive
theme of culture both high and low. It engages the interest of children from an early age, as
anyone familiar with the classic fairy tales collected by Grimm, Andersen, and Perrault are
aware." Posner adds, "To shield children right up to the age of 18 from exposure to violent
descriptions and images would not only be quixotic, but deforming; it would leave them
unequipped to cope with the world as we know it."
Video game play is desensitizing.
Claims- Play allows kids to express feelings and impulses that have to be carefully held in
check in their real-world interactions. Media reformers argue that playing violent video
games can cause a lack of empathy for real-world victims. Yet, a child who responds to a
video game the same way he or she responds to a real-world tragedy could be showing
symptoms of being severely emotionally disturbed. Here's where the media effects
research, which often uses punching rubber dolls as a marker of real-world aggression,
becomes problematic. The kid who is punching a toy designed for this purpose is still within
the "magic circle" of play and understands her actions on those terms. Such research shows
us only that violent play leads to more violent play.
- if so, does that mean that all forms of media can
eventually “desensitize” its audience?
Anderson- “Further research will likely find some significant moderators of violent
video game effects, because the much larger research literature on television
violence has found such effects and the underlying processes are the same.
However, even that larger literature has not identified a sizeable population that is
totally immune to negative effects of media violence”
Anne Harding- Claim/fact (not sure)- There are two ways violent media
can spur people to violent actions
First is imitation; children who watch violence in the media can
internalize the message that the world is a hostile place, and being
aggressive is regular and ok.
Second, kids can become desensitized to violence.
HENERY JENKINS- Scientific evidence links violent game play with youth aggression.
Facts- Claims like this are based on the work of researchers who represent one
relatively narrow school of research, "media effects." This research includes some 300
studies of media violence. But most of those studies are inconclusive and many have been
criticized on methodological grounds. In these studies, media images are removed from any
narrative context. Subjects are asked to engage with content that they would not normally
consume and may not understand. Finally, the laboratory context is radically different from
the environments where games would normally be played.