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Essay Outline
Introduction
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In 2012, Trump tweeted, “Video game violence and glorification must be stopped; it is
creating monsters”.
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Almost everyone is aware of the harmful effects of video games on the players.
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Although many people deny these harmful effects and argue that video games are a
healthy practice for your mind, one cannot dismiss how these violent games have led
young game players to carry out mass shootings,
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Thesis statement:
Video games with explicit and violent content are promoting negative attitudes in the
youth in addition to making them socially distant, suffer from depression, anxiety and aggressive
tendencies and encouraging bullying and violent behavior towards their peers.
Body paragraphs
1.
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It is not only the aggressive and violent nature of the video games, but also their
competitive aspects which instigate violence in the youth.
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Many researchers have suggested that the aggressive nature of video games makes a child
aggressive and violent. Indeed, a research study has proposed that the competitive nature
of video games triggers aggression in children (Dowsett and Jackson 25).
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Although competition is always deemed positive, the competitive aspect of video games
has adverse effects on individuals.
2.
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Children who play video games have less empathy, which as a result makes them socially
distant from others.
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A study was carried out on children from China and Ghana to analyze the effects of video
games on children. The results showed that videos not only induced violent behavior in
children but also reduced their empathy for others (Addo et al. 19).
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This study shows why most the children are becoming socially distant and isolated from
the environment.
3.
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The violence and aggression induced by video games in a player also adversely affects
their social life.
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A research was carried out on video game players and their friends; hence, the results
stated that aggression in video games negatively affected a player’s social life
(Greitemeyer 637).
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This research demonstrates how video games do not solely affect the player but the
people around them as well.
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4.
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Video games can also have some positive effects on individuals with the help of
moderation.
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With all the studies analyzing the harmful effects of video gaming, an analysis was
performed to learn the positive impact of video games. The results suggested that if
physical activities are incorporated into video games, they will consequently have
positive effects on players, such as improved physical, mental and social health
(Halbrook et al. 8).
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Through this distinctive study, one can infer that the adverse effects of video games are
due to a lack of human contact and physical activity.
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Therefore, by integrating physical activity and human contact with video games, one can
hope to see positive effects in a player.
5.
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Instead of just leading an individual to aggression, video games are also a source of
catharsis for the frequent players.
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A research study used two different statistical models to study the effect of violent and
non-violent games if a person plays them for an extended period of time. The results
demonstrated that non-violent games did not increase aggression in players, and it
remained the same even after six months. On the other hand, violent games first increased
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aggression in individuals, but then it reduced after continuous gaming for six months
(Lee et al. 44).
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This study demonstrates that after playing for a longer period of time, violent games do
not increase aggression in players and become a source of catharsis for players.
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However, other researchers have suggested that there might be other reasons for the
reduction of aggression.
Conclusion
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Aggressive and violent content demonstrated in video games has immensely harmful
effects on the players.
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These games are responsible for making young individuals socially distant from the
society by being less empathetic.
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It causes depression and anxiety and contains the tendency to make the players perform
bullying and violent actions.
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However, video games can have positive effects if physical activities are incorporated
into them.

Moreover, for some people, with the passage of time, video games have become a source
of catharsis.
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Works Cited
Addo, Prince Clement, et al. “Violent Video Games and Aggression among Young Adults: The
Moderating Effects of Adverse Environmental Factors.” Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and
Social Networking, vol. 24, no. 1, 2021, pp. 17–23.
Dowsett, Andre, and Mervyn Jackson. “The Effect of Violence and Competition within Video
Games on Aggression.” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 99, 2019, pp. 22–27.
Greitemeyer, Tobias. “The Contagious Impact of Playing Violent Video Games on Aggression:
Longitudinal Evidence.” Aggressive Behavior, vol. 45, no. 6, 2019, pp. 635–42.
Halbrook, Yemaya J., et al. “When and How Video Games Can Be Good: A Review of the
Positive Effects of Video Games on Well-Being.” Perspectives on Psychological Science,
vol. 14, no. 6, 2019, pp. 1096–104.
Lee, Eun-Ju, et al. “Violent Video Games and Aggression: Stimulation or Catharsis or Both?”
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, vol. 24, no. 1, 2021, pp. 41–47.