Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned

Science has come to a general consensus that violent TV does have an effect on kids' behavior. video games have additional reasons for concern, leading psychologists to believe that it is worse than TV. 1) video games are even more likely to affect people's behavior than TV because they're immersive. People don't just watch video games; they interact with them. 2) The games are also repetitive 3) based on a rewards system. Repetition and rewards are primary components of classical conditioning, a proved psychological concept in which behavioral learning takes place as a result of rewarding (or punishing) particular behaviors. The brains of children and teens are still developing, & are thus even more susceptible to this type of "training." THE EVIDENCE: A 2001 study reported in the journal "Psychological Science" ( the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology) found that: "Children who play violent video games experience an increase in physiological signs of aggression."[1] In 2006 at the Indiana University School of Medicine researchers found that kids who played violent game showed increased activity in the amygdala, which stimulates emotions, and decreased activity in the prefrontal lobe, which regulates inhibition, self-control and concentration. [2] The 2008 study Grand Theft Childhood reported that 60% of middle school boys that played at least one Mature-rated game hit or beat up someone, compared to 39% of boys that did not play Mature-rated games.[3] In March 2011 A study published in the afore mentioned "Psychological Science" found that: "playing violent video games is associated with denying humanness to other people and Violent Video Games Increase Aggressive Behavior."[4] The APA: The (APA), is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. The following are from the APA: Article: "Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life," Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., Iowa State University of Science and Technology and Karen E. Dill, Ph.D., Lenoir-Rhyne College: Violent Video Games can Increase Aggression: "...Video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because of the interactive nature of the games. Playing violent video games increase a person's aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior both in laboratory settings and in actual life. violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and require the player to identify with the aggressor... ...Violent video games provide a forum for learning and practicing aggressive solutions to conflict situations," said Dr. Anderson. "In the short run, playing a violent video game appears to affect aggression by priming aggressive thoughts. Longer-term effects are likely to be longer lasting as well, as the player learns and practices new aggression-related scripts that can become more and more accessible for use when real-life conflict situations arise... ...One major concern is the active nature of the learning environment of the video game," say the authors. "This medium is potentially more dangerous than exposure to violent television and movies, which are known to have substantial effects on aggression and violence..."[5] "Two studies examined violent video game effects on aggression-related variables. Study 1 found that real-life violent video game play was positively related to aggressive behavior and delinquency... Academic achievement was negatively related to overall amount of time spent playing video games. In Study 2, laboratory exposure to a graphically violent video game increased aggressive thoughts and behavior. The results from both studies are consistent with the General Affective Aggression Model, which predicts that exposure to violent video games will increase aggressive behavior in both the short term (e.g., laboratory aggression) and the long term (e.g., delinquency)... ...Violent video games provide a forum for learning and practicing aggressive solutions to conflict situations. The effect of violent video games appears to be cognitive in nature. In the short term, playing a violent video game appears to affect aggression by priming aggressive thoughts. Longer-term effects are likely to be longer lasting as well, as the player learns and practices new aggression-related scripts that become more and more accessible for use when real-life conflict situations arise. If repeated exposure to violent video games does indeed lead to the creation and heightened accessibility of a variety of aggressive knowledge structures, thus effectively altering the person's basic personality structure, the consequent changes in everyday social interactions may also lead to consistent increases in aggressive affect. The active nature of the learning environment of the video game." [6] "Research shows playing violent video games increases aggressive behavior and decreases helpful behavior..." [7] From APA's Resolution on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media: "...Exposure to violent media increases feelings of hostility, thoughts about aggression... Comprehensive analysis of violent interactive video game research suggests such exposure a.) increases aggressive behavior, b.) increases aggressive thoughts, c.) increases angry feelings, d.) decreases helpful behavior, and, e.) increases physiological arousal (Anderson, C.A., 2002b; Anderson, C.A., Carnagey, N. L., Flanagan, M., Benjamin, A. J., Eubanks, J., Valentine, J. C., 2004; Anderson, C.A., & Dill, K. E., 2000; Bushman, B.J., & Anderson, C.A., 2002; Gentile, D. A., Lynch, P. J., Linder, J. R., & Walsh, D. A., 2004). Studies further suggest that sexualized violence in the media has been linked to increases in violence towards women, rape myth acceptance and anti-women attitudes. The characteristics of violence in interactive video games appear to have similar detrimental effects as viewing television violence; however based upon learning theory (Bandura, 1977; Berkowitz, 1993), the practice, repetition, and rewards for acts of violence may be more conducive to increasing aggressive behavior among children and youth than passively watching violence on TV and in films (Carll, E. K., 1999a). With With the development of more sophisticated interactive media, such as virtual reality, the implications for violent content are of further concern, due to the intensification of more realistic experiences, and may also be more conducive to increasing aggressive behavior than passively watching violence on TV and in films (Calvert, S. L., Jordan, A. B., Cocking, R. R. (Ed.) 2002; Carll, E. K., 2003; Turkle, S., 2002); and studies further suggest that videogames influence the learning processes in many ways more than in passively observing TV: a.) requiring identification of the participant with a violent character while playing video games, b.) actively participating increases learning, c.) rehearsing entire behavioral sequences rather than only a part of the sequence, facilitates learning, and d.) repetition increases learning (Anderson, C.A., 2002b; Anderson, C.A., Carnagey, N. L., Flanagan, M., Benjamin, A. J., Eubanks, J., Valentine, J. C., 2004; Anderson, C.A. & Dill, K. E., 2000)..." [8] [1] http://www.apa.org... [2] http://www.soc.iastate.edu... [3] http://repository.upenn.edu... [4] http://www.academia.edu... [5] http://www.apa.org... [6] http://www.psychology.iastate.edu... [7] http://www.apa.org... [8] http://www.apa.org...