Violence at their Fingertips:
Students today are obsessed with video games, and with the stunning visuals and interesting plot lines, it is no wonder why --- they're fun. But they can also be dangerous. Keep reading to find out more about how video games can harm our children and lead to violent behavior.
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Huffington Post's Top Ten Most Violent Video Games:
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What Video Games Are Costing Us (Hint: More than Just Money)
Video games are costly: $13.6 billion annually, as a matter of fact.
Video games can also hurt us in other ways. Studies have shown that violent video games can lead to an increase in aggressive behavior, poor empathy skills, and sleep problems.
How can we help?
For more, visit: http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2013/06/drs_oz_and_roizen_its_official.html
Video games can also hurt us in other ways. Studies have shown that violent video games can lead to an increase in aggressive behavior, poor empathy skills, and sleep problems.
How can we help?
- Limit video game and television use to less than two hours a day
- Parents: view the game before allowing children to play
- Spend genuine time doing physical activities together
- Discuss the severity of violent video games with your child
For more, visit: http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2013/06/drs_oz_and_roizen_its_official.html
Signs of Video Game Addiction:
If you are worried about your child or student, review the following symptoms of video game addiction:
More research is needed, but the APA is working on formally defining Internet Gaming Disorder (click on the button at the top of the page for more information). |
Shocking, But True:
David Walsh found that:
In a study of 8th and 9th graders, students who played more violent video games were also more likely to see the world as a hostile place, to get into frequent arguments with teachers, and to be involved in physical fights (Gentile et al., under review). It has often been suggested that violent video games are not the culprit for these types of behaviors; instead, the cause is underlying hostility. The argument goes, "Hostile kids get into more arguments and more fights. They also like to play more violent games." While this is true, it is not the whole story. This study measured children's trait hostility, and found that exposure to video game violence is a significant predictor of physical fights, even when students' sex, hostility level, and amount of video game playing are controlled statistically. If hostility were the whole story, then in general, only hostile children would tend to get into fights, and children with the lowest hostility scores would not get into physical fights regardless of their video game habits. Figure 1 shows the percentages of students who report being involved in physical fights within the previous year. Children with the lowest hostility scores are almost 10 times more likely to have been involved in physical fights if they play a lot of violent video games than if they do not play violent games (38% compared to 4%). In fact, the least hostile children who play a lot of violent video games are more likely to be involved in fights than are the most hostile children who do not play violent video games. |
On the Other Hand ...
These graphs presented on a blogger's website show the other side of the debate. Perhaps we are barking up the wrong tree by pointing our fingers at violent video games?
It's a heavy debate with ample evidence supporting both sides. Read the blog post and feel free to weigh in on the comments page! http://www.gamingsteve.com/archives/2005/08/violent-video-g.php |