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Virtual Violence

Comm 2500
Kara Erwin Sanchez
December 1, 2014

Virtual Violence

Video games have drastically changed through the years, movement based
gaming consoles and larger televisions lead to a more naturalistic experience in
gaming. With all of these new technologies we are free to choose from doors open up a
door to a whole new quandary for our youth. We often relish in how far technology has
brought us and how much progress that we have made that we only can see the pros,
or only see how much more the pros out way the cons. However, with this evolution in
video gaming technology we may have progressed to far too quickly before knowing the
actual opportunity cost. The opportunity cost I am referring to is virtual violence and the
unknown effects this will have on our children once they are grown.
Let me start with saying that statistics show that 70% of children between the
ages of two to 18 have video gaming systems in their home. Statistics also show that
55.8% of video games contain violence, and that 60% of video games require some
form of violent act to make progress throughout the video game. (Pediatrics, 2014) I
want to follow that up with the definition of virtual violence, virtual violence may be
defined as any behavior intended to do harm to another video game character, who is
motivated to avoid the harm doing (Anderson et al., 2008; Baron & Richardson, 1994).
According to CNBC the top five video games so far this year are Titanfall, Call of Duty:
Ghosts, The Lego Movie Videogame, NBA2K14, Battlefield, Minecraft, Grand Theft
Auto V, Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag, inFamous Second Son and last but not least
Lego Marvel Superheros. (CNBC, 2014) It is very interesting to see that seven out of
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ten of these games include more than their fair share of virtual violence. What is also
disturbing is that a study conducted in 2010 reported that children on average spend
seven and a half hours a day utilizing entertainment media. (Norcia, Andrea 2014)
Video gaming technology today is similar to Immersive Violent Environments.
Immersive Violent Environments have been used within the military to train combat
soldiers, this has enabled the soldiers to have real life experiences and desensitize
them for when they our out in combat. In a thorough study conducted on civilians using
the Immersive Violent Environment technology they found that gaming in this sort of
environment does increase a players physical response as well as behavior and even
cardiovascular system. (Persky & Blascovich, 2008)
The effects of virtual violence are lingering effects that last far after the console is
shut off. The effects of virtual violence can depend on the player and their ability to
cope with stress. Other consequences children face after experience a magnitude of
virtual violence are sleep disturbances, increases overall fear, nightmares. There are
arguments that virtual violence leads to physical aggression and that it also desensitizes
them from the overall empathy that is felt when seeing or experiencing actual violence.
It has been claimed to have in some instances triggered or been the blame of young
adolescents committing acts of violence themselves. On September 23, 2013 a young
man jumped into a car with a woman in the passenger seat and took off. He proceeded
to run into other cars and drive like a mad man. He proclaimed that he want to know
the feeling of playing Grand Theft Auto in real life. Another instance blamed on virtual
violence happened in 2004 when a 17 year old boy attacked a 14 year old boy. The 17
year old stabbed the 14 year old to death with a claw hammer. This horrific act of
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violence was blamed on the video game titled Man Hunt. One last example is the
massacre that took place in 2011 at a youth camp on the island of Utoya. Anders
Brevik killed 77 people and in court he said that playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
helped privy up his aiming skills. (DePasquale, 2013)
In 1994 the ESRB rating system was implemented (you can find more
information at http://www.esrb.org/index-js.jsp). This is a system that takes into account
all aspects of the video game and then puts a recommended rating on the video games
so people who are interested in purchasing the game can gain more insight into the
content they will experience. This is especially helpful when choosing a game for your
young adolescent. There are certain factors that the rating system does not take into
account when rating and that is the ability and actions that go on inside of a chat room
within the game as well as if other players are able to see your location. They do have
an interactive content notice that will trigger you to the fact that this is present. The
more violence our children see or reenact through gaming is forcing our children to
become callous to violent acts and aggression. They are classifying violent actions as
unaggressive. (ESRB Ratings, 2014)
Video gaming effects are not all negative though. There has been research out
there that suggests that playing video games can be very beneficial. There are those
that believe that playing video games makes you intellectually lazy. There are also
those who are beginning to believe that playing video games can strengthen your
cognitive skills. It has been shown to help spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and
perception. Another interesting finding in regards to this is that the games that are most
likely to increase these skills are the shooter video games, which just happen to be the
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violent video games. It has also shown the ability to improve your ability to think about
objects in three dimensions. Gaming is often get credit for education and career
developments as well. Gaming provides the skills for achievement in math, science,
engineering and technology. Other studies have shown that playing simple games have
the ability to improve moods and promote relaxation. One of the games credited for
doing this is Angry Birds. Video games are often credit for helping people to increase
ones resilience to cope with failure, stating that children can build emotional resilience
that they can use in their day to day lives. Most video games that are played any more
have the ability to play online within a community. This has enabled people to play in
conjunction with other players and to be part of a community. This has proven to help
people with social skills and how to take on leadership roles
In conclusion, the reality is that there is always going to be a demand for video
games. Video games and digital entertainment are only going to become better, more
sophisticated, more life-like and realistic. In return the demand will continue to grow
and grow. We need to recognize that the solution isnt necessarily in trying to keep out
kids away from this, but more in educated and limiting the time and importance we let
them place on these activities. We need to change their way of thinking and their habits
and teach them to include other activities into their life that will provide the same
dopamine and endorphins that they get when playing these video games. In return,
hopefully we are teaching them an overall better way of living. Teach them a healthier
way of living both physically but mentally and socially as well. Often it feels like there is
a black and white solution to problems that teach our children violence and the one
most sought after is to shelter them from it. I agree, I am a mother of four. However, if

we dont use the negatives they experiences and turn them into positive examples we
are ultimately teaching them to hide thoughts, feelings and actions from us.

Bibliography
Azar, Beth. "Virtual Violence." Http://www.apa.org. American Psychological
Association, Dec. 2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
"10 Best-selling Video Games (so Far) of 2014." CNBC. Activision, n.d. Web. 01
Dec. 2014. <http://www.cnbc.com/id/101734983/page/10>.
Scharrer, Erica. "Virtual Violence: Gender and Aggression in Video Game
Advertisements" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International
Communication Association, New Orleans Sheraton, New Orleans, LA, May 27,
2004 <Not Available>. 2009-05-26
http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p112526_index.html
"Media Violence." Media Violence. Pediatrics, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
<http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/108/5/1222.full>.
Norcia, Andrea. "The Impact of Video Games." Doctors, Patient Care, Health
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<http://www.pamf.org/parenting-teens/general/media-web/videogames.html>.
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<http://www.esrb.org/index-js.jsp>.
Persky, Susan; Blascovich, Jim. Presence: Teleoperators
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Hartmann, Tilo; Toz, Erhan; Brandon, Marvin. Media Psychology. Oct-Dec2010,
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DePasquale, Aaron. "10 Crimes That Were Blamed on Video Games | Geek
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<http://geekti.me/wp/2013/10/10-crimes-that-were-blamed-on-video-games/>.
"Video Game Play May Provide Learning, Health, Social Benefits, Review
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