Growing up involves a lot of imitation. We learn to speak and behave by attempting to emulate others. It’s a sort of “monkey see, monkey do” process.
If a child hears a curse word on their favorite television show, they might repeat it. If they watch a Jet Li theater and they are acting like a ninja, they might exit the movie thinking they too are ninjas and hence want to imitate him and his violent actions.
Imitation is a natural part of growing up. The key is for parents to expose their children to things worthy of being imitated, while preventing them from habitual exposure to bad things.
Children wanting to copy Jet Li’s moves, for example, is only part of a growing problem. It is no surprise there are studies being carried out to see how violent video games affect aggression and defiance in children. Games like “Grand Theft Auto,” portray everything from prostitution to senseless murder and find their way to children’s household game, consoles. This oftentimes occurs because parents do not know how explicit these games are.
There is research to show that right after playing a violent video game children can have aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, and an increased heart rate and blood pressure.
It is because of these worrying effects on children and teenagers that, last month, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a case on California’s attempt to restrict the sale of violent video games. Opponents of this attempt claim there is enough scientific research to suggest that violent video games are, on the contrary, not a problem.
Studies have indicated that playing a lot of violent video games, like “Grand Theft Auto,” produces aggressive tendencies in children. This is not to say there are not other researchers who reject these studies. Studies attempting to measure the effect violent video games have on children have rarely been consistent over the last few decades. Some studies show a correlation between violent video games and children while several others have found no effects on children who play them.
Rowell Huesmann, a professor of communications and psychology at the University of Michigan, argues that the validity of evidence showing the relationship between violent video games and children is on par with data that show the correlation between smoking cigarettes and lung cancer. This is a heavy comparison.
Chris Ferguson, a psychology professor at Texas A&M International University, rejects certain studies on violent video games and their effects. He says, “When scholars are making some of the claims … they are being deeply dishonest with the American public.”
The solution to even the possibility that violent video games have a negative effect on children is not to merely restrict sales; It involves parental intervention. Parents need to monitor how much time their children spend killing prostitutes, a la “Grand Theft Auto.”
Continuous divisions in the world of violent video game research have placed no real blame on parents. However, parents should be expected to monitor the amount of violence in the video games and TV shows their children are exposed to. Just like there is a difference between the TV shows “Friends” and “Barney,” there is a difference between the video game series “Mario Kart” and “Call of Duty.”
Watching for the amount of violence in these games and monitoring the amount of hours spent playing them are both important. One statistic claims that children are playing video games for about 13 hours on average per week, and more than 75 percent of teens who play video games report playing games rated for mature players. Games that contain violence are usually placed under this label.
For all we know, violent video games may be an underlining cause of aggression and defiance in children. Like we said, imitation is an essential part of growing up. But should the Supreme Court or state legislature really dictate whether or not our country’s children play video games?
Children are raised by their parents, biological or otherwise. These same parents should be responsible for moderating the effects certain video games have on their kids. No law or regulation would be more effective than sound parenting.
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for Postings made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for Postings made on this website. Persons commenting agree to the Terms of Use of the website. If Postings do not abide by the Rules of Conduct or Posting Regulations as listed in the Postings Policy, the Daily 49er has all rights to delete Postings as it deems necessary. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech. This site also encourages users to make Postings relevant to the article or other Postings.