Technology is everywhere, and this means everyone has the ability to use it. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, boys spend up to two hours a day playing video games, while girls only spend up to one hour playing video games. There are video games that can be educational, however a lot of video games that children and adolescent's play are violent. Being exposed to violent video games, and the content that is in them is not good for developing minds. Children and adolescents are like sponges; they soak up everything they see and hear. Exposure to violent or inappropriate video games, could lead to aggressive or antisocial behaviors later on in that individuals' life. As mentioned in the Powell et. al text, males are more likely to become aggressive and hold some of the behaviors they have learned in the violent videos. While as females that are exposed to violent video games, are more likely to be victims of aggression meaning they may enter aggressive relationships. Now this is not true for all males or females who played violent video games as a child or adolescent but the possibility is there.
It is the parents responsibility to monitor the games their child or adolescent plays on a daily basis. All games come with a rating of what age the game is best for. If the rating is older than your child or adolescent, they should not have access to the game. Additionally, most games are online games which allows children or adolescents to talk to strangers. This also has to be monitored for their safety. As much as children or adolescents may enjoy playing video games despite the violent content, it could affect their development and cause issues later on.
Powell, R. A., Honey, P. L., & Symbaluk, D. G. (2017). Introduction to Learning and Behavior (Fifth ). Cengage Learning.
Video Games and Children: Playing with Violence. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. (2017, June). Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-and-Video-Games-Playing-with-Violence-091.aspx
I always thought that just because you played video games does not mean it would encourage bad behavior. After reading the text and viewing the evidence provided I am now a strong believer that violent video games and even violent movies can encourage violent behaviors.
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah, great job with this post. It is interesting to see that there is a different outcome with males and females when it comes to video games, especially violent ones. I noticed in your post you mentioned that females spend less time participating in video games. I wonder if that contributes towards their less aggressive behavior on top of other reasons.
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