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Guadalupe Ramos
Ms. Saravia
English 11-Period 6
2 December 2016
Does videogames violence affect the mentality of the player? Much of the population
plays video games whether the be educational or just for fun. However, while playing we can
lose track of time, and cant be bothered to do anything else but play. Since the early 1980, the
dispute of whether violent video game would be affecting the people who play these game. The
split down the middle is the borderline between the emotional dispute and the scientific dispute.
The emotional argument comes from concerned citizens, usually parents and family, thinking
that videogames are harming their children in their opinion. However scientific facts and data
collected by research, though some outdated, must be useful with scientific dispute. Video
Games violence needs to be reduced significantly to protect the players and the public from
There are those that believe that violent video games dont lead to the player becoming
more violent. On the contrary they believe that playing these types of video games allow the
player to vent out their pent-up frustration and anger. Thus, relieving any violent acts the player
could have shown to another. As research was done on this growing topic, one person a Whitney
DeCamp did his own study. He discovered that playing violent video games, no matter how
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bloody, did not predict violent behavior. In fact, he goes as far as to suggest that violent video
games may help reduce societal violence than increase it. Tracking both sales and crime rates,
the authors discovered that general societal violence decreased in the weeks after the appearance
of a new edition of a popular title. Still, they make a bid for the games offering "cathartic"
effects, allowing players to safely release their aggression. (Scutti Susan). A. Scott
Cunningham of Baylor University, Benjamin Engelsttter of the Center for European Economic
Research in Mannheim, Germany, and Michael R. Ward of the University of Texas at Arlington
found that higher rates of violent game sales coincided with a drop-in crime, especially violent
crimes. They concluded that any negative behavioral effects playing violent games might have
are more than offset because violent people are drawn to such games, and the more they play, the
Some cant see video games a source that make player lose their sense of reality.
However, this is very possible with violent video games. As the gamers play these violent video
games for little to extended hours a day, their mind begins to alter. Researchers found that those
who played the violent video games showed less activity in areas that involved emotions,
attention and inhibition of our impulses. Behavioral studies have shown an increase in
aggressive behavior after violent video games, and what we show is the physiological
explanation for what the behavioral studies are showing, says Matthews. Were showing that
there are changes in brain function that are likely related to that behavior. (Park Alice) After
not being exposed to such games after a period of time, the brain returned to more normal
function, however the brains function werent the exactly the same as before playing the violent
video games. (Park Alice) Those who played a violent video game then participated in task
where they were to respond to violent and nonviolent words each assigned different colors. This
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was to test the Stroop effect where normally, there is a delay in identifying the color, since we
tend to process the meaning of the word we read first, before noting the color of the letters, all
while being scanned by a MRI machine. Those who played the violent video games showed
less activation in the emotional centers of the brain than those who didnt. (Park Alice)
These violent video games also influence the gamers that play them. Most of the popular
game titles focus on the negative themes. Studies of children exposed to violent media shown
that they may numb to violence, imitate the violence and show more aggressive behavior. (Video
Games and Children: Playing with Violence) Instead of punishing for killing the player is
rewarded in army and sniper games with level up, with this it can skew the young person's
perception of violence and its consequence. (Violence and Video Games) In these games
instead of watching the violence like on television, the player is committing them, which alters
the players thought patterns (in short term). (Violence and Video Games) Younger players and
those with emotional, learning and even behavioral problems are more likely to be influenced by
the violent images. (Video Games and Children: Playing with Violence) The brain changes
dont appear to be permanent, but documenting that the brain does change in response to playing
a violent game is a significant advance in understanding how young players may be affected by
To protect all from further actions of those who are influenced by videogame violence,
the violence needs to be reduced significantly. Now is the time to stop the menace from
Work Cited
Park, Alice. "How Playing Violent Video Games May Change the Brain?" Green Pastures
Scutti, Susan. "Do Video Games Lead to Violence?" CNN. Cable News Network, 26 July 2016.
Toppo, Greg. Do Video Games Inspire Violent Behavior? Scientific American, 1 July 2015,
"Video Game Addiction." Violence and Video Games. Accessed 03 Nov. 2016.
"Video Games and Children: Playing with Violence." Video Games and Children: Playing with
"Violence in the Media Psychologists Study TV and Video Game Violence for Potential