Link between video games and violent behaviours on teenagers

Since their creation in 1972, video games have come a long way in our life. Originally invented for a science experiment purpose, Pong a black and white game, the video games industry turned into a bustling business thanks to technologies improvements.

There is a growing body of opinion suggesting that video games improve violence within teenagers and antisocial behaviours.

Therefore, scientific interest in video games impacts on people has proportionally increased with their popularity. Scientists mainly focused on physical and psychological effects of video games on the subjects such as aggressiveness (Bartholow&Anderson,2002, Wallenius, 2008) or ability of making decisions (Andrews & Murphy, 2006, Kim and al., 2008). Two factors that are surprisingly correlated.

However, few researches have been conducted to evaluate the effect of video games on social contact within gamers. The impact, whether positive or negative, is relative to the individuals.

 Indeed, family members and friends can become closer through the interaction (Aarsand, 2007, Durkin, 2002, Jansz & Martens, 2005), without any face to face contact (McMillan, & Morrison, 2006, Lo et al., 2005). Nevertheless, abusing of video games can eventually lead to several drawbacks such as addiction, insomnia, and a decrease in academic performance in some cases (Lo et al., 2005, Cole & Griffiths, 2007).

This essay will discuss to what extend video games influence violent behaviour within gamers and the impact on their communication and interaction skills with the other members of the society.

First, by remind some of the benefits of video games among both genders and ages within exercise, education and professional trainings. Then how they affect subjects’ health and finally how their social relationships are affected.

In first place, it is well known that video games present many positive aspects. Indeed, Durkin (2002) proved through his researches that adolescents that play video games showed lower amounts of risk taking behaviours, such as substance abuse, and self-reported disobedience than adolescents who do not play.

Interestingly, Durkin later reported that gamers, whether those that play once in a way or regular players, are involved in less risky friend networks than the ones that did not play video games at all.

Moreover, the average GPAs of teenagers that play video games are even significantly higher than their non gamers classmates.

On the other hand, since video games are fun and engaging, transferring educational content to a video-game platform, student will automatically be more committed to the situation, not only will they learn the course contents which could be achievable through a classic class lecture, but students would more inclined to appreciate and enjoy it. Not to mention that while they’re having fun doing it, the contents will be conceived better within the students’ minds.

To strengthen my point, a study conducted by Anthony Palmer found out that by letting one of his students that often misbehaved during his class to use an iPad for a reading class and math lesson, the student showed a calm side of his personality that the tutor had never seen before (Palmer, 2013).

As for job training, militaries have always included in their trainings development of physical strength, endurance and combat skills. With such a quantity of requirements to achieve, several game-inspired technologies have been created to make the task easier and more efficient for soldier to achieve.

Besides flight simulators used to train us pilots, the U.S. army adopts many other virtual reality military digital applications to set soldiers in virtual war schemes.

For instance, the Army Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) provides military students the sounds, impressions and feel of the different weapons they will be asked to employ on duty.

In addition to gun fire practice, the EST gives real-life scenarios to help soldiers determine whether to shot of not.

Moreover, the Virtual Convoy Operations Trainer (VCOT), involves a group of soldiers in different positions in combat scenarios, improving their skills to communicate and work together.

In addition, a recent study by Holmes and al. (2009) implies that the popular video game “Tetris” may be helpful for preventing and mitigate flashbacks for subjects tormented by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Similarly, a research conducted by Rosser Jr. and al. (2007) proved that video games might be an efficient mean to train medical surgeons in their job. The study by Rosser Jr. et al. (2007) states that surgeons who played video games for more than three hours a week made 37% less mistakes and were 27% faster than the ones who did not play at once.

Also, in terms of intellectual aptitudes, scientists Boot and al. (2008) claim that video games can improve memory, thinking skills, and furthermore executive mental control. The same study reveals that long time gamers are capable to track items at a higher speed, score higher marks in visual memory tests, and even make decisions faster about objects in movement than those who don’t play video games.

As for exercise, according to Jamie Lewis (June, 2015), scientists are currently convinced that 'active' video games are better for you than playing outside.

A recent study found out that devices such as the Kinect for Xbox by Microsoft could be a superior source of physical activity than outdoor sports.

Doctor Hollie Raynor, director of the University of Tennessee's Healthy Eating and Activity Laboratory in the US, said: "Our study shows video games which wholly engage a child's body can be a source of physical activity."

In second place, a significant number of researches have analysed the relation between video games and violent behaviours among teenagers. Durkin and Barber (2002) states that the current evidences are controversial and ambiguous.

The studies suggest that non-violent games and games with violent contents such as weapons drugs, bad language of discrimination present as logos indications on the game might often lead to biased interpretations.

Furthermore, they emphasize that several other important relevant factors such as family conditions and how the acts of violence are exposed are mostly left out of consideration or are barely understood, which leave the issue open to a different interpretation.

Conforming to Ferguson (2007), after analysing many articles about violent video games and their impact on teenagers’ aggressiveness, there are obvious inaccuracies. Thus, he is positive that most of the analysis have failed to support a correlation between aggressive behaviour and video games.

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