The Pied Piper of Violent Video Games kids and teens
"Papa I will not go to school today, my friend Shuja had warned
me yesterday if I would not give him one hundred rupees I would face
adverse consequences". This was the sentence that rendered me speechless
because my son, Muhammad Ibrahim, is in nursery class, four years old
and of course his friend must be almost of the same age. I, then
surprisingly asked what the reason was and why did his friend demanded
money. My son replied that once his friend offered him to take some sips
of the juice during lunch break and demanded that he should be provided
a juice pack once in a week and when my son refused to do so he was
asked to give his friend one hundred rupees. At first I smiled and
called it an act of pink mail instead of black and said to my son that
he should ignore it; he informed me that his friend had also warned him
that if he would report it to anybody or would not give money then he
would kill my son.Then I realized that it was a serious issue which
could not be ignored and must be addressed properly.
Shuja, four year old nursery class student, friend of my son, must not have been a criminal, of course. Researchers find that dramas, movies and video games play a vital role is shaping the mind and behavioral attitude of children. It has been found that children who repeatedly play video games are learning thought patterns which they conceive form the games and if the video game contains violence (as most of the video games contain) they start thinking on the lines of violence. These hazardous thoughts will stick with them and influence behaviors as they grow older. The worst part of the story is that in these games violent and aggressive people are presented as heroes who can solve every problem and achieve all the targets through violence.
It is commonly believed that such things influence children and not mature people. But the recent research findings reject this belief. The researchers are of opinion that the effect of violent video games in particular and presentation of violence in any form in general, is the same regardless of age, gender or even culture. Current research tells us that If you practice over and over, you have that knowledge in your head. The fact that you haven't played the piano in years doesn't mean you can't still sit down and play something. It's the same with violent games - you practice being vigilant for enemies, practice thinking that it's acceptable to respond aggressively to provocation, and practice becoming desensitized to the consequences of violence. Study shows that over the period of time children think more aggressively particularly when facing situations where they feel uncomfortable. And when they are made upset or irritated either at home or at school or in any other situations, children react much like they do when playing a violent video game. The practice of aggressive ways of thinking in abundance appears to drive the long-term effect of violent games on aggression.
A violent video game models physical aggression. In most of such video games players are rewarded for being alert to hostile intentions and for using aggressive behavior to solve conflicts. Practicing such aggressive thinking in these games improves the ability of the players to think aggressively. In turn, this habitual aggressive thinking increases their aggressiveness in real life. It means these games create aggressiveness in the children who were non-violent and potentially increases inclination towards violence in the children who have violent thinking.
Similarly in almost all the action movies of these days and in TV dramas heroes are violent idols who are presented in such an adorable way that the young viewers make them their ideals. Their heroes resolve their problem by use of violence. The number one negative effect is they tend to inappropriately resolve anxiety by externalizing it. So when kids have anxiety, instead of soothing themselves, calming themselves, talking about it, expressing it to someone, or even expressing it emotionally by crying, they tend to externalize it. They can attack something, they can kick a wall, and they can be mean to a dog or a pet. Additionally, there is an increased frequency of violent responses from children who play these kinds of video games.
These violent video games don't teach kids moral consequences. If the child shoots somebody in such games, he, certainly, neither goes to jails nor he is penalized in any way, he gets extra points instead. It has also been observed that playing violent games correlates to children being less caring and helpful towards their friends, sisters and brothers. Children spend a great deal of time with violent video games at exactly the ages that they should be learning healthy ways to relate to other people and to resolve conflicts peacefully. Some recently released video games which contain violence are: Saints Row: The Third, Dead Space 3, Hitman: Absolution, Gears of War 3, Dead Island Riptide, Shadows of the Damned, Darkness II, NeverDead and though older but very popular Counter Strike. In all such games Players have to be cold-blooded and use guns, knives, and explosives, machine guns, grenades, and chainsaws they will win if they shoot, slice, and stomp on enemies.
The Pied Piper of violating video games is taking our children and even youth to the unknown lands of plight and misery. Should we sit and see and wait what harm he brings to them? Or we should make some efforts so that we may save our generations from complete destruction. Whatever we are we must try to do something at our level best. Mainly the responsibility lies on the shoulders of parents. Parents can minimize any potential harm. Parents should limit the amount of time as well as the types of games their children play; children are less likely to show aggressive behaviors. The active parental involvement in children's media usage - including discussing the inappropriateness of violent solutions to real life conflicts, reducing time spent on violent media, and generating alternative nonviolent solutions to problems - all can reduce the impact of media violence on children and youth.
Parents can also help their children in selecting games for them which when they will play will not only provide them entertainment but also enhance their mental faculties and make them very much creative. They are also useful to make them good future citizens as violence is not the focus of the games instead the children can have fun learning, dancing, solving puzzles, playing sports, and more. Some such kinds of games are listed here which can help the parents to get rid of this problem: LeapFrog Explorer Learning Game: Pet Pals 2; Just Dance: Disney Party; Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure; The Magic School Bus; Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone; Crashmo; FIFA Soccer 13 and many more.
Shuja, four year old nursery class student, friend of my son, must not have been a criminal, of course. Researchers find that dramas, movies and video games play a vital role is shaping the mind and behavioral attitude of children. It has been found that children who repeatedly play video games are learning thought patterns which they conceive form the games and if the video game contains violence (as most of the video games contain) they start thinking on the lines of violence. These hazardous thoughts will stick with them and influence behaviors as they grow older. The worst part of the story is that in these games violent and aggressive people are presented as heroes who can solve every problem and achieve all the targets through violence.
It is commonly believed that such things influence children and not mature people. But the recent research findings reject this belief. The researchers are of opinion that the effect of violent video games in particular and presentation of violence in any form in general, is the same regardless of age, gender or even culture. Current research tells us that If you practice over and over, you have that knowledge in your head. The fact that you haven't played the piano in years doesn't mean you can't still sit down and play something. It's the same with violent games - you practice being vigilant for enemies, practice thinking that it's acceptable to respond aggressively to provocation, and practice becoming desensitized to the consequences of violence. Study shows that over the period of time children think more aggressively particularly when facing situations where they feel uncomfortable. And when they are made upset or irritated either at home or at school or in any other situations, children react much like they do when playing a violent video game. The practice of aggressive ways of thinking in abundance appears to drive the long-term effect of violent games on aggression.
A violent video game models physical aggression. In most of such video games players are rewarded for being alert to hostile intentions and for using aggressive behavior to solve conflicts. Practicing such aggressive thinking in these games improves the ability of the players to think aggressively. In turn, this habitual aggressive thinking increases their aggressiveness in real life. It means these games create aggressiveness in the children who were non-violent and potentially increases inclination towards violence in the children who have violent thinking.
Similarly in almost all the action movies of these days and in TV dramas heroes are violent idols who are presented in such an adorable way that the young viewers make them their ideals. Their heroes resolve their problem by use of violence. The number one negative effect is they tend to inappropriately resolve anxiety by externalizing it. So when kids have anxiety, instead of soothing themselves, calming themselves, talking about it, expressing it to someone, or even expressing it emotionally by crying, they tend to externalize it. They can attack something, they can kick a wall, and they can be mean to a dog or a pet. Additionally, there is an increased frequency of violent responses from children who play these kinds of video games.
These violent video games don't teach kids moral consequences. If the child shoots somebody in such games, he, certainly, neither goes to jails nor he is penalized in any way, he gets extra points instead. It has also been observed that playing violent games correlates to children being less caring and helpful towards their friends, sisters and brothers. Children spend a great deal of time with violent video games at exactly the ages that they should be learning healthy ways to relate to other people and to resolve conflicts peacefully. Some recently released video games which contain violence are: Saints Row: The Third, Dead Space 3, Hitman: Absolution, Gears of War 3, Dead Island Riptide, Shadows of the Damned, Darkness II, NeverDead and though older but very popular Counter Strike. In all such games Players have to be cold-blooded and use guns, knives, and explosives, machine guns, grenades, and chainsaws they will win if they shoot, slice, and stomp on enemies.
The Pied Piper of violating video games is taking our children and even youth to the unknown lands of plight and misery. Should we sit and see and wait what harm he brings to them? Or we should make some efforts so that we may save our generations from complete destruction. Whatever we are we must try to do something at our level best. Mainly the responsibility lies on the shoulders of parents. Parents can minimize any potential harm. Parents should limit the amount of time as well as the types of games their children play; children are less likely to show aggressive behaviors. The active parental involvement in children's media usage - including discussing the inappropriateness of violent solutions to real life conflicts, reducing time spent on violent media, and generating alternative nonviolent solutions to problems - all can reduce the impact of media violence on children and youth.
Parents can also help their children in selecting games for them which when they will play will not only provide them entertainment but also enhance their mental faculties and make them very much creative. They are also useful to make them good future citizens as violence is not the focus of the games instead the children can have fun learning, dancing, solving puzzles, playing sports, and more. Some such kinds of games are listed here which can help the parents to get rid of this problem: LeapFrog Explorer Learning Game: Pet Pals 2; Just Dance: Disney Party; Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure; The Magic School Bus; Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone; Crashmo; FIFA Soccer 13 and many more.
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