Video Games and Children

A report released in 2003 by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that even the youngest children have experience with video games. The report indicated that 49 percent of children aged 0 to 6 years have a video game player in their home, while 10 per cent have a video game console in their bedroom (Vorderer Bryant, 2012, 23). Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Video Games and Children specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Thirty percent of young children have played video games, including per cent 35 of children aged less than two years. Although game playing is less common among children this age than using other media, 50 percent of children aged 4 to 6 years play video games, and on a typical day, 16 percent of these children play video games for not less than an hour (Vorderer Bryant, 2012, 23). Among boys this age, 9 per cent play video games on a daily basis (Vorderer Bryant, 2012, 23). Playing video g ames has become a popular leisure activity. Most importantly, children across the globe have abandoned traditional outdoor games and have resorted to playing video games. A number of children sociologists and developmental biologists argue that the shift from traditional outdoor game to video games in children has various negative effects on the development of children. Children should not be allowed to spend too much time playing video games for many reasons, three of which are that it affects their health, their behavior, and their life. According to Griffiths (2005, 122) playing video games has significant negative health effects on young children and adolescents. Various case studies have indicated that epileptic individuals who are photosensitive are likely to suffer epileptic seizures when playing video games (Griffiths, 2005, 123). These studies have highlighted that seizures are likely to occur in games that have rapid scene changes and those with patterns of highly intense repetition and flickering. In addition, other studies have revealed that video game playing can cause â€Å"auditory hallucinations, enuresis, encopresis, wrist pain, neck pain, elbow pain, tenosynovitis, hand arm vibration syndrome, repetitive strain injuries, peripheral neuropathy, and obesity† (Griffiths 2005, 23). Another study conducted by Vandewater, Shim and Caplovitz (2004, 73) endeavored to determine the relationship between playing videogames and obesity. The study conducted by these researchers found out there is a strong connection between playing video games and the development of obesity in those children who played video games frequently. The study noted that children who spend more time in sedentary activities lead to increased weight status (Vandewater, Shim Caplovitz, 2004, 73).Advertising Looking for research paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Not only do video games affect childr en’s health, but also they may affect children’s behavior. Griffiths notes that prolonged playing of video games can lead to increased aggressiveness and addiction (Griffiths, 2005, 123). Ferguson (2007, 310) highlights that increased aggressiveness has serious effects. Ferguson states that he wrote his article at the time when a student at Virginia State University shot dead his fellow students and several faculty members. Sociologists argue that such aggressiveness can be as a result of prolonged playing of violent video games. A recent study indicated that 978.7% of adolescents play video games (Griffiths, 2005, 123). The study also indicated that boys tend to play video games for longer hours than girls and playing violent video games is common in boys than in girls. In addition, Ward (2010, 261) notes that â€Å"playing video games is associated with makers from violent and antisocial attitudes†. Sternheimer (2007, 13) argues that since its release in 199 3, Doom, a very popular video game, has had significant negative effects on its audience. A number of criminal incidences have been linked to playing Doom. Criminals who took part in school shootings which occurred in Paducah, Kentucky; Springfield, Oregon; and Littleton, Colorado were reported to have played Doom. Ferguson (2007, 311) indicates that previous studies that investigate the role of violent video games in determining the behaviors of children have provided significant statistics. â€Å"Results from Meta analyses of video game violence studies and visuospatial cognition suggest that the raw summed effect for violent video game exposure and visuospatial cognition has a correlation factor of 0. 49† (Ferguson, 2007, 311). These statistics are an indication of a 24 per net overlap between visuospatial cognition and playing violent video games. Sternheimer (2007, 15) indicates that more aggressive people have been found to engage in violent entertainment than less ag gressive people. According to Sternheimer (2007, 15) aggression involves a broad range of emotions and behaviors, and violent video games have been found to aggravate these emotions and behaviors. There are various ways in which the effects of video games can be investigated. Children can be tested for their propensity to imitate the things they see on the screen, or their tendencies to behave more aggressively, whether or not their behavior resembles just anything seen on the screen. Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Video Games and Children specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In one such study, researchers looked for changes in the play behavior of ten year old children before and after playing video games that had violent or non violent themes. In fact, the children studied were assigned into pairs whereby one child played a video game while the other child watched. The latter child was given no opportun ity to play. The impact of violence in a video game was found to have an effect on how children played. Children who played a violent video game subsequently exhibited a more general activity and more aggressive behavior in a free play situation. In addition, children who watched their colleagues play an aggressive video game showed more interest subsequently in playing with an aggressive toy. Finally, children who play video games are likely to fail in life. The character and behaviors of children who are addicted to playing violent video games are influenced negatively. This often affects the perception of such children (Alyssa, et al., 2010 360; Dye, Green, Bavelie, 2009, 1785). Eventually, some of these children are lily to adapt some of the behaviors portrayed by characters found in video games. Characters in video games are often portraying certain features which might be misleading to young children. For example, some characters are portrayed as idlers and yet successful. This can easily form a wrong picture in the minds of young children who grow up believing that one can be idle and yet become successful in life. Some of them emulate the behaviors of the characters present in video games. In addition, Griffiths, (2005, 123) notes that children who frequently play videogames might lead to addiction. Consequently, young children often skip important duties in their lives so as to play video games. As a result, some of them lose direction in life and end up as frustrated young adults. This paper has not that children across the globe have abandoned traditional outdoor games and have resorted to playing video games. However, playing video games has devastating health, behavioral and overall the overall perception in life of young children. In terms of health, seizures are likely to occur in games that have rapid scene changes and those with patterns of highly intense repetition and flickering. In addition, other studies have revealed that video game playing can cause â€Å"auditory hallucinations, enuresis, encopresis, wrist pain, neck pain, elbow pain, tenosynovitis, hand arm vibration syndrome, repetitive strain injuries, peripheral neuropathy, and obesity† (Griffiths 2005, 23). Other studies have revealed that there is a strong connection between playing video games and the development of obesity in those children who played video games frequently. Advertising Looking for research paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In terms of children’s behavior, Griffiths notes that prolonged playing of video games can lead to increased aggressiveness and addiction (Griffiths, 2005, 123). â€Å"Playing video games is associated with makers from violent and antisocial attitudes† (Ward, 2010, 261). A number of criminal incidences have been linked to playing Doom. Criminals who took part in school shootings which occurred in Paducah, Kentucky; Springfield, Oregon; and Littleton, Colorado were reported to have played Doom. Ferguson (2007, 311) indicates that previous studies that investigate the role of violent video games in determining the behaviors of children have provided significant statistics. Lastly, children who play video games are likely to fail in life. The character and behaviors of children who are addicted to playing violent video games are influenced negatively. This often affects the perception of such children. Eventually, some of these children are likely to adapt some of the behaviors portrayed by characters found in video games. Thus, Children should not be allowed to spend too because it affects their health, their behavior, and their life. However, there is a need to conduct more studies in order to gain a clear picture of how video games affect children. References Alyssa, A. et al. (2010). Teaching Children with Autism to Play a Video Game Using ActivitySchedules and Game-Embedded Simultaneous Video Modeling. Education and Treatment of Children, 33(3): pp. 351-370. Dye, M., Green, C. and Bavelie, D. (2009). The development of attention skills in action video game players. Neuropsychologia , 47 1780–1789. Ferguson, John. (2007). The Good, The Bad and the Ugly:The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: A Meta-analyticReview of Positive and Negative Effects of Violent VideoGames. Psychiatr , 78:309–316. Griffiths, Mark. (2005). Video games and health. BMJ , 331, 123–4. Sternheimer, K. (2007). do video games kill? American Sociological Associ ation , 6(1), 13-17. Vandewater, A., Shim, A. and Caplovitz, M . (2004). Linking obesity and activity level with children’s television and video game use. Journal of Adolescence , 27, 71– 85. Vorderer, P., and Bryant, J. (2012). Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences. London: Routledge. Ward, M. (2010). Video Games And Crime. Psychiatry, 29(2), 261–273. This research paper on Video Games and Children was written and submitted by user SquirrelGirl to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.