Violent Video Games and Impact on Children

Paper Summary:

According to a recent survey, nine out of ten U.S. households with children have rented or owned a video or computer game and nearly a third of the Top 100 video-console games for the first quarter of 1999 had at least some sort of violent content. This paper looks at the effect these games have on the emotional, moral and social well-being of children. The paper covers issues such as the gradual changing of the 'bad-guys' from monsters and imaginary characters to real people, thus legitimizing violent behavior, as well as looking at the link between violent video games and events such as the Columbine High School shooting. Finally, the paper looks at the possibility of banning these video games and the difficulties involved.

From the Paper:

"Opponents of violent video games usually argue that games such as Doom or Quake help break down the natural inhibitions we have against killing and in the U.S. the military has begun using Doom-like games to improve so-called fire rates - encouraging soldiers to pull the trigger in battle. Only about one-fifth of U.S. soldiers in combat in World War II fired their weapons, a rate that the military pushed up to 95% by the Vietnam War, in part through the use of simulations meant to make shooting at humans seem more routine and "normal" (Slatalla)."

More papers on Violent Video Games and Impact on Children:

• Analytical Essay # 15223 : "Violent Video Games and Effects on Children"
• Persuasive Essay # 110731 : "Banning Violent Video Games"
• Term Paper # 92651 : "The Video Games Industry"

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