Eunice Grace M. Valladores How Do Violent Video Games Affect The Children?

Video games have become the source of entertainment of most of the children over the past 30 years. They are enjoyable and different from the other kinds of games because they encourage the players to pay attention and become a part of the games script. As they become improved, different kinds of games also arose. It is sad to say that most of the games are violent. A 2001 review of the 70 top-selling video games found 89% contained some kind of violence. Almost half of all games (49%) contained serious violence, while 40% contained comic violence. In 41% of the games, violence was necessary for the protagonists to achieve their goals. In 17% of the games, violence was the primary focus of the game itself. Children caught playing violent video games have become widespread. Different studies have shown the effects of these violent video games to the children. Most of the research states that video games can increase the aggressive behavior of the children. In a Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children (July 26, 2000) before the Congressional Public Health Summit states that based on over 30 years of research, viewing entertainment violence can lead to increases in aggressive attitudes, values and behavior, particularly in children.

One factor that contributes to the increase in aggressive behavior is the amount of time the children spend in playing these games. In one study by Walsh (2000), it is said that most of the parents of the teens do not impose a time limit on the number of hours they are allowed to play video games. Playing video games for a very long time everyday can lead to an addiction called stimulus addiction. It means that when playing lots of action-packed video games, one increasingly needs more powerful images in order to respond emotionally to the game. The term "stimulus addiction" describes the habit that is formed as kids seek out more and more violent games to hold their interest. In a 2002 study on video's effects on teens, researchers at the

Indianna University School of Medicine concluded that the brains of teenagers with certain behavior disorders and a history of aggressiveness react differently from healthy teens when they play violent video games.

There are many cases of killing or assaulting performed by children already happened because of becoming addicted to violent video games. Violent acts are continually repeated throughout the video game. This method of repetition has long been considered an effective teaching method in reinforcing learning patterns. One example of this case happened on April 20, 1999 by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. They launched an assault on Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, murdering 13 and wounding 23 before turning the guns on themselves because of being addicted on these games. Being addicted to violent video games can really affect the aggressive attitudes, values and behavior of the children. Parents should manage and balance the media consumption of the children. They should monitor the games that their children play, and they can also play with them so they can also enjoy in supervising them. It is also important to set limits on how often and how long they can and discuss to them the games that they can only play. The parents have a big role in the resulting behavior of their children so they must be supportive and encouraging.