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Christian Eatman Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1103 April 5, 2012

A Dangerous Playground

In the fall of 1977, a young filmmaker named John Carpenter sat down at his desk to begin working on his upcoming film Halloween. In the opening scene, an anonymous figure takes a knife from the kitchen drawer and proceeds to brutally murder a teenage girl. Audiences were shocked when it was revealed that the mysterious killer was actually a six year old child. Nearly three decades after the films release, events such as the murder depicted in the movie are more frequent with each passing year. What is the underlying cause of this bizarre and disturbing trend? Independent experts including sociologists, guidance counselors, and psychologists attribute this behavior to the violent media to which children are exposed, specifically violent video games. A childs exposure to violent video games should be monitored in order to limit negative effects such as increased aggression, decreased empathy toward others, and increased likelihood of violent acts when additional factors are present. Since the 1970s, video games have been an increasingly large part of the lives of youth in America and various parts of the world. These video games began primarily as teaching tools and casual sources of entertainment. However, as a gamer from early childhood I have witnessed the evolution of these games into realistic and consuming experiences. Earlier generations do not understand the appeal of these games. For example, my grandfather, watching my brothers and I play a violent shooting game, asked us if we were training to be

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assassins. He was unable to understand the appeal of a game in which we were actively hunting the opponent. While one would think the realism in video games is most important, studies reveal that the amount of violence is the biggest contributing factor to the affects these games have on young players. Dr. Craig A. Anderson and associates, professors of psychology at Iowa State University, reveal that In the early years a child is forming his or her view of the world that will carry through into adulthood. In a study conducted by Anderson and his colleagues, 161 nine to twelve year olds and 354 college students were randomly assigned to play certain games. These games were either realistically violent, violent with cartoon-like graphics, or entirely non-violent. After playing the games, participants were asked to play an additional game in which they were to deliver a blast of noise to their opponents. Those who played the violent games, both realistic and cartoonish, delivered a louder blast to their opponents than participants who played the nonviolent game. Anderson and his associates concluded that the degree of violence, not the realism, impacts the reaction of a player. On a personal level, I have observed my ten year-old brother John play violent games such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. John continuously runs around the room shouting insults at opponents. If he has a friend over they scream and become angry at each other over a video game. This observation clearly shows that violent video games decrease empathy in players. On multiple occasions my mom has been forced to send John to his room because of his aggression and anger while playing. My family and I witness the increased aggression as a result of violent video games on a daily basis. While my mom knows she should not allow my brother to play, video games have become her babysitter. There is no doubt in my mind that the reason so many parents do not

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limit their childs exposure to violent video games is because they make great babysitters. I hope that as more research is published parents will develop a better, and much needed, understanding of the detrimental effects of violent video games. Recently, various researchers have taken a slightly different approach to evaluating the effects of these games. Paul Adachi and Teena Willoughby of Brock University in Ontario Canada claim that 97% of children have played video games on the computer, web, and/or consoles by the time they are adolescence. This is a problem they believe has negatively impacted almost every child in America. Adachi and Willougby argue that in prior studies competitiveness was not a variable in measuring the effects of violent video games. It is their conclusion that competitiveness, violence, difficulty, and pace of play should be the factors that are considered in research. Returning to my brother, I do not entirely dispute the claims presented by Adachi and Willoughby. My brother acts aggressively during and after playing violent war games and also behaves in a similar manner when playing a sports game, especially if he is losing. However, his actions during war games appear to more physically aggressive while his aggression is more verbal during a sports game. Additional studies have shown that the amount of time a child plays a violent video game, the more impactful the games will be. Andrea Norcia, a graduate student of psychology and writer for the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, looked into a study conducted by Gentile, Lynch, Linder & Walsh. Gentile et al. stated that adolescent girls played video games for an average of 5 hours a week, whereas boys averaged 13 hours a week. Norcia also says about Gentile and his associates study:

The authors also stated that teens who play violent video games for extended

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periods of time tend to be more aggressive, are more prone to confrontation with their teachers, may engage in fights with their peers, and see a decline in school achievements. (Gentile et al, 2004).

While this paper focuses on increased aggression as a result of violent games, Gentiles study along with his associates shows that many other aspects of a childs life are impacted by violent video games.

From my experience observing Johns behavior, I have found that extended play does have a great impact on how much aggression is increased. The longer my brother plays video games, the more violent and aggressive his behavior becomes. Following a long video game playing session he tends to show no empathy toward my family and me. John will show no regard for the feelings of others and constantly insults people.

Other researchers argue that violent video games have a multitude of positive effects. Ira Flatow of National Public Radio (NPR) interviewed Jane McGonigal, author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. McGonigal is of the opinion that gamers can positively affect the real world by playing in a virtual world. McGonigal states in the NPR interview that in a video game:

We feel more motivated. We have a stronger drive. We set more ambitious goals. We're more likely to ask other people for help. And in fact, we become more likeable to other people because we're more optimistic, we're more energized, and so they actually are more likely to help us when we ask.

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McGonigal also discusses that one of the main positive effects of video games is increased problem solving skills within a team. When asked how games improve teamwork and problem solving, McGonigal answered by saying: You know, gamers are used to working in teams, and they're used to using resources like wikis and forums to sort of share what they're failing at, give tips for other people so that they can get to the goal faster. And so when we're making games that try to solve real-world problems, we definitely look toward that natural online collaboration process where people are thinking together rather than thinking alone. Based on my research and observations, I do not disagree with the positive effects violent video games can have on players as presented by McGonigal. However, the negative aspects such as aggressive behavior, lack of empathy, and even violent criminal acts strongly outweigh the positive impacts of these games. Various other studies have shown that aggression resulting from violent video games is a product of the games being paired with additional risk factors. Craig A. Anderson and his associates conducted a study which examined these additional factors contributing to aggression. The study used the General Aggression Model to determine how risk factors could affect players aggressive tendencies. Anderson, Gentile, and Buckley state The General Aggression Model proposes that: Biological, sociocultural, parent, peer, and individual variables interact in the context of the individuals life experiences which shape that individuals beliefs, attitudes, schemata, scripts, and responses. Changes should be considered

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holistically as an increase in aggressive personality, which changes the contexts the individual will enter and responses the individual will make to those contexts. As explained above, playing a violent video game will not necessarily make a participant go out and shoot someone or commit a violent act. However, Anderson and his associates concluded by using the General Aggression Model that violent video game playing in conjunction with negative factors such as unstable home environment can greatly increase the chance of someone committing a violent act. For example, Anderson uses the case of the Columbine High School shootings to support his claims. Anderson and associates state that the shooters friends and family members all said that the shooters were habitual players of violent video games. While the shooters were players of violent games, Anderson also revealed that their parents did not play an active role in guiding them and did not punish them for inappropriate behavior. Anderson also uses a shooting in 1997 in Kentucky where a student shot and killed three classmates. His own attorney admitted that violent video games allowed him to raise his shooting ability beyond the standards for expert marksmanship. This clearly shows that violent video games can become training grounds for real life acts of violence. The above are only two examples of horrific outcomes that can result from playing violent video games. Research from Anderson and his colleagues have clearly explained that these games have a greater negative effect on younger players as they state In the early years a child is forming his or her view of the world that will carry through into adulthood. From all you have read, it is obvious that parents need to take an active role in limiting their childs exposure to violent video games as well as providing a stable and calm environment to grow up in. The General Aggression Model clearly expresses the importance of parental

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involvement in limiting and ultimately preventing aggressive outcomes. One of the best ways for a parent to be active in limiting exposure is by using the Entertainment Software Rating Boards (ESRB) system. The ESRB rates the content of games and categorizes them into how appropriate they are for certain ages. Every parent should use this rating system to be knowledgeable about what is being presented to their child and only allow them to play games appropriate for their age. In addition to evaluating the rating of a game, parents should closely read into what content is in a game. The study conducted by Anderson which was discussed at the beginning of this paper shows that even cartoonish violence leads to short term aggression. It has only taken a generation for childhood to change dramatically. By talking to my grandfather, it was obvious that children of the prior generations played outside, rode bikes through the neighborhood, and did not spend hours a day in front of a video game. Now children are primarily hermits in their home surrounded by constant exposure to violence through media, specifically violent video games. Parents of today are afraid to let children run freely. The attraction that video games provide is so addictive in nature that children have no desire to go outside. A computer, television, and especially a video game console can be a very dangerous playground.

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Works Cited Adachi, Paul J.C., and Teena Willoughby. "The effect of violent video games on aggression: Is it more than just the violence?." Aggression and Violent Behavior. 16. (2011): 55-62. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. Anderson, Craig A., Douglas A. Gentile, and Katherine E. Buckley. Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents. Oxford University Press, 2007. Print. McGonigal, Jane. Interview by Ira Flatow. Science Friday. Natl. Public Radio, 18 Feb. 2011. NPR.org. Web. 26 Feb 2012. Norcia, Andrea. The Impact of Video Games on Children. Palo Alto Medical Foundation, n.d. Web. 26 Feb 2012.

I think you did something really interesting by keeping to your real life example and coming back to it every couple of paragraphs to keep the readers attention, just dont overdo it to where it seems like the paper is more about your family than the topic at hand. Maybe instead of referring to something youve already stated by saying Above you see, Like previously stated before, or Like discussed before you should just say something about the research done like I said in comment 20. You should really good examples and I really enjoyed your essay. It really gives me some good ideas on how I can make my essay better. Thank you for editing my essay and I hope I gave you some good comments to help you out. Sorry it took a while! -Casandra Cook

Comment 1: Interesting opening. Kind of made me think the paper was going in a different direction, but definitely caught my attention! Comment 2: Nice introduction of the main topic. Comment 3: Good use of putting your life into the story. Comment 4: I researched this study as well and it is very interesting. Maybe fix the commas to semi-colons, I dont really know how much of a stickler he is on punctuation.

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Comment 5: Another good use of real life examples. Comment 6: I really like this because it is true in this day and age. The video games that are a main concept in todays lives become the only way to keep some still for more than 10 minutes. Comment 7: We can only hope. Comment 8: Good introduction to research facts. Comment 9: Maybe you should add this to another paragraph or add more to it like some research that adds to the idea of war games having more of an aggressive effect on the minds of the players than other games. Comment 10: This quote could actually make a whole new paper about the effects of games on girls and boys possibly being different because of the amount played. Comment 11: I dont really know if we have to put the quote thing at the end if you write a sentence leading into it? Comment 12: Definitely like this. It shows that there are other things that affect the lives of the players besides just these games. Comment 13: Like that you go back to your real life example. Comment 14: Good way of introducing the other side of the argument. Comment 15: Its good that you dont pick a side but maybe you shouldnt put your own input just yet. Maybe instead you should just put something about how even though the research shows that theres positive and negative effects other research implies that there are more negative effects. Or something along those lines. Comment 16: Maybe you should restate their names instead of saying as explained above? Comment 17: Good example! Ha if you want to add something from the article I used I will gladly give you the link? Comment 18: Something most parents dont think about before allowing their child of 10 to play these games. Comment 19: Maybe instead of the from all you have read you should put something about based on research parents should take more of an active role Comment 20: Instead of saying that the study that was conducted in the beginning you should say something about based on the study that Anderson did at where ever showed that.

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Comment 21: Its good to reconnect your essay to your real life example. However, I think you should make your conclusion more of what you lead about this topic. I think this is more where you show what you think of the topic now.