Violence In The Media: Is It Actually Devastating

Sydnie Graczyk

 

There is a small percentage of young people, maybe about 5% who are at risk of engaging in violent behavior from playing violent video games or movies.  Many think that violent video games are the cause of terrorist like attacks, but researchers show that many video games help kids cope their emotions, and help dissolve stress.  “Some people say video games rot your brain, but I think they work different muscles that maybe you don’t normally use” (Koenig).

Throughout the years’ violent video games and movies have been blamed for being the cause of mass shootings and other horrible crimes committed by younger people. New research overlooking decades of violence in the media and in the real world shows that one seems to have little, if anything, to do with the other. In a paper published in the Journal of Communication, Christopher Ferguson of Stetson University found no clear relation between the increasingly graphic nature of movies and video games and the rapid occurrence of violence from the early 20th century to today.

Researchers found that kids played games to cope with their emotions, to enjoy challenging situations, to keep up with their peers playing identical games, to create their own worlds, and to relieve their stress. In a research article from “European Psychologist”. “In this study, 103 young adults were given a frustration task and then randomized to play no game, a non-violent game, a violent game with good versus evil theme, or a violent game in which they played ‘the bad guy.’ The results suggest that violent games reduce depression and hostile feelings in players through mood management,” Explained Dr. Ferguson. Controlled studies using both randomized controlled trials compared to patient’s own baseline measures show that video games can provide a cognitive distraction for children during chemotherapy for cancer and treatment for sickle cell disease. All of the studies reported that distracted patients had less nausea and lower systolic blood pressure than controls after treatment and needed fewer analgesics.

Playing video games has helped people overcome stress, a study of gamers has revealed. Researchers who quizzed 1,000 gamers on how they felt about gaming and found that 55 percent play video games because it helps them to unwind and relieve stress. And 47 percent think performing well in the game has a positive impact on their lives irl (in real life), allowing them to look upon other things of their lives more positively. Games in the Action & Adventure category were also considered to be the best at helping relieve stress, followed by Shooter games and Puzzle games.
Luke Hales, general manager of the Dave TV channel, said: “For those looking for support, gaming as a hobby can offer a confidence-boosting sense of achievement which may be lacking in other aspects of their lives”.

Lots of people such as you, the reader, might play video games to do any one of the things previously said in the paragraph but have you ever stopped and sat down to play a video game and told yourself “ok, i’m only going to be playing this game for about a half hour” but ended up playing for over three hours? Yes, this may be procrastination but the best answer to your little issue that your having is that if it’s happened more than once then you probably have a video game addiction. Symptoms of video game addiction are loss of interest in school achievement, feeling angry and frustrated when not able to play the video game, feeling depressed or anxious when your not playing the video game, thinking about next time you play when not in game, dreaming about the game, etc. video game addiction isn’t permanent. You can get rid of video game addiction but if you are to do that you can’t keep putting it off and saying that you will just do it later and then continue playing your game for the last time for a while. The first step to this is actually asking yourself if you actually have a video game addiction, ask yourself if you keep putting off things like going to the bathroom or eating or even personal hygiene, if you answered yes to any of these then chances are you probably do have a video game addiction. The next step to getting rid of your video addiction is to find a new personal hobby such as reading or playing outside. This way you can keep yourself occupied and hopefully not thinking about your precious video game. The next step is that if you’re going to completely cold turkey it then to moderate yourself, set a personal timer on your phone, laptop, or maybe a mental timer, whatever works best for you. Now the last this is to have one of your friends whether it would be some friends from school, family members, or just your siblings. It helps a lot more when someone else is helping you and is actually asking you to quit playing your video games

There is a small percentage of young people, maybe about 5% who are at risk of engaging in violent behavior from playing violent video games or movies.  Many think that violent video games are the cause of terrorist like attacks, but researchers show that many video games help kids cope their emotions, and help dissolve stress.  “Some people say video games rot your brain, but I think they work different muscles that maybe you don’t normally use” (Koenig).

Work Cited

Bailey, Grant. “Playing Video Games Is a Key Strategy for Coping with Stress, Study Finds.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 9 Feb. 2018, www.independent.co.uk/life-style/video-games-stress-playing-strategy-key-gamers-study-a8202541.html.

 

Blaszczak-Boxe, Agata. “Questioning the Role of Media Violence in Violent Acts.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 5 Nov. 2014, www.cbsnews.com/news/violent-movies-games-may-not-trigger-real-life-violence-after-all/.

 

Griffiths, Mark. “Video Gaming Is Safe for Most Players and Can Be Useful in Health Care.” US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health Search DatabaseSearch Term Search, 16 July 2005, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC558687/

 

“Research Shows Violent Media Do Not Cause Violent Behavior.” Massachusetts General Hospital, 26 Dec. 2012, www.massgeneral.org/News/newsarticle.aspx?id=3929.

 

“VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES HELP RELIEVE STRESS, DEPRESSION, SAYS TAMIU PROFESSOR.” Texas A&M International University, 17 June 2010, www.tamiu.edu/newsinfo/7-08-10/article5.shtml.

 

“Video Games Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore, www.brainyquote.com/topics/video_games.

 

wikiHow. “How to Get Rid of Gaming Addiction.” WikiHow, WikiHow, 28 Oct. 2016, www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Gaming-Addiction.