Senior Exit Paper

Darius Trottman-Burns

Med118

Video Game Influence:

In What Ways Do Video Games Affect Children and Teenagers

Video games are making children and teens more violent and aggressive, which is putting them in danger. The existences of video games were created in the past 30 years. It has been one of the most favorite sources of entertainment for children and teens around the world. Of the top 40 computer and video games sold in 2008 around 27 percent where rated mature. Studies have shown that the most violent video games that children and teens play are Grand Theft Auto and Modern Warfare (Top 10: Most Violent Video Game).The most addictive games children play are Angry Birds and video games on the Nintendo DS that correspond with multiple versions of Mario (Darleen Ross). Also studies have shown that the most addictive teen game is World of Warcraft (GameSci: What Is (Scientifically!) The Most Addictive Game Ever?). Having video games replace board games and cartoon shows, no one could imagine the impacts it would bring upon adolescents. Video games have become more interesting to kids than anything else, it is due to ones short attention span, one can interact with objects moving on the screen and always having something new to do; say a new level or a new challenge. Even in some cases the adolescent gets addicted to the game and ends up playing for days straight and leading to some health problems. For example one may receive headaches, feel dizzy, and sometime not even eat. Exposure to anti-social and violent video game content increases the likelihood of anti-social behaviors that are detrimental to society and bad for their health. 

Research studies shows that video games in young children to teenagers can cause social behavioral and health changes. The past decade shows that children and teens that play video games have proven to show behavior changes, such as mimicking what the characters are doing, producing violent behaviors and are less social...