As children and adolescents, people try desperately to figure out
who they are and what their role in society is. In this sensitive and critical
point in their lives, it is crucial that they do not get the wrong view of
roles in society. One way that children learn roles is throughout childhood
play. What do many children do for play?
Play video games.
Video games are one means of giving children the wrong view of
roles in society. Just like any other form of mass media, video games have
become instruments in developing the identities of children (Dietz).
The roles they learn from these games influence their outlook on:
·
different personality traits
·
·
violence
The
Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior.
2011. Section 02 & 03 F11 Psy 1001Web. 2 Nov 2012.
|
In this post, I’m going to focus on violence. Instead of passively
viewing violence, such as in television, the children are actively involved in
it. Video games most often portray men with a stereotypical gender role, as a
sexually aggressive figure who fights for the girl, probably using violence.
Young boys play the roles of this character and get tied up in it.
They play these games and see this image of a man and believe that the image
they see is the image they should become. Their role in play and their role in
the game shapes their identity as they figure out their role in society. The
players may start acting more aggressively as they try to fulfill the role as a
“successful man” (Ferguson).
Some people argue that video games are good because:
·
they are an essential source
of intrinsic reinforcement
·
they can help those who play
them to improve hand-eye coordination
(Loftus and Loftus).
It is true that they can help reinforcement. However, what they are
reinforcing is not always beneficial to them because there is more being reinforced
than is blatantly obvious. Even if they have a good message to them in general,
there are subthemes that are being engrained into their minds and having a
negative effect on them.
It is also true that they improve hand-eye coordination. However,
there are much better activities that also improve hand-eye coordination and do
not have negative impacts on their socialization.
Video games are negatively impacting the youth of today and their perception of the world as they grow up. And violence is only the beginning.
Chelsea Zollinger
