The Effect of Violent Online Games on Teenagers in Hong Kong.
Introduction
Teenagers ' violence is one of the biggest problems facing our society in the new millennium. There are many reasons behind and many people blame that it is mostly due to the overload of violent mass media. Many researches have been done on this topic trying to answer this question. Contributing factors to the problem include violent television programs, movies, comics and online video games [Chilton: 1999]. A recent research done by four national American health organizations namely American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, has also already concluded that there exist a direct link between violence in media and violence on teenagers (Vermaakgeweld lei tot meer aggressie: 2000). In this paper, the emphasis will fall on violent online games, as a form of electronic mass media, and the influence on teenagers.
Definition of Media Violence
It is hard to measure and define media violence, though many researches had been done on this. There exist variations between people, as what one person considers violent content, another may not. In addition, how one is affected by violent content will also vary from different people. Some experts who track violence in television programming, such as George Gerbner of Temple University, define violence as the act (or threat) of injuring or killing someone, independent of the method used or the surrounding context (Research on the Effects of Media Violence: No Date). Media violence is then defined as distributing ideas about any action which intrudes painfully or harmfully into the physical, psychological or social wellbeing of people or groups though the means of media. Online games, as a form of electronic mass media, it is postulated that these games invite players to engage viscerally with the action, to disengage the critical faculties and to take pleasure in the substitute experiences of unjustified
Teenagers ' violence is one of the biggest problems facing our society in the new millennium. There are many reasons behind and many people blame that it is mostly due to the overload of violent mass media. Many researches have been done on this topic trying to answer this question. Contributing factors to the problem include violent television programs, movies, comics and online video games [Chilton: 1999]. A recent research done by four national American health organizations namely American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, has also already concluded that there exist a direct link between violence in media and violence on teenagers (Vermaakgeweld lei tot meer aggressie: 2000). In this paper, the emphasis will fall on violent online games, as a form of electronic mass media, and the influence on teenagers.
Definition of Media Violence
It is hard to measure and define media violence, though many researches had been done on this. There exist variations between people, as what one person considers violent content, another may not. In addition, how one is affected by violent content will also vary from different people. Some experts who track violence in television programming, such as George Gerbner of Temple University, define violence as the act (or threat) of injuring or killing someone, independent of the method used or the surrounding context (Research on the Effects of Media Violence: No Date). Media violence is then defined as distributing ideas about any action which intrudes painfully or harmfully into the physical, psychological or social wellbeing of people or groups though the means of media. Online games, as a form of electronic mass media, it is postulated that these games invite players to engage viscerally with the action, to disengage the critical faculties and to take pleasure in the substitute experiences of unjustified
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