Violent Video Games: The Desensitized Youth

The Desensitized Youth

With the advent of video games, the world’s thirst for reality in the violent gaming realm has increased. In the alter-reality children have become desensitized and obsessed with violence. As each game becomes more bona fide and tolerable children cannot disconnect fact from fiction. Today’s video games have become an ever-rushing stream of death and gore; they have become a part of our culture, and have caused the modern young person to become more aggressive and less respectful of life. Every red-blooded American child has interacted with violent video games at one point in their life. Children seem technologically gifted and more adept to the virtual world as computers and other electronic devises become
more mainstream and relied upon. Unlike generations in the past, where only the affluent could afford such technologies, they are available to the masses. It seems every household in America knows of XBOX, Playstation, or Wii -with that they probably own one or two of these systems. With the video game systems becoming more prevalent, they also become the household norm. In the past when children would get bored or restless they would use their imagination, maybe go outside and build a tree fort or play "Cowboys and Indians." However, today's subdivisions are becoming devoid of children outside and instead of playing tag they are in front of the T.V. playing the latest "Desensitization-Station" racking up their " Kills" on the latest first person shooter. America is infatuated with video violence. As children go through life and see violence in every aspect of their lives, through television, video games, and print media they slowly become desensitized and disconnected with the gravity of violence and death. Over 85% of games contain some violence, and approximately half of video games include serious violent action (Carnagey, Anderson, & Bushman 2007). Desensitization is defined in the Miriam-Webster Dictionary (2011) as to make emotionally insensitive or callous; specifically : to extinguish an emotional response.
Bushman and Anderson describe desensitization best in this passage from their 2009 piece titled Comfortably Numb: “If film is a drug, then violent film content might make people “comfortably numb” (borrowing the words of Pink Floyd). Specifically, exposure to blood and gore in the media might make people numb to the pain and suffering of others-a process called desensitization. One negative consequence of such physiological desensitization is that it may cause people to be less helpful to those in need." (Carnagey, Anderson, & Bushman 2007) In the virtual world children have come to enjoy killing and at times have found it comical. More video games contain gang language and acts, prostitutes, and even the opportunity to play as the “bad guy” killing innocent people while racking up a high score to win the game. Children can conduct night raids, run drugs, compete in death-matches, and carry out all-out onslaughts on innocent "virtual" humans. In this genre of ultra-violent video games children are rewarded for carrying out "virtual" heinous acts, adding to the confusion of what is right and
wrong. Through some of the latest video games, the player lives in a virtual world with the ability to fully customize their character, buy new weapons, clothes, and additional characters. Popular titles, such as Call of Duty and Halo have created a sub-culture and communities. These groups print their own shirts and have organized gamming events. Players can connect through chat rooms, social media, and voice. The act of killing another human being is not a glamorous act, nor is it a glorious experience.
Today's games depict some of the most horrific acts humanly possible and allow players to earn rewards for acting them out. Some children find it difficult to separate reality from video game. As studies have shown, children that spend a vast amount of their time playing violent video games demonstrate less prosocial behaviors, have hard times interacting with their peers, and display aggressive behaviors (Bushman Anderson, 2009). For the past 40 years, violent video games have been painstakingly researched and have been found to bear five very hard to argue points. These facts are that violent video games cause aggressive behavior and thinking patterns, increased psychological arousal, and the lack of a desire to help others around them (Anderson, 2003). Ultra violent video games, television shows, cartoons, and movies surround children. It is hard to say that our children have not become desensitized and gripped with violence. Today’s video games have become an ever-rushing stream of death and gore; they have become a part of our culture, and have caused the modern young person to become more aggressive and less respectful of
life.

Reference:
Anderson, C. (2003, October). Violent video games: myths, facts, and unanswered questions. In American psychological association. Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/10/anderson.aspx Bushman, B., & Anderson, C. (2009). Comfortably Numb. Pyschological Sicence, 20(3), 1-2. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02287.x Carnagey, N., Anderson, C., & Bushman, B. (2007). The effect of video game violence on desensitization to real-life violence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 489-496. Retrieved from www.elsevier.com/locate/jesp