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Video Games

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Marc Huang
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Do violent video games contribute to youth violence?

There was a time when children were always playing outside during sunny days, but that was until video games were invented. Video games provided people with countless hours of entertainment at the comfort of their own home. People enjoyed it because it was a temporary break from reality. People played video games so much that it raised a lot if concerns. One of the concerns is violent video games affecting children’s behavior. Violent video games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty have often been blamed for school shootings but do they really affect children’s behavior or are these just hasty generalizations?
There are different studies saying that violent video games affect children’s behavior. One study says that there has been an increase in bullying cases because of mature video games that are sold to children. Psychologists say that children may think that violence is a solution for their problems. They will think that the world is a hostile place and violence is normal. ( Harding,2009). Some kids may also develop trust issues and become aggressive to protect themselves. Christopher Barlett, a psychologist at Iowa State University wanted to test if students become more aggressive after playing a violent video game. He made 47 students play Mortal Kombat for 15 minutes. Afterwards, he tested whether they became more aggressive or not. There were compared to a group who played a nonviolent video game. Obviously, the students who played Mortal Kombat were more aggressive. (Carey,2013) In an issue of journal pediatrics, a study shows that kids in America and Japan who plays a lot of violent video games are more aggressive than those who don't. According to Huesmann, who has been studying in media and behavior for aroung 30 years "When you're exposed to

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