Written by: Prashraya Shrestha - 26014, Grade IX
Posted on: 21 December, 2022
Video games have been a thing from 1958. Back then the games were usually light hearted and involved less brutality and violence. After an arcade game named death race got popular for its violence the popularity of violent games increased. Aggression is any behavior that aims to physically hurt a person or an animal. Aggression has been observed in humans and animals for many years. Aggression stems from stress, fear and anger and it is common in social animals.
Till today, there has been no evidence of violent video games making people more aggressive. Violence has been prevalent long before the first “violent video game” was even aired in arcades, though there have been studies that prove that the people who are born in a violent environment tend to be more aggressive, it is different from video games as video games are separated from reality and our consciousness knows that the violence these violent video games presents is not real. Same goes for TV shows and movies. But as the video games we play today have become more realistic and more immersive it can make an individual more aggressive but as said before there is no real evidence to back this claim up.
But this does not mean that violent video games do not cause an impact on our mental health. These types of video games can lead to addiction and separation from the real world by being deposited on video games. This can also cause health issues in the physical body if we play for long hours and can also result in long term injuries. Researchers have shown that people who play more FPS (First Person Shooter) video games are able to imagine 3D objects than an average person who does not play first person shooter video games. A study also shows that professional FPS gamers have faster reaction time. It also contributes to our teamwork, skills and our ability to work in a group, critical thinking, creativity, visual memory and strategizing. Research also proves that people who play video games have a better time processing information in a short period of time and also increases our visual memory.
In conclusion, there has been no real evidence that backs up this claim but there are some bad traits of playing video games for an extended period of time. Playing video games for an adequate amount of time can result in being beneficial from it.
