A important topic in my community is Violent Video games and their effect on adolescents. We know for sure there is a causal link between violent video games and aggression. Compared to violence portrayed in TV and movies. Video games cause more aggressive thoughts and behavior. The use it or loose it principle is important for adolescents between the ages of 10-25 because pruning of brain cells happen. We loose half of our brain in order to focus on the important subjects in our life. If we did not do this then it would be hard to specialize in anything. Many parents are not informed to monitor their children's video games.
What is the problem today:
School shooting are becoming a common thing in the US and is concerning. The reason why teens play these games is that peer pressure to be masculine has increased and in order to gain the approval of peers they need to have fun killing and being gruesome. Parents contribute by purchasing these video games for their teens and not being home. I personally have talked to many teens who are emotionally removed for death and school shootings. With technology getting more realistic it is hard to differentiate reality from Virtual reality.
Research:
One of the earliest was the 1999 shooting in Columbine, Colorado, where the two shooters were found to be fans of first-person shooter video games. Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho was reportedly a fan of “Sonic the Hedgehog,” and Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza and had a history of playing shooting games but also spent hours playing “Dance Dance Revolution.”
My Personal experience:
I have recently presented at Cal Poly Pomona about re hardwiring the teenage brain with Dr.Givrad. She is my mom and has a doctorate in biomedical engineering from the University of Southern California. Together we have done many presentations for students and parents to inform them about the importance of educating teenagers and parents alike in the dangers of these video games. I use to play Halo and Call of Duty but once i realized the dangers i just stick to card games and reading a book. The countless hours i would spend in front a screen was sicking. Ever since i have stopped playing these games my health has gotten better, i completed the La marathon and have gotten better grades in school.
I cant believe that company's would want to profit off of children by making them sick and not having empathy to death. We all need to under stand that dangers are everywhere with the internet being able to distribute information all across the world.Why is it important:
It is important because our children need to understand that these types of video games need to only be used for adults. I understand in the military they use these games to help soldiers be more aware but for civilians the benefit in not worth the risk.
"The community feels a need for change"
-Patty Lopez
"Violent Video games are not for children "
-Matthew Avlia
Sources
https://www.crescentavalleyweekly.com/news/01/30/2014/doctor-talks-teenage-brains-theyre-wired/
https://www.thelantern.com/2014/02/ohio-state-professor-violent-video-games-can-make-players-aggressive/
No comments:
Post a Comment