Violence and video games Sociology 1010 Violence and video games

INDUSTRY RESEARCH: Purchase of digital content generated $5.9 billion in revenue. In America, 72% play computer or video games. Average game player is 33 years old. Average age of frequent game purchaser is 41 years old. 42% of game players are women. In 2011, 29% of American gamers are over the age of 50. Parents are present when games are purchased or rented 91% of the time.

POSITIVE KEY POINTS FOR VIDEO GAMES Following instructions  Problem solving and logic Hand-eye coordination, fine motor and spatial skills.  Planning, resource management and logistics. Multitasking, simultaneous tracking of many shifting variables and managing multiple objectives.   Accuracy   Strategy and anticipation  Situational awareness  Developing reading and math skills Inductive reasoning and hypothesis testing  Mapping  Memory  Concentration How to respond to challenges, frustrations  How to explore and rethink goals Teamwork and cooperation when played with others  Reasoned judgments   Taking risks  Perseverance Pattern recognition Estimating skills

NEGATIVE FACTS ABOUT VIDEO GAMES Violent video games are a risk factor for criminal behavior and aggression depending on how anti social they are. The negative effects depend on the stability of the person Moreover, youngsters who develop a gaming habit can become slightly more aggressive — as measured by clashes with peers Exposure of people especially youth, in textual violence of online gaming Video games are negative when an individual lacks self control and has no knowledge of right and wrong The negative effects are not significant on common people but are significant on adulterants and people with unstable personalities (like anger) Over-dependence on video games (LACK OF SELF CONTROL)

CLASS DISCUSION QUESTION ONE: Do you or anyone you know play at least 10 minutes to one hour per day of any type of video game? The majority of the class agreed that they knew someone or they themselves played at least ten minutes of video games per day. Most students agreed that any type of video game counted from Tetris to World of War Craft. There was a pretty big divide in the students when it came to the question of whether or not video games were a waste of time.

CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTION TWO: Do you think that playing violent video games causes violent behavior in real life? The class was pretty divided on this question which I found very interesting. People were very passionate about whether they felt like video games caused violence. As a class we discussed this for over twenty minutes and we had to end the discussion to be able to move on with our presentation. I personally believe that video games can have a very negative effect on people. I feel like it is the same thing with violent tv shows, movies, and any other type of entertainment. As a parent I really try to only allow my daughter to view things that are age appropriate and not violent.

CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTION THREE: Do you think that playing video games can have a positive effect on people’s lives? Most of the class agreed that video games can have a postive effect on people’s lives. I personally do see the things that could be gained by playing video games and my views on the subject have changed from the beginning of this assignment.

CONCLUSTION I learned so much about the positive and negative effects that video games can have in someone’s life. When we first started doing the research on this topic I was very set in my ways that I thought video games only caused negative things in people’s lives. I am happy that I had the chance to learn about all the positive things that people can learn from all types of video games. I loved doing this presentation with my group and I loved the group members that I worked with.