Violent Video Games and Youth Aggression: Pros and Cons

Introduction: The Video Game Violence Debate

Despite being more than thirty years old as a medium, video games' contribution — or lack thereof — to the rise in violence among America's youth remains an open question. Researchers who have striven to establish a link between playing violent video games and an increased tendency to engage in real-life violence support their case by noting that a video game player is encouraged to assume the role of the violent offender. Unlike television, where the viewer is a passive spectator, the video game participant acts aggressively in order to win the game and/or to score points. This has a measurable physical impact upon the player: "Heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure all increase when playing violent games," particularly in children who already showed a greater level of aggression relative to their peers (Walsh 2001). Proponents of the gaming industry, however, note that the active quality of video games is precisely what makes it a potentially more instructive and exciting form of entertainment for the brain — rather than numbing the viewer, the player's attention and reflexes are stimulated.

In laboratory experiments, adults and children exposed to violent video games were more likely to perceive aggression in others than those without similar recent exposure. Their tendency to attribute violence when viewing neutral videos and photographs of faces was significantly higher than that of subjects who had played a nonviolent game prior to the experiment. Laboratory settings are used in such studies specifically to eliminate the possibility that violent video game use is merely correlated with — rather than causative of — violence. That is, researchers seek to rule out the possibility that youths already drawn to violent subcultures gravitate toward these games, while adolescents without similar social and personal vulnerabilities can use them without harm. Nevertheless, it should also be noted that "in a study of 8th and 9th graders, students who played more violent video games were also more likely to see the world as a hostile place, to get into frequent arguments with teachers, and to be involved in physical fights" (Walsh 2001).

Aggression, Perception, and Laboratory Evidence

Video games have been praised for their ability to facilitate learning by providing instant gratification for the acquisition of knowledge. Yet violent video games provide that same instant gratification for engaging in violent actions. Winning a game activates a cerebral reward center in a way that, according to researchers, "teaches" players to be violent in a Pavlovian sense — players come to associate acting violently with receiving a reward. This thesis has been supported by MRI scanning research examining the brains of children who had just played violent video games: "A new study employing state-of-the-art brain-scanning technology... say that brain scans of kids who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal — and a corresponding decrease of activity in brain areas involved in self-control, inhibition and attention" (Kalning 2006). Rather than enhancing the personality traits desirable in a harmonious society, such games may diminish the qualities that make human beings social animals.

Advocates of video games note that the medium has also been used in demonstrably positive ways. Several studies cited by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) point to games' potential benefits for developing decision-making skills and improving reaction times, in ways that can help children cope better with stress and can have an enhancing effect on the cognitive skills of older adults (Kalning 2006). Furthermore, the argument goes, playing a soccer game or playing "war" in real life can have similarly stimulating and rewarding effects, and children have participated in such activities for generations. Violence is a part of life, and thus it has always been part of the games children play as they prepare for adulthood.

Brain Scans, Reward Mechanisms, and Social Behavior

Perhaps the most persuasive argument against banning violent video games is that children will inevitably be exposed to violence — and so the more productive question is how parents can communicate positive values alongside that exposure. Laboratory studies do not account for the ways in which video games are actually experienced in the home, including whether parents take time to discuss the content with their children. Violating First Amendment principles by banning or restricting the dissemination of such games to minors may ultimately be less effective than parents taking responsibility to ensure their children engage with games judiciously — and do not become obsessed with playing them, violent or otherwise, at the expense of other activities.