The Effects of video game violence on the younger generation

Introduction

The game ‘Man Hunt 2’ was banned in the UK for its extreme violence (Boyes 2007). It is games like this that have raised questions around the levels of violence in games. The researcher wants to find out if and how violent games cause aggressive behaviour in the youth of today. Many games you take the role of a criminal such as in the widely controversial ‘Grand Theft Auto’ where you have the ability to kill and steal. The researcher believes that this many be an influence in the involvement of teenagers in crimes today. The hypothesis:

‘Violence in video games is causing aggressive behaviour in the younger generation, therefore the violence in gaming should be banned’

The researcher also wants to find out what the public thinks is the appeal of violent games to teens and children, whether it is the fact you can kill, the experience etc. He believes that one of the reasons so many young people are playing violent games is because their parents do not know about the aggressive patterns in children that derive from gaming. Some of the biggest selling games are all violent such as the Call of Duty series were you play the part of a soldier. Some people may think of this as an educational game about war, however it still rewards you for killing people and fighting the talaban. The researcher will look into what makes these games so popular. He will use questions to find out the answer to his title. The main ones to ask are :

·         What makes the violence in games so appealing to the young generation?

·         What is the publics view on this subject?

·         How does the public believe the violence in video games should be dealt with, should it be banned altogether or just cut down?

The main objective of this essay is to prove whether the researchers hypophasis is wrong or right.