How Do Video Games Affect Children and Teens?

Meg Harris
Bryant & Stratton College
ENGL 202 Research and Writing
E. Bartel
12/7/2023
 How do video games affect children and teens? Do violent games cause children to

become violent? Do the games enhance violent thoughts or not? Are children learning how to

better their motor skills and hand-eye coordination? Are children able to discern between the

video game world and real life? This is a long standing battle, among parents, that has many

psychologists trying to test the theory and give the parents a definitive answer. Overlooking the

opinions of the parents, are violent video games something that should be allowed to be used as

an excuse in a courtroom? As there has yet to be a definitive answer to any of these questions,

there is no logical reason that this should be accepted within the courtroom.

In one study written for the Royal Society Open, psychologists Andrew K. Przybylski

and Netta Weinstein gathered over 1,000 participants. These participants were children ages 4 –

17 and one caretaker of each of these children. All participants completed a survey before,

during, and after the study was conducted. The children participants’ surveys were

questionnaires determining their strengths and weaknesses. The caretakers’ surveys were a

compilation of five questions about each child participant’s aggressive behaviors before the

study, during the study, and at the end of the study. The children were tasked with playing video

games over the course of the study, while caretakers were given the task of observing their child

participant’s behavior. After the completion of the study, the results showed that while video

games were associated with a minor uptick in aggressive thoughts and behavior, there were

many other factors that affected the child participants’ behavior more prominently.

(Psychologists Andrew Przybylski and Netta Weinstein, 2019). As there is no solid connection

between violent video games and aggressive behavior in children and teens, the argument holds

no validity, as the sole contributor to crimes, in a courtroom setting.

children can be affected by long-term exposure to violent video games is discussed. This article

states that children exposed to violent games are at a higher risk of becoming numb to violence

or imitating the violence they are exposed to. It is also discussed that some video games will

offer problem solving and motor skills development. The behaviors that are exhibited in the

violent video games include the killing of people and animals, criminal behavior, and sexual

exploitation, etc. The article states that with moderation, age-appropriate games can be healthy.

The article also lists ways that parents can reduce the risk of their child(ren) becoming more

aggressive. These tips for parents include, but are not limited to checking the age ratings, playing

games with their children, setting rules around screen time and content, warn children of

potential dangers online, and keep video game play in the living room, etc. An overall finding in

this article is that, in moderation, within suitable age ratings, and with clear rules set in place,

children will not become more aggressive due to video games. (American Academy of Child and

Adolescent Psychiatry, 2017). This article does not show a solid connection between video

games and children’s aggressive behavior.

In a third article, written by psychologists Craig A. Anderson and Karen E. Dill for

American Psychological Association, they conducted a study observing 227 college students.

The students would report their own recent violent interactions and the conductors of the study

would measure the trait aggressions. A second study conducted by the same psychologists

observed 210 college students. These students were each assigned either a violent game or a

nonviolent game. After a short time playing, the students were all asked to “punish” another

student. The punishment consisted of a noise blast with changeable intensities. The students

playing violent games were found to “punish” the other students in a harsher way than the
players of nonviolent games. It was found that due to being more interactive and the player

identifying with the games’ aggressors throughout the plotlines, violent video games can be more

harmful to children than violent T.V. and movies. “One study reveals that young men who are

habitually aggressive may be especially vulnerable to the aggression-enhancing effects…”

(Psychologists Craig Anderson and Karen Dill; 2000). They found that the short-term effects are

violent video games affecting behavior by “priming aggressive thoughts”. The long-term effects

that the authors found were the player learning new aggressive behavior they are able to use in

real life situations. The final conclusion found by psychologists Craig Anderson and Karen Dill

is that the medium of violent video games is potentially more harmful than any other, because of

the interactive nature of the video games. (Psychologists Craig A. Anderson and Karen E. Dill,

2000). In this article, the debate leans more toward violent video games having major

contributions in the aggressive behavior of children and teens. As this article is over 10 years old,

though, it is no longer valid in deciding whether or not violent video games can be used in a

courtroom setting.

In a fourth article, from the School of Public Health of University of Michigan, there are

opinions from multiple psychologists that are discussed. These opinions are all centered on how

video games may affect the children and teens who play them. One point of view is that of Dr.

Cheryl Olson; she states that the “deliberately outrageous nature of video games” is easy to

differentiate from any real world occurrence. Therefore, Dr. Olson believes that video games do

not cause children and teens to become more aggressive due to their violent nature. Another

point of view is from a book written by psychologists Craig A. Anderson, Douglas A. Gentile,

and Katherine E. Buckley. The first study that they wrote about in this book observed 515

participants compiled of 161 9 – 12 year olds and 354 college students. One half of these
participants played a violent video game, while the other half played nonviolent games. Similar

to the study previously done by Craig Anderson with Karen Dill, the participants were asked to

“punish” other participants, with a noise blast of varying intensities. This study showed the same

results as the other, with the violent game players conducting harsher punishments than the

nonviolent game players. A second study, conducted by the same group of psychologists

consisted of the participants completing surveys about their violent game, T.V., and movie

exposure. This study showed that violent media, as a whole, contributed to aggressive behaviors

in children and teens. It is also listed that there are a number of factors that affect child and teen

aggressive thoughts and behaviors that are not related to violent video games or other violent

media. These factors include abuse of children and parents, consistent fighting and conflict

among parents, the neighborhood that the child grew up in, and individual traits. (Roanna

Cooper, MA and Marc Zimmerman, PhD, MI-YVPC Director, 2011). As there are many

different opinions offered in this article, the debate is pretty leveled out on each side of the

argument, neither solidifying results on either side nor validating the argument in a courtroom

setting.

In personal settings speaking with people that regularly play both violent and nonviolent

video games, there is a common trend of nonaggression and exceptional comradery. There is an

extremely large number of children, teens, and adults that do not experience an enhanced sense

of violence in their day to day lives. Children are able to go into stores that sell video games and

talk with teens and adults about video games and which ones are their favorites and adults find

great joy in being able to talk with children over their love of the same games. While in-game

chat has a semi-aggressive feel, at the end of the day almost all of the people participating in the

chats will consider it all in good fun and only aimed at the game, not at the real life person. There
have been more lifelong friendships made through the experience of playing video games than

violent occurrences. There has also been a miniscule amount of reported assault or murder cases

that have been committed under the premise of “the violent video games made me do it”.

In conclusion, with each and every study conducted around the topic of whether violent

video games are harmful to children and teens, there has never been a definitive answer to this.

There are a multitude of derivative factors that contribute to children and teens becoming

physically and mentally violent. Many, if not all, of these factors have a much larger effect than

that of video games. These factors include familial abuse, the neighborhood they grow up in, and

consistent exposure to fighting and conflict between parents. Children, teens, and adults can all

bond over their love of video games and what games they prefer or do not enjoy as much. Being

able to bond with others, no matter their age, over video games can be a great way to socialize

and work on social skills with people who understand what is being said. While parents and

psychologists alike cannot agree on the topic, it can be determined that this cannot be used as an

excuse in the courtroom. There are many factors that affect the aggressive thoughts and

behaviors, more than video games do, such as being abused as a child or parental conflict.

Several of these factors do not hold up in a courtroom as a valid reason for the crime they

committed. If these factors do not hold up in the courtroom, playing video games is also not an

excuse that should be able to justify the reason the crime was committed.
 Works Cited

AACAP. “Video Games and Children: Playing with Violence.” Aacap.org, June 2017,

www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-and-

Video-Games-Playing-with-Violence-091.aspx.

Anderson, Craig, and Karen Dill. “Violent Video Games Can Increase Aggression.” American

Psychological Association, 2000, www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2000/04/video-games.

Cooper, Roanna, and Marc Zimmerman. “Do Video Games Influence Violent Behavior?” Michigan

Youth Violence Prevention Center, 24 Aug. 2011, yvpc.sph.umich.edu/video-games-influence-

violent-behavior/.

Przybylski, Andrew K., and Netta Weinstein. “Violent Video Game Engagement Is Not Associated with

Adolescents’ Aggressive Behaviour: Evidence from a Registered Report.” Royal Society Open

Science, vol. 6, no. 2, 13 Feb. 2019, p. 171474,

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.171474, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171474.