Video Game Violence Affects Innocent Minds

In my opinion, if video game violence is removed completely, then this world will become a slightly better place to live in. Please note that I said "slightly" as I do not blame violence in video games for everything that is happening in the world today. Terrorist attacks as such are not the result of video games, but of warped minds. However, to avoid innocent children being influenced by video game violence, it is up to the parents to ensure that they are not exposed to such games.

Most of the video games made today, show a great deal of violence. Unfortunately, the more violent a game is, the more it sells, which is a sad commentary on the state of our society. The problem is that we all enjoy these games because of the visual details, especially the blood spurting out when characters are attacked. Games like Mortal Kombat increased revenues just by adding gory details in the game like, different ways of killing ones opponent.

Most video games have some sort of violent content. Even in children's games like Mario, for example, the player gains points by killing certain creatures. They all look very cute and there's no bloodshed as they usually disappear in smoke. But the concept is the same. You kill, you win. The most impressionable of minds can be greatly influenced by these games and start becoming aggressive when playing with friends as well.

The games played on the Playstation or XBOX 360 show a lot of video game violence too. Parents do not realize this when they gift these game consoles to their children. They even blindly go and buy them games which are not meant for their age. And children do not realize that these video games actually affect their psyche and make them more aggressive. They enjoy the action and it becomes like an addiction to see how many people they can kill.

How Can We Protect Our Children?

I am not saying that companies should stop making video games with violent content completely. I know it sells and they need to make profits. But these games should be restricted to adult gamers only. Parents should be responsible enough to keep such violent video games away from their children. They should be more in touch with the latest video games in the market and steer their children to more suitable games like, the sports oriented ones that can be equally exhilarating.

The American Psychological Association has proved that video game violence does affect the minds of young people and make them more susceptible to aggressive behavior. It is imperative that all parents keep these video games away from their children to protect them from exposure to violence, at such a young and impressionable age.

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