Are violent video games and movies really that bad for kids?

Question

I have a 5 year old son, and I've always been very flexible on what types of movies and video games he plays. I've always been more concerned with limiting the time to video games and movies, not so much the content. He's watched band of brothers with me, and likes it alot. He also likes to play violent video games like Halo and Saints Row. I know the concept of letting my son shoot cops on a video game is repulsive to some, but I've always tried to catch him off guard with questions considering the difference between reality and movies/games and he almost reacts like I'm stupid for asking, of course he knows the difference. He has a good sense or morality to him, and even asks very inquisitive questions like "Why are they fighting each other, why are the Germans the bad guys, etc." It actually invokes a lot of thoughtful questions from him, yet he never expresses any violent sentiments at all (except maybe while playing a game). Any thoughts?

One problem I have with my line of thought, though, is that movies with a lot of sexual material would be okay, which I don't agree with. My half-*** rationale though is that children, boys especially, are born with a natural sense of aggression and violence, they can understand it. Not to say aggression and violence are good virtues, but they seem to comprehend it and its implications. Yet sexual material is beyond their grasp until after puberty (even then it's questionable). There's something wrong with the fact that violence is more acceptable than sex, but I think that's the truth. Boys wrestling and playing guns with each other is a common sight, playing "first date" with other girls is not.

Answer 1

Our whole world today is about violence. Things today are so much different that past generations. Since I am a gamer, to me I do not think Halo is that violent. But saints row for a five year old seems a little violent. But yet, as long as you teach your son good morals and tell him it's just a game not reality.. I think it should be fine.

Answer 2

While I'm glad you are allowing him to ask questions and discussing with him the difference between reality versus fantasy; however, there is a reason why they place age limits on these things. Developmentally there are so many aspects of violence that children don't understand. One particular culprit that lends to violence among children is the television and other media. Studies of the effects of TV violence on children have found that children may become immune or numb to the horror of violence and gradually accept violence as a way to problem solve. This fact holds true for music and video games as well. Parents should limit the amount of exposure their children have to violent television and video games.

Want to know more? Read the link below.

Answer 3

Most developmental psychology studies have found the children who are exposed to violence on TV, in video games and in real life tend to mimic those actions. If your local library has any peer reviewed psychology journals a really good study is called "TRANSMISSION OF AGGRESSION THROUGH IMITATION
OF AGGRESSIVE MODELS" by Albert Bandura, Dorothea Ross, and Sheila A. Ross in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.

Although this study is kind of dated most recent studies have found similar results: violent video games and movies do makes children (especially males because they are more predisposed) more violent (Gentile 2004; Anderson 2004).

Here is a run down of the correlations between watching/playing violence and actual violence as noted by Brad Bushman and Craig Anderson (2004):

1)Not everyone who watches violence becomes aggressive, 2) this is not the sole cause of aggression, but it can be a mojor contributer 3) the games and tv prime aggressive thoughts and behavior, but the effect is usually gone within an hour. 4) longterm viewing of violence increases the likelihood of chronic aggression.

Hope this helps :)

Answer 4

I played violent videogames and saw violent films and kids even watch porn when at sleepovers and all sorts of crap.

I don't have any violent feelings or beat women or use them for sex so I don't see what the problem is?

I mean if you had an impressionable young child then yah, I am sure it could harm them. But with good parenting and the teaching of morals and that violence and violent videogames and films is wrong, your child should be able to learn that the violent games and movies are not something they should emulate.

I think not allowing your child to play violent videogames or movies is wrong.

I think you should not allow the overuse of violent movies and videogames but allow a moderate amount. Everything is okay in moderation usually.

BUT of course make sure he/she knows violence is wrong and your stance on it and he/she should grow up totally fine.

Young boys watch violent films all the time. It's a right of passage. Just make sure they know it's wrong to be violent and that you set a good example for them

Answer 5

It sounds like things are going ok for the moment, but everything a child sees and does WILL affect them is some way. I personally do not let my son play/see any violence/swearing/nudity at his age. He plays racing car games and watches cartoons. I think the news has enough of that. And have you noticed how the movie ratings are dropping? Some PG-13 movies would have been rated R when I was a kid. As parents we need to be very careful.

Answer 6

i think it all depends on the person. some will never react on anything because of what they have seen or heard or played while others may get the great notion to commit a murder because of something they have seen done in a video game. i don't think it is the game that makes them do it but the chemical imbalance they may have had since birth or even due to drug use or whatever the case is that caused the imbalance. i know i have never restricted my child from any type of tv, movie music or game. she is well adjusted 17 year old and to squeemish to squish a bug let alone take a life. she is very anti drug and alcohol because of the movies,music and games she is allowed to watch and listen to. she does learn from them and does not think that shooting a drug into your arm then vomiting violently looks appealing. and the killing scenes she watches has tought her respect for the human life. the sex scenes well i did censer some of that while she was younger but she does know that what is shown on tv is not as it is in real life. again i think it is all about the individual and the parental communications as well. talk talk talk

Answer 7

I'm 23 yrs old and i've played video games since I was 5, starting with Super Mario Bros. In my opinion video games aren't "bad" at all, it's up to you as a parent to provide enough parenting, values, and information to your child to counter-act violent MEDIA as whole. I think human development is somewhere around 95% Conditioning and 5% Intellectual Capacity, Conscious Personality, Soul development or whatever you want to call it. Though not all sponsored studies, there have been quite a few social studies done on the human behavior patterns, role of video games and media, and parenting. The general results are that media plays a huge role on the way we as a society evolve. I think it's up to the individual to guide children, and peers, beyond the conditioning and influence of Media in all forms, negative or not.

Answer 8

I'm diametrically opposed to these kinds of violent games...
they set children up to accept violence as a problem solving
tool and de-sensitize them permanently to the violence
around them in real life. It teaches them not to respect
human life. With the growing passivity and obesity in
children, we're nurturing a nation of kids that only react
to stimulus, not create it. If you think that your boy can
read, write a play, paint a picture, participate in sports,
speak another language and are satisfied that he can
communicate very well with others, then I think a few
video games won't hurt if they're based on interactive
challenges for him..not involving violence. The whole
idea that fighting each other is OK is the problem.
How is this world ever going to be peaceful if kids
are taught that other's are our "enemies" instead of
our friends, co-habiting the planet. Wouldn't you
rather have discussions with your son about how
to successfully interact with his world and his future
world?

Answer 9

My opinion is that too much violence , be it video games or movies, desensitizes children, (adults too) when they are exposed to it. Even the news is getting pretty bad. That is why there are ratings on games and movies. Certain things are just not appropriate for children whom are very impressionable.
Now don't get me wrong, I love a good horror flick and some good old debautchery but I just don't think the kids need to see it.

Answer 10

Well, here's the deal. It really might seem to be not apparent to you now that these violent and inappropriate video games are taking their toll on your son, but in the long-run there will be an impact.

These video games mold your son and how he sees he world. He's gonna see you allow him to play these games that curse and use violence to solve everything, and he's going to channel those solutions and ideas into his own life. He'll end up cursing in his regular language.

If you don't think he's prone to any of that, think about the fact that he has nothing to live for or grow up for. For instance, young kids see how popular and "cool" games like Grand Theft Auto and other rated M games are, and they have such a strong feeling to play them. The great thing is that they have those things to grow old enough to use. Then, when they grow to be 17 or however old you have to be, it has a strong meaning to them - they finally have the ability to buy and play these games. When they turn 17, and they already got whatever they could get long before, what do they live for? What does turning into an adult mean for them? Now they're just old enough to make worse decisions that would satisfy that same need.

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