Introduction
The original purpose of creating and developing computer games is to help people escape from everyday problems and relieve stress. All mechanics are developed in such a way as to provoke a dynamic surge of emotions in the player, which provides an emotional release. As a result, people have the energy to solve problems in real life like this. Games help to avoid emotional instability and are specially developed with the support of psychologists, passing tests for cognitive impact on the human psyche. Avid players note initially turning to video games to relieve stress and relax (Sweeney, 2018). While the games are a form of escapism, they do a great job of avoiding the outburst of emotion that could result in violence. Violence in games is used to provoke a high level of response from the player, which will help release emotions. It is important to note that children and adolescents perfectly distinguish between games and real life. Therefore, the fact that a child saw how a ninja kills his opponent does not imply that the violence will be transferred to real life. Theoretically, such an incentive is insufficient to commit violent acts in real life.
Research Results
The results of practical research confirm the above position. Scientists have not found a direct relationship between violence in video games and the actual manifestation of cruelty (Jargon, 2021). The causes of aggression in adolescents were usually associated with psychological problems. A direct psychological impact on adolescent violence was not found in any studies analyzed by the article’s authors (Jargon, 2021). In other words, the arguments and fears that are present in public at the moment are not relevant and scientifically confirmed. Various studies confirmed no association between playing violent video games in early adolescence and violent behaviour later in life (Jargon, 2021). The study used a relatively modern way of analyzing data, the human-centred approach. Such an abundance of studies confirming the lack of connection allows us to conclude that the level of aggressive behaviour of the representatives of the group, which includes subjects who played little violent games in childhood, is no higher than the level of aggressive behaviour of those who played such games a lot.
Convenient Means of Excusing the Level of Cruelty
Video games are unfairly and regularly criticized for allegedly excessive cruelty, affecting people’s minds, especially young people and children, making them real monsters. Whenever there is a school shooting or something like that, there will be very high-profile comments on the Internet about games. Such a position is very convenient for justifying such terrible phenomena as school shootings. The spread of computer games’ negative impact on adolescents’ psychology is a highly convenient position for the government. With the availability of the Internet, nothing can be done at the moment, so it is very convenient to shift the responsibility for the level of crime to something that is initially beyond the control of the state. Politicians blame computer games for child abuse, despite the complete lack of research to support the relevance of such a position (Draper, 2019). Such an approach justifies the insufficient attention that the government should pay to the issue of providing comfortable conditions for people’s lives. After all, socially unfavourable conditions, inequality, discrimination, poverty and other factors provoke the emergence of aggression, resulting in cruelty.
Counterargument & Rebuttal
The main counterargument given by opponents of the position that games do not affect the level of cruelty is that an unstable child’s psyche forms a hostile attitude towards people because of games. The younger generation plays computer games, which is especially dangerous for impulsive adolescents in puberty. Many argue that the teenage brain absorbs such abuse and projects it onto real life. Moreover, the developers of such games are also accused of spreading cruelty among people.
However, this position is not logical. As mentioned above, scientific studies have not found a direct correlation between real-life violence and video games. Moreover, the problem of influencing the psychology of adolescents is instead the responsibility of parents. Usually, games are developed taking into account age restrictions. The fact that most games are in the public domain is more likely a matter of poor security and availability of online resources. In other words, violence in games can never provoke actual violence. Usually behind such behaviour are severe mental disorders. Games are incapable of destroying the human psyche and leading to cruelty.
Conclusion
The hostile attitude of people, psychological trauma and uncomfortable living conditions cause such behaviour. If the child is already aggressive for one reason or another, games can help him relieve the accumulated tension or vice versa, kindle the fire even more brightly. However, the root cause lies not at all in shooting at virtual opponents since the game cannot arouse a feeling of hatred in a teenager from scratch. A similar feeling is formed due to problems in the family, bullying from peers, and a feeling of misunderstanding and rejection – there are many options. However, it is much more difficult for the government and parents to understand them. It is easier to forbid something, temporarily alleviate conscience, and find a new source of violence.
References
Draper, K (2019). Video games aren’t why shootings happen. politicians still blame them. The New York Times. Web.
Jargon, J. (2021). Talking with your kids about violent videogames. Wall Street Journal. Web.
Sweeney, B. (2018). Violent video games do not cause people to be violent in real life. UWIRE. Web.