Video games are a very popular means of entertainment among adolescents today.

They offer a much needed, long sought after, cure for Boredom. However, there are many concerns surrounding video games. The frontrunner among these concerns is video game violence. This is a very real and pertinent issue because the teens that are being saturated with this violence on an

The psychological effects of playing video games are probably the most hazardous to the user. Moreover, these psychological effects are where most of the other problems stem from. The main reason that these problems occur is because of the violent content that is before the child's very eyes. "As children come into adolescence, they are particularly vulnerable to melodrama, sentimentality, impulsiveness, and self-centered thinking. Problems can arise when adults saturate children with vivid images glorifying violence as the legitimate solution to all problems and provide point and shoot video games that desensitize them to the act of killing" ("Violence" 10). One might be thinking, "that's great, but you would have to play a lot of video games for this to be evident." Not true! As a matter of fact, "even small doses of violent video games are harmful to children" (Ko 47). After only 15 minutes of playing violent video games the user begins to show more aggressive tendencies (Ko 47). A parent might respond to this saying: "I don't have any more aggressive tendencies after I play violent video games." This is because "things that merely amuse a grown up can injure a child, whose brain undergoes a powerful development surge before age 14" (Lacayo 38). Playing violent video games are not a healthy way of spending time. They fail to teach anything of significance to today's culture and are mood-altering (Colman 12). "Violent video games reinforce in children the notions that violence is a common aspect of everyday culture and that pleasure is to be gained from inflicting it" (Strasburger 37). These violent games are even more dangerous if the user has other mental illnesses that make them more susceptible to acting them out. "Ordinary kids may be a bit desensitized to violence. More susceptible kids are pushed toward a dangerous precipice" (Lacayo 38). There are some people who find video games as a whole are not as negative as they are made out to be. Patricia Greenfield, a psychology professor at UCLA, finds that there is a positive correlation between video games and intelligence (Quittner 50). "Her research attributes an increase in world-wide "non-verbal IQ" (spatial skills, the use of icons for problem solving and the ability to understanding things from multiple view points) to the spread of video games" (Quittner 50). However, this increase in non-verbal IQ comes at a sacrifice of more important social skills (Quttner50).

8. Finally, encourage play with friends away from the video game set (Walsh).

When video games were first introduced in the 1970's they became a preferred childhood activity for leisure (Cesarone 31). Parents "responded with concern about the possible ill effects of the games on children" (Cesarone 31). However, "early research on these effects was inconclusive" (Cesarone 31). Today, research is much more productive and exact. Games being put out today, because of their extremely gory and violent nature, have triggered many more advancements in how thorough the effects on the users are examined. Now that we have a good idea of what video game violence is, we'll take a look at some of the effects that video games have on the user's family life.

If parents were to abide by these tips, they would resolve many of the problems that occur as a result of video games.

"Violence." Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. New Ed. 1987.

The physical effects of video games should be as much of a concern as any other. When a user is playing video games he is usually sitting or lying down. This does not help out in the chubby department, especially when he is munching on chips or some other snack. One who is engulfed so much in

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Approximate Word count = 2500
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)