Violent Video Games and Their Impact on Teenagers

These days, many kids are playing violent video games, and most often, against their disapproving parents. While many think that video games have negative impacts, they are only dangerous when taken past a certain extent. However, when played in consideration, video games can relieve stress, improve teamwork, creative thinking and intellectual strength. Violent video games are often thought of as harmful, but in reality, they are extremely beneficial to young adults.

Exams, homework and parental expectations can cause immense stress for teenagers. This stress could be relieved through multiple dangerous mediums such as drugs or alcohol, but a safer way to reduce this stress is by playing video games. According to an article written by Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson, a professor at Texas A&M International University, young adults who play violent video games handle stress better that non-playing adults. “The results suggest that violent video games reduce depression and hostile feelings in players,” Dr. Ferguson explains. The amount of concentration needed to play these games mean that the kids aren’t able to focus on their work, which gives them a break and some time for their minds to recharge. By giving themselves some rest, they are able to relax, removing some of their stress, which can result in teenagers being happier and stress-free.

Additionally, playing violent video games can improve a player’s ability to work in a team. In many games, the player is required to communicate with others, which provides an opportunity to learn social skills by focusing on cooperation. “Research has shown that playing violent video games in groups reduces feelings of hostility better than playing such games alone,” explains Dr. Vitelli, the author of a published article on Psychology Today. “There seems to be a strong potential value of cooperative play in developing social behaviour and curbing anti-social thoughts and behaviours,” implying that video games improve the ability to collaborate with others, a valuable life skill.

These video games are generally very competitive, and to increase chances of winning, kids are forced to think outside the box. A study by professors at Queen Mary University and UCL suggest that action video and strategic games can promote the ability to think quickly. “Our paper shows that cognitive thinking [...] can be trained and improved by fun tools like gaming” states Professor Brad Lowe. Creative problem solving and outside-the-box thinking requires cognitive flexibility, which is vastly increased by playing graphic video games. This will, no doubt, be a very valuable skill for the young players in the future.

One might argue that video games have negative impacts. A common argument is that playing video games results in physical aggression. Many have stated that there is a link between playing violent video games and violent behaviour, however, according to an article published on Forbes, there has not been any study that has shown that violent video games result directly in actual violence. And while many mass murderers have been described as being extremely addicted to video games, in the USA, as violent video games have become more popular, violent crime rates have fallen. In the article, “when it comes to video games, the loudest voices are rarely gamers [...] this creates a hollow sort of analysis,” and enforces the claim that graphic video games are not harmful.

Furthermore, playing violent video games can possibly strengthen a player intellectually, especially if they are young. A study by the American Psychological association reveals that playing video games can actually strengthen a range of cognitive skills, such as memory and perception, amongst others, which is particularly true for the players of more violent games. While most opinions are are that video games have many negative impacts, “This has critical implications for education and career development,” states Isabela Granic, a professor in developmental psychology (and a contributor to a highly regarded review in the journal American Psychologist). Other studies have also shown that the skills improved by playing violent video games, such as spatial navigation, enables achievements in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Overall, it is shown that amongst a wide range of benefits that playing video games allows, it also improves mental health, and in the future, could even be used as a form of therapy for aggressive behaviour in adolescents.

Violent video games and the impact of playing them on kids is the subject of much controversy, with many arguing for both the positive and the negative sides of the subject. These video games have benefits for their players, but only to a certain extent. Past that point, when the player becomes obsessive, the violence and dangerous examples can be threatening to their mental health and perilous for those around them. Given all these points, however, when played with caution, violent video games provide many benefits and will improve an adolescent’s future positively.

By Kelly

Mindfulness; The Key To Stress

Has the pressure of school work gotten to you yet? Are your parents setting extremely gargantuan expectations for you? Since the beginning of the UWCSEA 2014/15 grade 8 year, many students agree that the workload in terms of work has significantly increased since grade 7. Most of us know that this is to prepare us for future exams such as IGCSE and IB but although students accept that doing their homework can help them practice a certain skill, some students are toiling to cope with the pressure.

One such example is the homework that needs to be done in English. Everyday after school, students are supposed to read and write for 10 minutes, even though it seems like an easy task, several students are reluctantly following the 10/10 rule as it is called. Kunal Daga from 8JRa says, “I find the 10/10 rule a little boring, especially the writing part. I know that the rule can help me and my learning but sometimes I find myself looking at the clock and beseeching for 10 minutes to be over.”

The teachers understand that most of us are under an abundance of pressure and because of this, the subject Life Skills mainly focuses on Mindfulness this year and how to handle the stress we are under. Multitudinous people like how Life Skills has changed from last year when it was about topics that we had already learned about. “I really like Life Skills now compared to last year,” says Dylan Tsao, a grade 8 student, ”Especially because it helps me handle the stress that is heaped onto me more easily.”

It seems that because of Life Skills, students are able to push through the school year even when mountains of stress are heaped onto them.

Written By Harit