Violent Video Games Make Young People Aggressive

Question

Do violent video games make young people aggressive? This is an article made by New York Times.

Comments

The article titled "Violent Video Games Make Young People Aggressive" is misleading because, while it mentions temporary increases in hostility after playing such games, it ultimately concludes that these effects are short-lived and do not lead to long-term aggressive behavior. The title implies a lasting impact, which is not supported by the article's content. An Oxford University study also shows no long-term link between violent video games and aggression in young people, though it acknowledges that certain game mechanics can provoke brief feelings of anger or frustration (https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-02-13-violent-video-games-found-not-be-associated-adolescent-aggression). These findings point only to short-term emotional responses, not any violent actions. Additionally, another study mentioned in the article concludes that violent video games have no lasting or permanent effects on aggressive behavior. The headline is misleading because the short-term effects it describes, such as increased cortisol or emotional reactions to intense gameplay, are not causes for concern. The article does not suggest a heightened risk of shootings or violence, making the study's findings relatively insignificant. The short-term emotional reactions from video games are comparable to the adrenaline rush from playing or watching sports.

Answer 1

Do video games make young people more aggressive? The author of this article, Anahad O'Connor, seems to believe so, as indicated by his strong headline. However, the article is quite outdated and fails to cite research supporting this claim. Much of the evidence O’Connor presents relies on beliefs and references one significant study by Dr. Kieffer, which has been ongoing for 20 years before this article. Kieffer's research states, "In general, children exposed to virtual bloodshed showed greater short-term increases in hostility toward peers and authority figures than those exposed to more benign games." However, Oxford student–Przybylski– concluded that violent video games have no long-term or permanent effects on aggressive behaviour. The article ultimately argues that studies generally show violent video games can have short-term effects on children, but there is little evidence of long-term changes. Consequently, O’Connor's claims appear exaggerated and misleading, likely intended to grab readers' attention rather than to provide an accurate understanding of the issue. statement; “studies generally show that violent video games can have short-term, or momentary, effects on children, but there is little evidence of long-term changes.” 

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/health/psychology/the-claim-violent-video-games-make-young-people.html 

https://newsdetective.org/16066/violent-video-games-make-young-people-aggressive 

 

Answer 2

The New York Times article, "Violent Video Games Make Young People Aggressive" is an incredibly misleading and exaggerated title meant to draw eyes and clicks. The article offered two sets of studies, one from the American Psychological Association which found that violent video games can cause young people to have "short-term" bursts of aggression and hostility toward other young people or authority figures and the other claimed that violent video games have had no permanent effect on young people. 
After researching I found this article that agrees with the latter.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180314102008.html

Answer 3

The claim that violent video games make people more violent is not entirely false, however it is wildly blown out of proportion.  Violent crime among young people has been decreasing ever since 1996, while the amount of violent video games being created and played by younger audiences has gone up.  Sure, violent video games may cause some young people to be a bit more aggressive, but that does not equate to violent acts or even crime.  

Some people may try to point to the rise of school shootings as a consequence of the popularity of violent video games.  However, most of the people committing mass shootings already had personality traits that made them predisposed to commit violent acts, wether they were exposed to violence in media or not.

Violent Video Games and Young People - Harvard Health Publishing - Harvard Health

Answer 4

I would consider the claim made by the New York Times article that "Violent Video Games make young people aggressive" while holding some substantial truth carries a misleading connotation. When reading this article the claim seems to imply that these violent video games when played by children will create long term violent adults. However the studies used to back this claim say otherwise. One study made by Oxford University examines the idea that violent video games will lead to short lived periods of immediate lash out, however nothing long term has been since proven. This claim that violent video games makes for violent people is one that is not fully false but exaggerated and misleading.

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-02-13-violent-video-games-found-not-be-associated-adolescent-aggression

Answer 5

The study done on this claim was only able to prove the short-term effects on children and violent video games as mentioned, “Studies generally show that violent video games can have short-term, or momentary, effects on children, but there is little evidence of long-term changes.” Because of this statement, we can determine that this claim may contain some truth, however ultimately it is an exaggeration, because it is not consistent throughout children as they age.

Source

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/health/psychology/the-claim-violent-video-games-make-young-people.html

Answer 6

The claim that "Violent Video Games Makes Young People Aggressive" may be true for some, but is a bit exaggerated. The article says that young people can start to show hostile behavior due to these violent games, but never claims any long lasting behavior. The title and claim itself is making it seem that it will be a long lasting issue and that playing these games will make them an aggressive person period. As it might for some, others it could wear off and just be an in the moment aggression sort of thing.