Video Games and ChildrenDina AlSharif

Prince Sultan University, college for women

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Contents

Abstract.............................................................................3Introduction........................................................................4Participants........................................................................7The Method........................................................................7Instruments........................................................................8The result...........................................................................8Discussion........................................................................12Conclusion........................................................................13Reference.........................................................................14Survey..............................................................................15

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Abstract

Video games have become a popular activity for people of all

ages especially in children. Video game is an electronic game that

involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual

feedback on a video device (Wikipedia). The purpose of this paper is

to examine whether there is a relationship between negative

behavior and playing video games. Therefore, questionnaire papers

has been made and distributed. This questionnaire papers was

made for comparing between our results and the studies and

statistics that were made by experts.

Introduction

Video games have experienced dramatic developments in the

last twenty-five years of their existence.  They have progressed

from simple blips of light on the television screen to complicated

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role-playing scenarios that allow the players to control the action. 

The potential influence of violent video games on youth violence

remains an issue of concern for psychologists (Ferguson, 2011), in

many of these current games; it provides the ability to perform acts

of destruction and violence on the screen.  Thus, children are able to

“kill” characters that are featured in the video games. There is

continuing concern that playing violent video games may increase

the risk of aggression in players (Ferguson, 2007).

Video games have become one of the most popular pastimes

for children around the world. Although video games have certain

advantages, studies have shown some negative effects of video

games on children. Various research studies have shown a relation

between aggressive behavior and playing video games that have

violence in them. Especially games that have a lot of shooting and

killing is said to increase the emotion of anger in children, leading to

aggressive behavior in real life. Further, as their act of violence is

rewarded in the world of gaming, they may become motivated to

repeat it in real life (Kartha).

The link between video games and aggressive behavior was

analyzed in comparative studies in Japan and the United States in a

bid to determine how closely they were connected. The results,

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which were published in this month's journal Pediatrics, showed that

despite cultural differences and disparities in crime rates, children

across the spectrum were affected equally by playing games

(Telegraph, 2011).

A study done by Rick Nauert shows an Evidence from brain

scans carried out while gamers play seem to support a connection

between playing video games and activation of regions of the brain

associated with aggression (NAUERT).

Children also play violent electronic games for predictable

developmental reasons, such as rebellion, curiosity about the

forbidden, and testing the limits of acceptable behavior in a safe

environment. "You get to see something that hopefully will never

happen to you," said one boy in Goldstein J.’s focus groups. "So you

want to experience it a little bit without actually being there."

(Olson, 2007)

One cause of the recent increase in childhood obesity increase

is lack of free-time physical activity and concurrent increases in

"screen time", including television, computer use, and video game

activity. As such, technology's impact on leisure activity, particularly

among children, must be considered. For example, more than

150,000,000 Americans play video games more than once a week

(Ferguson, 2007).

Researches showed that to solve the obesity concern

interactive games was created. The principle of interactive games is

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the notion of getting players to directly interface their physical or

sport-based movements so they directly control or coincide with

movement activity within the video game. These interactive

applications can elicit physical activity levels in which as many as

300-500 calories per hour may be expended and which may provide

an immediate enjoyment factor or motivational incentive some

children and young adults need to create interest in physical activity

(Ferguson, 2007).

Participants

Our participants were middle aged Mothers (ages between 30

and 45) who had children aged between 5-15 who were active video

games players.

The Method

It was decided to evaluate the behavior of those children by

disrupting a survey directed to their mothers, the Survey questions

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were focused mostly on the amount of time those children spent

playing video games and on the extent those video games affected

their behavior.

The survey consisted of 8 questions. First and Second

questions, the number of boys and girls that they have, the purpose

of this question is to tell whether video games had a stronger effect

on boys than girls. Third question is to see if mothers approve of

their children playing video games. Fourth question is to measure

how many of those mothers’ children play video games. Fifth

question shows the type of video games children play the most.

Sixth question if to evaluate the amount of time children spent

playing video games. Seventh question is to see if the type of

games those children played had any effect on the way they behave

or whether those video games have altered the way they usually

behaved. Last question was to see what the mothers wanted their

children to do instead of playing video games.

Instruments

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The Microsoft word was used to document the research and

the website SurveyMonkey was used to distribute the survey and

collect the results and represent them graphically. Also, Microsoft

excel was used to represent the results in pie chart.

The result

The first and the second questions were to know the numbers

of boys and girls each mother have. The result was that most of

mothers have an average of two to three boys and one to two girls.

The third question was to find out weather mothers think their

children should play video games. The result was 45% said yes they

should play video games and 55% said no. So the majority of

mothers don’t agree that children should play video games.

40%

40%

10%10%

How many boys do you have ?

ThreeTwoOneNon

10%

45%

45%

How many girls do you have?

ThreeTwoNon

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The fourth question was to find how many children play video

games. The result showed that all children from the targeted sample

play video games.

The fifth question was to find out what kinds of video games

do children play the most. The result showed that 50% play violence

video games, which involve killing games. 15% play fantasy video

games, 25% play sport video games and 10% play other kind of

games.

45%

55%

Do you think children should play video games ?

Yes No

100%

Do your children play video games ?

YesNo

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The sixth question was to find out how many hours a day do

children play video games, the result showed that 60% of children

spent one to three hours play video games daily, the majority of

those children play violence video games. Also, 25% of children play

four to six hours and 15% play more than nine hours.

The seventh question was to find out if mothers saw any

changes in their children behavior, the result was 70% who

answered aggression their children play violence games. 15%

answer obesity and 15% answered nervousness.

50%

15%

25%

10%

what kinds of video games do children play the most ?

violence Fantasy Sport Others

60%25%

15%

How many hours a day do they play ?

1-3 hours6-9 hoursMore

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The last question was to find out what mothers prefer their

children to do instead of video games. The result was that 40%

suggested reading, 40% who suggested outdoor sports answered

obesity in the previous question. And 20% suggested any thing

beneficial.

Discussion

The results gotten from the survey shows that while mothers

wished their children to spend more time doing more productive

activities like outdoor sports or reading, but in reality their children

70%

15%

15%

Have you see any change in your children behavior ?

aggression obesity nervousness

40%

40%

20%

What do you prefer your children to insted of video games ?

Readingoutdoor sports beneficial activites

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preferred playing video game to those activities. The targeted

sample of children included in the survey spent between one to

three hours everyday playing video games that were mostly violent.

The mothers included in the survey stated that their children’s

behavior DID change after playing so much video game for an

extended period of time, and sadly, this change was in a negative

way. Many mothers stated that their children became more

aggressive, hostile and inactive. They observed that the children

would sit for hours playing video games, eating more and doing

less, becoming more obese by the minute. Ironically, most of those

mothers approve of their children playing video games by buying

them the devices to play those games.

Conclusion

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Video games can effect and change the way a child behaves,

specifically violent video games, which agrees with the many

researches made by experts. The results show a positive

relationship between child aggression and violent video games.

However, if mothers wanted stop this negative behavior they should

find an interesting alternative and not just remove the video game.

Finally, every technology has its upsides and downsides, and it all

depends on the way it’s being used.

Reference

1- "Video Game." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game>.

2- Kartha, Deepa. "Effects of Video Games on Children." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/effects-of-video-games-on-children.html>.

3- "Violent Video Games Linked to Aggression in Children - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph Online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph. Web. 12 May 2011.

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<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/3376397/Violent-video-games-linked-to-aggression-in-children.html>.

4- NAUERT, RICK. "Questioning the Link Between Video Games and Violence | Psych Central News." Psych Central - Trusted Mental Health, Depression, Bipolar, ADHD and Psychology Information. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/05/15/questioning-the-link-between-video-games-and-violence/2299.html>.

5- Ferguson, Christopher J. "Video Games and Youth Violence: A Prospective Analysis in Adolescents." Journal of Youth and Adolescence 40.4 (2011): 377+. Academic OneFile. Web. 18 May 2011.

http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=AONE&docId=A251197552&source=gale&userGroupName=cwpsu&version=1.0

6- Ferguson, Christopher John. "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: A Meta-analytic Review of Positive and Negative Effects of Violent Video Games." Psychiatric Quarterly 78.4 (2007): 309+. Academic OneFile. Web. 18 May 2011.

http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=AONE&docId=A170239940&source=gale&userGroupName=cwpsu&version=1.0

7- Olson, Cheryl K. "Children and Video Games: How Much Do We Know?" Psychiatric Times 24.12 (2007): 41. Academic OneFile. Web. 18 May 2011.

Survey

1. How many boys do u have? --------------------2. How many girls do u have? --------------------

3. Do you think children should play video games?a) Yesb) No

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4. Do your children play video games?a) Yesb) No

5. Which kind of video games do your children play the most?a) Violence (Killing Games)b) Fantasyc) Educationald) Sporte) Others

6. How many hours a day do they play video games?a) 1-3 hoursb) 4-6 hoursc) More than 6 hours

7. Have you see any changes in your children behavior?a) Yesb) No

8. What do you prefer your children to do instead of video games?

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