Reema's own written work:

Is there really a link between the violent actions that a person can play in a video game with the aggression behaviour inflicted in real life? Do parents need to worry about the psychological consequences violence in video games can have on young children? And what are the effects of the blurring of boundaries between fantasy and reality?

BBC 3’s new documentary called “The Legend of Video Games” kick-starts this brand new series with its first episode which considers the link between whether video game players, especially young children, notice that there is a difference between fantasy and reality. If the boundaries between these two worlds blur, then it can have very damaging consequences on the way a young person’s mind views their peers. Other episodes in the series consider the importance of sexist content such as the female characters in games such as Grand Theft Auto where their clothing is very limited and also the importance of parental action in relation to supervising children at home and noticing the age rating when buying video games. 

Video games are a form of entertainment which in this modern world can be enjoyed not just as home through consoles such as an Xbox or a PS$ but also on the go with game applications from virtual stores such as iTunes by Apple and Google Play by Samsung. These applications can be easily downloaded on electronic devices such as a smart phone or a tablet which allows a player to access their games whenever they wish. Our research team thought it was fundamental to ask teenagers themselves as they are the main target of video games as well as being well invested in the devices mentioned above. 

We went to The Solihull Sixth Form College to ask students themselves on their personal views of the effects that video games can have. Joe McMullen, a student in Year 13, talked passionately about his own domestic experience of the consequences of the violent content of video games, on his younger brother, Theo, who is currently 16.  Joe stated that video games in general as well as their violent content “make people angry, loners, antisocial”. Our team thought this was such an interesting statement that we wanted to ask other students how much violence they thought were in video games. The average was seven out of ten, but we wanted to know more about the actual consequences of this level of violence. 

We interviewed Mike Green, media expert, specialist and teacher of 15 years, what he thought. He gave a very interesting feminist perspective how video games can change a person’s viewpoint on what they view as morally correct and wrong. Green is concerned with the normalisation of violent acts against female characters. He is baffled by “the idea that it is somehow acceptable and normal and a casual thing that should be part of people’s playtime”. 

Film expert Nick Waring, on the other hand, argues that violence is just a general and normal aspect of our lives and those video games should not be the main focus. Nick said that “We are aggressive. We are violent. We have a bad day at work, rather than fighting we play Grand Theft Auto.” Could it be argued that video games offer an escape from reality to allow us to let out any internalised anger rather than in reality? Our team thought this was acceptable for adults to do but were concerned about the implications on young children. 

We asked the Student Development Counsellor at The Sixth Form College, Solihull what she thought about the video games and whether she agreed with Waring’s view. On one hand she thought that “video games don’t have to be the big ogre out there” and thought that parents should also consider other aspects of entertainment which may be a hurdle for children’s welfare and education such as watching films or TV shows. 

Carly's work: 

However, studies have shown that the increase of anti-social behaviour is linked to Video Game play. Whilst students are still young their brains are still developing, so by exposing an adolescent to brutal violence can have some major effects on their behaviour and how they see values. Especially if they play these video games regularly the effect will make the student feel that these kinds of violent acts seem okay in daily life, such as: verbal aggression, physical violence and it creates psychological problems This documentary explains all the details and aspects of many attributes in relation to Video Games. 

Catch the exciting new documentary “The Legend of Video Games” on BBC3 on November 12 2017.