Violence exposure in real-life, video games, television, movies, and the internet: is there desensitization?
Jeanne B. Funk, Heidi Bechtoldt Baldacci, Tracie Pasold, Jennifer Baumgardner
Video games can be directly linked to violent activities because of the intense engagement in video games and because of the fantasy play allowed for in video games. If you are exposed to violence and aggression in the game that you are playing, your ability to differentiate between what is allowed in the world of the game and what is allowed in the real world may be off. If an individual is constantly dealing with violent situations while playing video games, it is not rare that he/she may become desensitized to the magnitude of similar violent activities in real life. As stated by Farrell and Bruce, the more desensitized one becomes to violence, it is likely that increased aggressive behaviors may occur.
Also, Molitor and Hirsch confirmed that the more you view violence, the greater your tolerance is for violent behaviors. If young people spend much of their time playing violent games, their perception of what is good and bad may be affected. Also, in video games there are few realistic consequences for violent behaviors. For example, instead of being punished for attacking someone, you are usually rewarded for doing so. What does that teach our children?
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So the question is -- keep our children from viewing violence -- not just through video games but other media, or start a conversation about the effects of viewing violence? I wonder if it is possible to protect children from the pervasiveness of violent acts on all forms of media, but I also don't think enough intelligent discussion is happening on the part of teachers, parents, administrators, and even children to understand the difference between what we see and what the effects of real violence are, especially in an era where what we see on the nightly news is both graphic and slightly surreal, almost like a video game or movie.
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