Why
do teenagers like playing video games? Ask a group of teenagers this question
and they will reply, “the games are incredibly fun and addictive”. Advertisements
for video games are everywhere from television to billboards promoting the
newest video games and targeting the teenage market by creating pathos to show
the teenagers in their ads that playing and owning these games is essential for
socializing with friends. Video
games act as a channel of fantasy for the time period in which the gamer has
entered a world far away from reality.
Research
has shown that playing violent video games acts as a stress reliever for many
teenagers and although some teenagers who are already at high risk for hostile
behavior might show signs of poor school performance due to too many hours of
video game playing, the majority of teenagers can manage their time
appropriately and do not react with violent physical outbursts after playing
shooter games. Studies have also shown that playing violent video games does
not increase real life violence and teenagers use their game playing time as a
way to socialize with other players through engaging in conversations such as
strategic game planning and methods of obtaining achievement goals.
On
a psychological and emotional level, young adolescents can become desensitized
to realistic war conditions from playing too many hours of violent war games.
This is why parents who are purchasing these games for their teenagers should
closely follow mature ratings on video war games. Teenagers enjoy the challenge of playing a high skill game
and with games such as Modern Warfare 3, they are given multiple lives that
allow them to die and come back to life multiple times during a game. Of
course, in a virtual game this is possible, but not in a real life situation.
This is a strong reason why older teenagers are better suited to play violent
war games than their younger peers, as they are more likely to understand the
consequences of the reality of war.
