Effects of Video Games on the Psychological State of Children Discussion Paper

Over the past years, human nature has been linked with its thirst for meeting the entertainment need and being able to satisfy the need for fun. Among children, video games have been seen as one main form of entertainment which may be used to escape boredom and the harsh realities that are bound to life. However, the children do not find their addiction to video games important or affect their psychological state as they mature. Different researches and studies have been conducted over the years to determine the impacts of video games on children, bearing several evidence and proven findings. Therefore, video games have a great psychological impact on children as many have been subjected to violent behaviors, nutritional issues, and aggression, among other effects.

Researchers, policymakers, and health professionals have developed a great concern about realizing video games’ mental and psychological effects on children. Various children’s associated bodies have linked children’s depression, aggressiveness, violence, malnutrition, stress, and anxieties as part of the effects of video games. Community violence has been experienced as having been caused by the children’s exposure to violent video games. Some research links the genders to the violence among children, which has not received wider support. Boys have been associated with the tremendous effects of girls as they are deemed more problematic. Children in the United States of America have been divided so that non-gamers are believed to have a better psychological state. In contrast, the excessive gamers have deteriorating mental stability as they are fixed to their video games. Therefore, the psychological state of children is affected by their addiction to video games. Effects of Video Games on the Psychological State of Children Discussion Paper

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Video games expose children to violence and aggression, which greatly impacts their psychological state and development. The longer the children are exposed to violent video games, the more they urge to find aggressive solutions that may be used to solve the problems. Children often identify with heroes in video games, where the heroes are the people who use violent means such as guns to attack their opponents in a fight to develop their territories (Anderson & Dill, 2000). Long-term exposure to video games subjects the children to the knowledge of aggressive measures and creations of violent imaginations which may be used to attack their counterparts during physical games. The children may also be hostile as they devise protective measures against parental control and their playmates. Therefore, video games have been linked to the negative effects on children’s psychological state.

Children’s exposure to video games links them to depression, withdrawal, and anxiety. The children often identify with the video game’s character on virtual grounds, choosing the players to interact with during their sessions (Shao & Wang, 2019). The characters are chosen based on their capabilities and are determined by the children’s knowledge of their abilities. Therefore, children tend to incorporate them into their physical environments, where losses made by the player may subject the child to rebuke by their peers and the fear of association due to failure. Through this, the children may often tend to disassociate themselves from their peers as they are afraid of ridicule which leads to a state of withdrawal hence the development of anxieties and depression as they cannot come to terms with reality. Through the instances of depression, anxiety, and withdrawal, the psychological state of the children is meant to deteriorate hence a poor development.

Video games are proven to affect the psychological state of children as they are prone to poor socialization skills with their peers and their parents. Children tend to be glued to their video games for most of their free time, making it hard for them to spend time with other people and interact on different levels. The children frequently interact with the video games characters and relate better with them than the physically present people. The psychological state of the children is affected in that they can hardly comprehend societal requirements of them and often find it hard to perform other games and activities apart from video games (Quwaider, Alabed & Duwairi, 2019). Children have a poor development of social skills as they are not aware of any activities taking place around them. Therefore, poor socialization skills are evident towards a deteriorating psychological state of the children.

The psychological state of children has been proven to be affected by their addiction to video games. Children are exposed to violence, aggression, depression, anxiety, withdrawal, poor socialization skills, and anxieties. Children tend to relate well with the virtual characters more than physically present peers and guardians. To improve the psychological state of video game addicted children, they should be engaged in numerous games and activities that ais in their great development. Children should be exposed to educative content that aids in the better development of their knowledge. Parental guidance and assessment should be encouraged towards monitoring the time that children have towards the video games and be in a position to limit their exposure to certain characters to control their behaviors. Therefore, video games are negatively affecting the psychological development of children.

References

Andesrson, C.A., & Dill, K. E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of personality and social psychology, 78(4), 772.

Quwaider, M., Alabed, A., & Duwairi, R. (2019). The impact of video games on the players behaviors. A survey. Procedia Computer Science, 151, 575-582.

Shao, R., & Wang, Y. (2019). The relation of violent video games to adolescent aggression: An examination of moderated mediation effect. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 384.

Effects of Video Games on the Psychological State of Children Discussion Paper