Video Games and Society Essay Example

Video Games and Society Essay Video Games: A History of Violence? HAHA! I KILLED YOU! I’M NOW LEVEL 30! How and why does mass media influence aggressive behavior? More specifically, does playing video games cause aggressive behavior? Because children and teenagers spend an increased amount of time each day viewing/playing video games, they are shaping their values, attitudes, and behaviors. For people who do act out aggressively, the results can be deadly. Monthly, the news is filled with blood-chilling accounts of crimes committed due to a copy-cat obsession with violent video games. Violent video games are changing the values that parents have taught their teens. Parents want their kids to have good values such as being kind, truthful, caring, and courteous to others. The video games that they are letting their teens play are promoting none of these golden values. What has the world come to? When a child can walk into a store and find video games where you win based on how many people you can kill or how many places you can blow up. Parents would not want their teens to go around in real life killing other people or using explosives in any way. So what’s the difference in letting them virtually do it in your house? We will write a custom essay sample on Video Games and Society specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Video Games and Society specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Video Games and Society specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Letting teens play violent video games are changing their values to the ones being taught inside the game as well as many across the world today. For the past 40 years, since the first video games were created, the gaming industry has developed games that would surpass other games before it. Since the late 1970’s, when the first two games of â€Å"Pac-man† and â€Å"Space Invaders† were created, video games have changed tremendously over time. The late 1970’s through the 1980’s video game makers used what was called an 8-bit graphic system, which limited many features they could put in video games. Violence was not realistic, blood was not red, and so violence in video games was not incorporated into the new games that appeared on the market. In the early 1990’s, video game makers began using a 16-bit graphic system which would enable them to incorporate much more detail of violence and blood into video games. This caused an increase in violent video game demand and an increase in realistic violent events incorporated into these games. With technology in video games enhanced, the productivity on violent videos games moved up as well. When a game called ‘Mortal Kombat’ was released in the early 1990’s with a gruesome death seen in the game, the US Congress had to intervene. They told the gaming industry they had to come up with an accurate grading system to rate the games on age-appropriateness and content-appropriateness. This brought on the ESRB or A. K. A the â€Å"Entertainment Software Rating Board. † While rating each video game and posting that rate on them has improved access by small children, teens and young adults can still buy and view very violent scenes. In 2007, there was a tragic event at Virginia Tech University. A young man by the name of Seung Hui Cho went on a rampage on the campus and killed a total of â€Å"32 students and faculty†. Cho admitted to watching videos games before the rampant killing, and just like the â€Å"Columbine massacre,† people blamed the Virginia Tech shooting on violent video games. There were also other mental health factors that attributed to this senseless act of violence. In the year 1999, a tragic shooting at Columbine High School occurred. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students, along with one teacher. Shortly after the attack and killing of their fellow students and teacher, they both committed suicide. After the massacre, a police investigation revealed a video tape of both the boys. In the video, both boys made the comment saying it would be â€Å"just like doom†. â€Å"Doom† is a violent video game that burst on the market in the 1990’s shortly after the new genre of gaming called â€Å"first person shooter,† a 3-dementional environment type of video game, showed up on the scene. Since the â€Å"Columbine massacre† and the shooting at Virginia Tech, scientists have more thoroughly studied whether violent video games causing aggressive behavior can be linked together. Since the inception of media, especially after violence was introduced to it, hundreds of studies have focused their research on viewing these violent acts and aggression. When violent video games emerged, researchers turned to analyzing these much more closely. Many of the studies focused on the sex of the person and studying male versus female aggression after viewing and playing video games. Some studied viewing violent video games versus playing the violent games to find if there was a connection between the two. But the question remains: Can scientists, with certainty, conclude that an activity that most children and teenagers partake in, lead to violence in such a small percentage of those children and teenagers? In 2007, C. J. Ferguson from Texas AM University reviewed articles/studies based on the positive and negative effects of violent video games. In his research, the â€Å"relationship between video game violence and aggression†¦have produced mixed findings†. Throughout Fergusons tudy, he â€Å"specifically found significant problems with publication bias in the video games effects literature, as well a tendency for the use of unstandardized measures of aggression†¦Ã¢â‚¬  If there are no standardized ways of testing aggression, how can a relationship between aggression and video games be concluded? Ferguson also found in the studies he reviewe d, most of them leaned toward focusing on the negative aspects of video games. The advantage of playing video games can be proven in their ability to enhance learning, hand-eye coordination, and this in turn can enable children and teenagers to do better in school. Violent video games can help overcome anxiety by providing entertainment without leaving the house, taking everyday stresses out on the characters in the game instead of real life, takes the adolescent’s minds off worries and stress of the outside world, and encourages children to stay out of trouble. Video games can render all of these various statements against video games and their creators are false. Video games help reduce stress and anger by providing an outlet for tension, providing entertainment, and providing motivation to consistently achieve higher scores or levels, in the video games. Violent Video Games do not cause increased violent tendencies in youth and adolescents due to the fact violent video games have been around for years and in those years violence caused by teens have actually been dropping rather than increasing. Also, violent video games have been shown through research that the negatives are highly outweighed by the positives. Also, with the introduction of interactive gaming there are a new range of possibilities for violent video games Very few studies have researched the positive effects of video games. The studies that Ferguson reviewed revealed that viewing violent video games appear to increase a person’s â€Å"visuospatial cognition†. According to Webster’s Dictionary, visuospatial is defined as: â€Å"Of or relating to visual perception of spatial relationships among objects. † Watching video games tends to improve hand eye coordination, and gives the person an increased ability to view multiple scenes taking place, like finding where that missing piece of the puzzle is. Ferguson found no correlation between violent video games and negative behavioral effects, only the visual effects noted above. Ferguson concluded that research from current studies have been analyzed cannot link watching violent video games to aggressive behavior. In the study conducted by Jim Blascovich, at the University of California at Santa Barbara, he concluded that the more elaborate the graphics are the more of a tendency exists to exhibit aggressive behavior after viewing video games. Explicit viewing material tended to be more realistic, thus producing aggressive behavior in the real world. As stated earlier, Pac-man’s graphics were very elementary in content, and as graphics have become more sophisticated, the violence and death scenes have become more realistic in today’s video games. Each study reviewed, tended to suggest there is some link between viewing violent video games and aggression. As stated in the article by Porter and Starcevic, â€Å"Several lines of evidence suggest that there is a link between exposure to violent video games and aggressive behavior. However, methodological shortcomings of research conducted so far make several interpretations of this relationship possible†. Can aggressive behavior be completely linked to watching video games? Or are there other extenuating circumstances that influence this behavior? Studies suggest a link in video watching and aggression, but researchers have not been able to find a direct causal relationship between the two. As in most behaviors, there are many other factors that may contribute to the person’s behavior and their actions to a specific event. To conclude that watching violent video games causes aggression cannot be said with certainty, unless other variables can be controlled for. Those variables would include sex, family history, tendencies toward aggressive behavior prior to watching video games, and many other factors that influence our behavior. With the sale of video games in the United States being in the billions and the number of people viewing these acts of violence being so numerous, there had to be other factors that influence this aggressive behavior. The sheer numbers of people who view these violent video games versus the number of aggressive acts are not even close in numbers. After each mass killing that has occurred, the events leading up to it are dissected and studied. It is agreed upon that viewing or playing violent video games were part of these murderers’ lives, but other influences also were involved. I also believe that the parents are to blame as much as the child in the disciplining of video game use. I mean, yes, video games are the new technological advancement here in America and everybody is eager to see what’s next, but this shouldn’t interfere with your daily life. It has been increasingly noticed that some people developed roblem video game use (spending too much time playing video games). Ninety percent of American youth play video games and fifteen percent may be addicted to them. This can cause many parents to be worried whether their child has an addiction or not. To identify a valid addiction there has to be some real problems interfering with daily life. For example, a combination of social, school, family, and psychological functioning being negatively affected by video game use. There is a list of signs that can help you identify if your child has an addiction. The list includes, excessive amount of time spent on video games, how often the child thinks about playing when he is not playing, and video games being the cause of problems in the family or social activities. These are just a few signs to look for a real addiction. Nowadays, violent video games are a big trend and most kids play them, but there is no evidence or proof of these millions of kids playing video games randomly killing people or committing violent acts. Violent video games do create some aggressive thoughts but those thoughts depending on the person can transform to violence or they can simply disappear. There are no longitudinal studies or scientific proof that violent video games are the mere cause of violence or if they do indeed cause violence in the first place. Further research and studies are required in order to know more about the effects of video games. But I think that video games affect each person differently and that the mentality of a person plays a role as well as other factors such as the environment for a person to become violent or not violent. . If that correlation is to be drawn, then more studies will need to be conducted to exclude variables that so far have not been addressed. Work Cited 1. Ferguson, C. J. 2013). Violent video games and the Supreme Court: Lessons for the scientific community in the wake of Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association. American Psychologist, 68(2), 57-74. 2. Blascovich, J. (2002). Social influence within immersive virtual environments (p 127-145). In R. Schroeder (Ed. ) The social life of avatars. Springer-Verlag. 3. www. resea rchgate. net/publication/ Are /79e4150aad92560f34. pdf? 4. history1900s. about. com †º †º Decade By Decade †º 1990s? 5. http://www. nytimes. com/2007/04/16/us/16cnd-shooting. html? pagewanted=allam

Ukrainian Folklore Essays - Ukrainian Studies, Ukrainian Dance

Ukrainian Folklore Essays - Ukrainian Studies, Ukrainian Dance Ukrainian Folklore Purposes of Ukrainian-American Folklore The relatively large Ukrainian community in the United States has many traditions and customs, most of which stem from a feeling of Ukrainian nationalism. As Ukraine was being overtaken by Russia, Ukrainians were immigrating by the thousands to the US. Ukrainians moving to the new world were leaving behind a disappearing culture and moving to a completely different land. Immigrants were proud of their heritage, and many of the traditions that were started in America exist to preserve this heritage and to pass it on to future generations. The Ukrainian Boy Scouting program is one such tradition. Ukrainians in America started this program in the early 1900s to train their young to return to Ukraine and drive the Russians out. This began as resistance to Russian rule over Ukraine. All boys and girls participate in this intermittently throughout the year, starting at age seven and continuing for life. Ukrainian Boy Scouts is very different from the typical American view of Boy Scouts, in that it involves a more rigorous wilderness-training program. This is because the program was essentially started as a military training program, and although it exists now only for fun and tradition, many of the subjects and ideas taught to the youths remain the same. People who are involved in the program put their children through it, as an attempt to preserve Ukrainian culture. When Ukrainians turn eighteen they become counselors, and at age thirty-five they become seniors and run the program. This program, along with a handful of similar programs, was started for various reasons. To begin with, Ukrainian youths had trouble adjusting to American society. They (Ukrainian youth programs) are helping to solve some of the social problems of the second generation that does not seem to be able to find its way into American society or does not feel at home there. Ukrainian youths were out of place in America with no sense of identity, and these programs made the adjustment less difficult. These programs also serve to maintain youth interest in Ukrainian heritage. The adults are perplexed at the indifference of the American-born youth to such worthy institutions (Ukrainian-American organizations). The youth programs involve American-born Ukrainians at a young age, insuring that they will grow up to preserve Ukrainian heritage and culture. A third reason for these programs is that, at the time of their creation, the Ukrainian community in America was divided into two groups. One of them represented independent Ukrainian nationalism and the other, being stimulated by funds from Russia, was pro-Russian. The nationalist group was responsible for these programs. In addition to the other functions, they started these programs to compete with the pro-Russian faction and ensure the survival of Ukrainian culture. These programs exist today to ensure the future of Ukrainian culture, essentially serving the same function it always has. The Red Flower is a traditional Ukrainian song. It also comes from Ukraines history with Russia, and although it is sung in Ukrainian, The chorus goes as follows in English: Down in the valley A flower wilted And our sacred country Went to ruins The flower in the song is a metaphor for Ukraine, and when Russia took control of Ukraine, the flower wilted. This is a somber song, which is sung at serious gatherings such as funerals or church. It is also sung often during the Boy Scouts training, to teach the young to sing it. Clearly this song serves as a source of nationalism, because the words remind those who hear it of Ukraines sad past. The song also reminds Ukrainians of why it is important to preserve their culture, to restore Ukraine to glory. The Hopak is a traditional Ukrainian dance, which is performed frequently by Ukrainians in America. Outsiders often refer it to as the Russian Dance, but it is actually a Ukrainian dance. The dancer is a man wearing leather boots, loose fitting red silk pants, and a white shirt with colored embroidering down the middle. His hair is shaved to the scalp except for a small circle on the top of his head, where the hair is about half a foot long. He squats down low, and kicks his feet out with his body upright and his arms folded.

Psychological and Physiological Effects of Stress-induced Stimuli Essay

Psychological and Physiological Effects of Stress-induced Stimuli - Essay Example Stress and human health often go hand-in-hand as much clinical research supports that each individual's response to stress has immediate, and sometimes long-term, effects on mental and biological health. The stress reponse is the reaction to stressors, or the events and circumstances that trigger sensations of pressure, frustration or anxiety. There are distinct biological and psychological changes that occur in an individual when exposed to stressful situations and, depending on the nature of the stressful event, the body's stress response can become more intense. Each individual maintains a variety of potential stressful stimuli, including life changes, work-related pressure or even self-induced stress brought on by psychological irrationality in which the individual maintains a self-defeating attitude towards their self value. There are any number of situations in which a person might feel overwhelmed by life situations, however, the response to the stress (whether catastrophic or perceived) varies in intensity based on each individual's ability to cope with the stressors. It is often the cognitive approach to coping with stress that makes the distinct difference between a healthy or a rather unhealthy stress response. Almost immediately after being exposed to a stressful si... Almost immediately after being exposed to a stressful situation, the brain's hypothalamus stimulates the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system and the adrenal glands to release stress hormones such as adrenaline and norepinephrine into the blood - leading to increases in heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and perspiration (Morris & Maisto, 2005). From a physiological standpoint, the stress Stress Response 4 response can be related to the physical, chemical effects on the body and the severity of long-term health effects vary by individual. A well-adjusted person, who purposefully recognises these physical changes when confronting stress, might begin a regimen of stress-relieving practices, such as meditation or breathing exercises, to bring the physiological effects down to a more controlled level. A person who is easily overwhelmed by stress may act inappropriately to these hormonal changes or become, in the long-term, a maladaptive person based on an inability to mentally cope with the stress. This indicates the relationship between the physical stress response and the psychological effects of long-term exposure to stress stimuli. Physiological Effects of Stress When the body recognises stress-related environments, the stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system affords the body an opportunity to perform vigorous muscle activity, suggesting that the biology of this stimulation is to prepare the body for increased activity; sometimes viewing stress as a perceived threat. The sympathetic nervous system increases arterial pressure and increases blood flow to active muscles, thus increasing glycolysis and increasing muscle strength (Loomis, 2005). Glycolysis, by simple definition, is a metabolic process that