There was a time in the past decade or so when some people believed that playing violent video games, particularly shooters, could lead to later becoming a killer. While, at this point, that theory has been falsified, it is interesting to look into how playing these games is affecting the behavior and development of children, as it is extremely clear through hundreds of studies and experiments that media does have a psychological impact on people of all ages, but especially children. As someone who has a little brother who I have watched grow and change over the years, I think this conversation is extremely relevant concerning this new generation of kids who has always had exposure to specifically handheld media such as iPads, tablets, and mobile phones.
When my brother was about five years old, he started asking to play Fortnite, an online shooter game that gained popularity after being released in 2017. He no doubt heard about it from YouTube videos he watched online and from his friends whose parents had allowed them to play the game, but my mother insisted that he could not play until he was at least 8 years old. On his 8th birthday, he downloaded Fortnite on his playstation. Since then, he has devoted several hundreds of hours to playing the game, eventually getting a Nintendo Switch and being able to play it on the go. It is easy to become desensitized to what one does in the game, particularly due to the lack of blood and guts displayed, making it easier for someone to take the violent acts in stride. The most obvious changes to him came in how he acted when he played the game, growing angry to the point of yelling and hysterics upon losing, being moved to tears and frustration when our family refused to play alongside him in Duo mode, and fighting with my parents about when he could play, for how long, and when he needed to turn it off.
Promotional Image from Fortnite
I also began to notice his desensitization to violence, both while playing the game and in every day interactions. He became much more sinister, often making exclamations while killing other players in the game or as he was hunting them down. He also began to adopt more violent language. For example, I told him one afternoon to get his stuff off the counter because our mother liked for it to be clear when she got home and he replied “yeah, she’d see that and kill herself.” I spent 10 minutes having a conversation with him about why saying something like that was not okay, and the next day he made a comment about killing me because I laughed at him. While things like this might not seem like the biggest deal, it has been a very noticeable change in his behavior before and after adopting this game, as I wasn’t even aware my brother had considered what suicide was until he made that statement. I also think my generation has become particularly desensitized to violent language, with many of us often throwing around “kill myself” on any given day, and while that is particularly problematic, there is something extra concerning about hearing it come out of the mouth of a nine year old.
Beyond just my personal conjecture, there is research to backup the change I have noticed in my brother. According to one 2017 study, “the effects of screen violence on increased aggressive behavior have been reviewed and affirmed by numerous major scientific organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the US Surgeon General, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, and the International Society for Research on Aggression” (Anderson et al 2017). The study went on to discuss what causes aggression and aggressive behavior and how exposure to violent media can increase those triggers, such as “aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, physiologic arousal, hostile appraisals, and aggressive behavior” while decreasing “prosocial behavior (eg, helping others) and empathy” (Anderson et al 2017). Playing video games is an easy trigger for many of these things, as I’ve watched my brother grow incredibly angry and hostile while playing games both toward other players and myself and my family members.
Figure 1 from “Screen Violence and Youth Behavior” Depicting Changes during Video Game Play
Obviously, though, the change in my brother and other children cannot all be attributed to video games, as the study cites violent media, including film and television. In this same time period, my parents have allowed my brother to be exposed to more mature and violent media like Marvel movies, Dune, etc., and these could be having a similar or worse impact on him than the games he plays. Regardless, there has been a change for the worse in the way my brother views death and violence and it is very clear from watching him play a round of Fortnite that it is not helping the situation.
So this leaves the question of what can be done to fix this issue? Expose kids to violent media at an older age? Sit them down and talk to them about the serious implications of the silly games they play? Ultimately, I don’t have the answer and scientists don’t fully either, as keeping children sheltered from all ideas of both real and fictional violence can also be harmful in providing them a false sense of the world. It also is possible to place this pressure on these games, as Fortnite does have a teen rating, but my brother who is not a teen regularly plays the game and it is a known thing that many children are playing the game at all hours of the day. I believe as a society we are growing more and more desensitized to violence, but now it is starting at younger and younger ages due to the prevalence of personal media devices owned by children and it ultimately takes greater awareness for the problem to be addressed and, eventually, solved.
-Sarah Beth
Sources:
- Anderson, Craig A et al. “Screen Violence and Youth Behavior.” Pediatrics vol. 140,Suppl 2
(2017): S142-S147. doi:10.1542/peds.2016-1758T
2. Brockmyer, Jeanne Funk. “Desensitization and Violent Video Games: Mechanisms and
Evidence.” Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America vol. 31,1 (2022):
121-132. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2021.06.005
3. Damour, Lisa. “Parenting the Fortnite Addict.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30
Apr. 2018, http://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/well/family/parenting-the-fortnite-addict.html.
New Media: Storytelling in Literature, Films, and Games 
Great post SB! Its so interesting hearing your first hand experience having a little brother who started playing a game like Fortnite at such a young age. I am also a younger brother and it makes me wonder if my sister noticed any changes in my behavior when I started playing more games.
I think the problem with kids and people in general being desensitized to violence and profanity goes even further than video games. The digital economy and its emphasis on reactions and spectacle results in us seeing thousands of hours of content with much of it being violent or profane. I’m not a puritan by any means but I definitely think it has adverse effects on kids. I wasn’t regularly on the internet until I was around 10 or so and definitely think it would’ve had a major impact on me had I been.
Its hard to say whether or not we can decrease this exposure, but it definitely warrants a conversation on the kind of media we see everyday and its effects on us.
Hey Henry!
I’m so glad you chose to bring up the age at which children are getting exposed to the internet, as it is generationally becoming younger and younger. Sarah Beth touched on it by telling us about her brother adopting interesting language at a young age, and it made me think back to how I interacted with the internet at his age. I remember when I was younger, the only easy access I had to the internet was through my elementary school’s computer lab. Of course, we had a desktop at home, but that was considered the “work computer” and was not to be used to access the internet for any sort of fun. Even when I inherited my older sister’s old iPhone 4 in fifth grade, it was only able to connect to the internet through Wi-Fi; my time on the internet was again thus limited by my ability to access it. However, now, I watch as my 13-year-old brother grows up in a culture where his back-to-school supplies list for kindergarten had a Chromebook on it–to access homework. The internet and free access to parse information from such a young age in any spirit, not just gaming, can have a formative effect on the emotions and personal views of impressionable children like my brother; whereas I was first exposed to the lifestyle of influencers at the age of 13, he had the opportunity to be exposed to that same lifestyle at the age of six. When children are allowed to access any online community with a strong sense of culture, there is always a risk that they assimilate. Is this what we see with gaming? Is it actually limited to the sphere of gaming, or does it happen everywhere on the internet within different interest groups?
–Lizzie
Hey, Sarah Beth! Loved the research you brought into the blog post and class. Research on this topic has not been definitive; No real article says that violent video games make complete murder machines, but I do agree with the use of language. I have a younger brother as well, also with Fortnite but also Roblox, and his language has changed. He has shown to be a little aggressive during his games (only verbally), and when he’s forced to get off the game his attitude takes a nosedive. The language that games like Fortnite brings, the ego it brings out in you, can easily be swept into the real world. You can even look at one of my blog posts for this class; since I only discussed violent VR games, Dr. Clayton talked about the honing of my skills of violence. Personally, I’m not a violent person, but during those games, a different side can come out of you. Still, though this side is a part of you, I don’t think that is enough to get rid of violent games. People can still recognize the virtual world and separate themselves. What I do think is that violent games, particularly gun games, glorify guns. I feel that they can make guns feel cool, fun, and full of power, not that they are tools made to kill. I think that can take away the reality that guns bring, which is dangerous considering that having guns increases the chance of violent happenings. These thoughts scare me the most. This was a great article that I relate to a lot, thank you!
I don’t have the knowledge or the data skills to debate the merit of the research you point to, but I feel confident saying that this surely isn’t something that is unique to videogames or other ‘violent’ media. I wouldn’t be surprised if a study between kids who play competitive sports and those who don’t yielded similar results saying that sports caused kids to be violent and aggressive. That’s kind of the point of competition isn’t it? You have to be aggressively chasing a victory or success, and videogames are the same way. I play fighting games, and people can get super frustrated when they lose and super elated when they win. Your ambition and aggression fuel the desire for victory and motivate you to try harder, and it can be devastating when all of your efforts aren’t enough. This applies to essentially every situation where somebody wants something and somebody else wants something different; a part of maturity is learning to accept failure and express your frustration in a healthier way than saying you want to kill yourself. As far as the rhetoric of ‘killing’ goes, I think that type of rhetoric has been normalized in our culture but I don’t know that it’s necessarily a result of violent media. There are 12 year old kids that say they want to kill themselves on the internet all over the place, and younger and younger kids learn this type of speaking without really even understanding what it means. I don’t see how videogames are the root of this.
This is a really interesting blog post. This topic really resonates with me as I’ve reflected on it in both my academic and personal life. The phenomenon of prolonged exposure to violent video games and subsequent behavioral changes is really part of a major narrative about how digital media shapes the minds of young individuals. One thing I’ve talked about in psychology courses relating to this topic is the importance of balancing this type of media with other activities like physical exercise and mindfulness practices. Additionally, the interactive nature of such video games should be noted; unlike the passive consumption of TV shows or social media, video games are interactive and often very social. This interactivity can potentially create a greater impact on behaviors and thought patterns. Therefore, it’s even more important to try to encourage young adults to engage in other forms of interactive activities as well, to promote positive cooperation and communication. I also found your discussion of “self-harm” jokes very interesting. Reflecting on my own experiences in middle school, neither me nor my friends played violent video games. Yet, the kind of “self-harm” jokes and dark humor you mentioned were still very prominent during my middle school years. In addition to video games, media can definitely influence behaviors/attitudes as well.
Hi SB! Super interesting post! I think you bring up a really worthwhile point, that although our discourse about violence and video games isn’t as black and white as “video games causes violence,” video games are part of a growing media landscape that kids are a part of that features more violence more often, and in forms kids are able to access despite the fact that they may be “intended” for an older audience. Looking at content from Among Us to YouTube videos, we are in an age where younger people have a greater access to all kinds of media, including violent media that is more mature. Even if one child’s parents are vigilant, all it can take is a few sleepovers and a friend with less restrictions to lead them to partaking in that media, as well as a culture for young people that is increasingly reliant on violent imagery, even if those engaging in that discourse aren’t mature enough to fully understand the implications of the violence they are alluding to or that their media/video games represent. And as SB said, there’s no easy solutions. I think video games are one offshoot of this broader media landscape that can be particularly impactful when you consider the popularity of games like Among Us, Fortnite, and Call of Duty, and the desensitization it might lead to. Its up to all of those who take part in our culture and who play those games to think more about the type of generation we are creating.