Before purchasing video games for your child, here's a must read
Children & Cannibals: A screengrab from The Last of Us
Hyderabad: As of November 2014, sales of the PlayStation and XBox gaming systems stood at 13.5 million and 10 million units respectively. The holiday season would have added at least a million more to those figures. But if you have just bought a gaming console for your kid, here are a few things to remember.
Like movies, games also come with age restrictions. A whopping 90 per cent of games are for ages 18 and above. They often feature extreme violence, gore, drug use, nudity, foul language and more of those “things” you have protected your child from till now.
A study in the US has found that violent games actually change the way the brain works. “Behavioural studies have shown an increase in aggressive behaviour after violent games. We’re showing that there are changes in brain function that are likely related to that behaviour,” said Dr Vincent Matthews, who led the research.
In Hyderabad, clinical psychologist Dr Pulkit Sharma agrees. “With repeated exposure to aggressive content, the mind gets habituated to it. Kids then start accepting that level of anger and violence and often, young minds fail to distinguish between the real and virtual which is why kids develop aggressive tendencies.”
Some of the best-selling titles this year have rape, cannibalism, bloodshed and torture. The Last of Us had a 14-year-old girl surviving an assault by one of the game’s cannibal villains.
There’s also Grand Theft Auto 5 a franchise so notorious, several citizen groups around the world have made numerous attempts to ban it. A scene introducing one of the lead characters involves an affair, dozens of expletives and finally, the character repeatedly stomps another guy in the head. Meanwhile, Blue Estate is so graphic, users have complained of nausea.
Trouble is, parents are often in the dark and they give in to incessant pleading by children. Dr Sharma may have a solution. “Don’t reject it outright, instead choose a game that doesn’t have brutal violence. Until children reach at least 16 years of age, parents must avoid the violent games.”
The video games winning that best-selling title, often have characters with massive fan following. Children discuss, debate and follow news of these characters, constantly. And while you are away at work, your child might be reading up on the failed cop, who’s having an affair with a prostitute. Because one of the best-loved video game characters, Max Payne, starred in that video game that had a body count of over 600 people in a single night.
Dr Sharma adds, “The worst is when children assume that the character’s actions have been right. They start identifying with them and emulate the violent streak... And then gradually, those characters become role models.”
( Source : dc correspondent )
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