英国Essay：儿童和视频游戏

英国Essay：儿童和视频游戏

Children And Video Games
 

一些研究表明玩电子游戏可能会影响一些孩子的身体机能。触发癫痫发作对引起心率和血压变化的影响。然而，严重的不利身体影响对于玩家来说是短暂的，或是有限的。研究还发现，游戏的创意和社会用途相关的利益，如身体康复和肿瘤。视频游戏的支持者认为，他们可能是一种友好的方式把电脑介绍给儿童，并可能增加儿童的手眼协调和关注细节能力。儿童电视观看和儿童游戏使用的视频游戏，包括儿童玩视频游戏的时间。

在1967，六年级的学生平均每天看2.8小时电视。来自1983的数据显示，六年级的学生每天看4.7小时的电视，并花了一些额外的时间玩视频游戏。一项过去的研究检查357名七和八年级的学生玩电子游戏情况。青少年被要求在五类视频游戏确定他们的喜好。两个最优先类别是暴力幻想游戏，几乎32%的受试者最喜欢；体育游戏，其中包含一些暴力的副题，其中29%以上最喜欢。近20%的学生表达了对游戏的喜好与一般的娱乐主题，而另外17%个游戏涉及人类暴力。少于2%的青少年喜欢与教育相关的游戏，如图1。研究发现，大约36%的男学生在家玩电子游戏，每周1至2小时；29%打3到6个小时；12%几乎不玩游戏。在家里玩电子游戏的女学生中，大约42%打1到2小时，15%一个星期打3到6个小时。近37%的女性没有玩任何视频游戏。其余的受试者每周超过6小时。结果还表明，38%的男性和16%的女性每星期花1到2小时玩拱廊游戏；而81%的女性和53%的男性不在游戏厅玩游戏。

 

Some research suggests that playing video games may affect some children's physical functioning. Effects range from triggering epileptic seizures to causing heart rate and blood pressure changes. Serious adverse physical effects, however, are transient or limited to a small number of players. Research has also identified benefits associated with creative and prosocial uses of video games, as in physical rehabilitation and oncology (Funk, 1993). Proponents of video games suggest that they may be a friendly way of introducing children to computers, and may increase children's hand-eye coordination and attention to detail. Video Game Use by Children Recent studies of television watching by children have included measures of the time children spend playing video games.

 

In 1967, the average sixth-grader watched 2.8 hours of television per day. Data from 1983 indicated that sixth-graders watched 4.7 hours of television per day, and spent some additional time playing video games. A past study (Funk, 1993) examined video game playing among 357 seventh and eighth grade students. The adolescents were asked to identify their preference among five categories of video games. The two most preferred categories were games that involved fantasy violence, preferred by almost 32% of subjects; and sports games, some of which contained violent subthemes, which were preferred by more than 29%. Nearly 20% of the students expressed a preference for games with a general entertainment theme, while another 17% favored games that involved human violence. Fewer than 2% of the adolescents preferred games with educational content as seen in figure 1. The study found that approximately 36% of male students played video games at home for 1 to 2 hours per week; 29% played 3 to 6 hours; and 12 percent did not play at all. Among female students who played video games at home, approximately 42% played 1 to 2 hours and 15% played 3 to 6 hours per week. Nearly 37% of females did not play any video games. The balance of subjects played more than 6 hours per week. Results also indicated that 38% of males and 16% of females played 1 to 2 hours of video games per week in arcades; and that 53% of males and 81% of females did not play video games in arcades.

 

Rating Video Game Violence Ratings of video game violence have developed as an extension of ratings of television violence. Among those organizations that have attempted to rate television violence, the National Coalition on Television Violence (NCTV) has also developed a system to rate the violent content of video games. The NCTV system contains ratings that range from XUnfit and XV (highly violent) to PG and G ratings. Between summer and Christmas of 1989, NCTV surveyed 176 Nintendo video games. Among the games surveyed, 11.4% received the XUnfit rating. Another 44.3% and 15.3% received the other violent ratings of XV and RV, respectively. A total of 20% of games received a PG or G rating (NCTV, 1990).

 

The Sega company, which manufactures video games, has developed a system for rating its own games as appropriate for general, mature, or adult audiences, which it would like to see adopted by the video game industry as a whole. The Nintendo company, in rating its games, follows standards modeled on the system used by the Motion Picture Association of America. A problem shared by those who rate violence in television and video games is that the definition of violence is necessarily subjective. Given this subjectivity, raters have attempted to assess antisocial violence more accurately by ranking violent acts according to severity, noting the context in which violent acts occur, and considering the overall message as pro- or anti- violence. However, the factor of context is typically missing in video games.

 

There are no grey areas in the behavior of game characters, and players are rarely required to reflect or make contextual judgments (Provenzo, 1992). Effects of Violence in Video Games The NCTV claims that there has been a steady increase in the number of video games with violent themes. Games rated as extremely violent increased from 53% in 1985 to 82% in 1988. A 1988 survey indicated that manufacturers were titling their games with increasingly violent titles (NCTV, 1990). Another survey found that 40 of the 47 top-rated Nintendo video games had violence as a theme. An early study on the effects of video games on children found that playing video games had more positive effects on children than watching television. A conference sponsored by Atari at Harvard University in 1983 presented preliminary data which failed to identify ill effects. More recent research, however, has begun to find connections between children's playing of violent video games and later aggressive behavior. A research review done by NCTV (1990) found that 9 of 12 research studies on the impact of violent video games on normal children and adolescents reported harmful effects.

 

In general, while video game playing has not been implicated as a direct cause of severe psycho-pathology, research suggests that there is a short-term relationship between playing violent games and increased aggressive behavior in younger children (Funk, 1993). Because it is likely that there is some similarity in the effect of viewing violent television programs and playing violent video games on individuals' aggressive behavior, those concerned with the effects of video games on children should take note of television research. The consensus among researchers on television violence is that there is a measurable increase of from 3% to 15% in individuals' aggressive behavior after watching violent television. A recent report of the American Psychological Association claimed that research demonstrates a correlation between viewing and aggressive behavior (Clark, 1993).

 

Some adults believe that video games offer benefits over the passive medium of television. Among mental health professionals, there are those who maintain that in playing video games, certain children can develop a sense of proficiency which they might not otherwise achieve. However, other authorities speculate that performing violent actions in video games may be more conducive to children's aggression than passively watching violent acts on television. According to this view, the more children practice violence acts, the more likely they are to perform violent acts (Clark, 1993). Some educational professionals, while allowing that video games permit children to engage in a somewhat creative dialogue, maintain that this engagement is highly constrained compared to other activities, such as creative writing (Provenzo, 1992).

 

Another problem seen by critics of video games is that the games stress autonomous action rather than cooperation. A common game scenario is that of an anonymous character performing an aggressive act against an anonymous enemy. One study (Provenzo, 1992) found that each of the top 10 Nintendo video games was based on a theme of an autonomous individual working alone against an evil force. The world of video games has little sense of community and few team players. Also, most video games do not allow play by more than one player at a time. The social content of video games may influence children's attitudes toward gender roles. In the Nintendo games, women are usually cast as persons who are acted upon rather than as initiators of action; in extreme cases, they are depicted as victims. One study (Provenzo, 1992) found that the covers of the 47 most popular Nintendo games depicted a total of 115 male and 9 female characters; among these characters, 20 of the males struck a dominant pose while none of the females did as seen in figure 2. Thirteen of the 47 games were based on a scenario in which a woman is kidnapped or has to be rescued.

 

Television program producers and video game manufacturers may produce violent shows and games for this audience. This demand for violence may not arise because of an innate male desire to witness violence, but because males are looking for strong role models, which they find in these shows and games (Clark, 1993). Conclusion Given inconclusive research, recommendations concerning video games must be conservative. According to researcher Jeanne Funk (1993), a ban on video games is: probably not ... in the child's best interests. Limiting playing time and monitoring game selection according to developmental level and game content may be as important as similar parental management of television privileges. Parents and professionals should also seek creative ways to increase the acceptance, popularity, and availability of games that are relatively prosocial, educational, and fun. (p.89) Bibliography Clark, C.S. (1993).