The Origin of Man

Rion Jefferson

Id# 26050321

Freshman Composition II

Lucinda Peart

Research Paper - Extended Essay

Creative Topic: Controversial, Consuming, Conceivable.

Main Topic: Violence in Video Games and How It Affects Our Children.

Sub-Topic: A brief analysis of the effects of video games on children, the reason for violence in video games, and ways we can better educate children about the difference between reality and fantasy.

Thesis: Does violence in video games negatively affect children.

Video games will turn 35 years old in 2007. The industry that started with Pong has become a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry. The growth of the industry is both matched and driven by that of the technological advances over the years. In a little more than two years, video game consoles have gone from processing 350,000 polygons per second (pg/s) --a measure of graphic and action quality-- to processing 125 million pg/s. The increasingly realistic and exciting nature of electronic games has helped to make them enormously popular with children and youth. Approximately 79% of American children now play computer or video games on a regular basis. Children between the ages of seven and seventeen play for an average of eight hours a week. Most of the games on the market are appropriate for these young players, and the best of them can bring a lot of benefits. Video games help children and adults alike to increase their hand-eye dexterity, and besides being fun, some of the games provide practice in problem solving and logic as well as strategizing. We must ask ourselves however with the growing increase in violence in video games; does it negatively affect our children? This paper will address three main points related to the questions surrounding violent electronic games and children:

* Brief analysis of the effects of video games on children.

* The reason for violence in video games.

* Ways we can better educate children about the difference between reality and fantasy.

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