Essay on Video Gaming: A Powerful Tool for Child Development?

The video game is presently one of the popular forms of entertainment, particularly children. Parents shun from video games because they significantly drain on time. A research finding by Nicholas Hannah in 2017 showed that video gamers collectively spend more than three billion hours per week seated in front of screens (Liu, 6). Scientists have proved that video gaming has both negative and positive impact on the child's development. Video gaming was first introduced in the 1970s as a form of entertainment (Harveston). By the end of the 1980s, the video game had largely become childhood leisure activity (Harveston). However, several scholars were concerned about the impact of gaming on children. Some people suggest that playing video games helps develop the child's creativeness and increased motivation towards innovation while others claim that it dysfunction the children from acquiring the technical skills needed in adulthood. The essay depicts the impact of video games on child development, particularly the influence of female characters looking at video gaming in the 1970s and that of the present days.

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Some research findings state that video game may adversely affect the child's physical functioning. The presumed effects include triggering an epileptic seizure, blood pressure and heart rate changes (Bassiouni, 376). The caused impacts are limited to a small population involved in gaming. Contrary, video gaming has been illustrated as beneficial to the children such that it ignites the child socialization and creativity, well placed in oncology and physical rehabilitation centres. Nicholas Hannah claims that video game is one of the ways of introducing children into computers and career development at an early age. Playing video games, children can develop their attentive and hand-eye coordination skills. MentalHelp.net American community has approximately 71 per cent of the parents believing that video game has a positive impact on their children (Liu, 6). The media industry of video games continues to grow year in year out. In 2016, the industry sold more than 24.5 billion games an increased figure from 23.2 billion and 21.3 billion in 2015 and 2014, respectively (Harveston).

Among the most selling types of video games are Battlefield 1, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Grand Theft Auto V, River City Girls and Super Marion Maker 2. Although the video game is booming, it is under the critical scrutiny of persistent sexualization and stereotyping of female characters. The video games in the 1970s were more of female discrimination developed on gender stereotypes (Bassiouni, 376). In these videos, female characters were rarely used, and those that appeared were used as "prizes" to their male counterparts. It was until the first half of the decade after the emergence of video games that Aran Samus, a heroine in the Metroid game shot in 1986 appeared as the first female character in the frontline as the main actress other than serving in the background. The creation of Lara Croft video game in the 90s emerged as the first most robust female character not only in the casted video but also in the media in general (Bassiouni, 380). However, Croft was presented in midriff-baring tops, tight pants and several scholars argued that the focus of the video game was not on the woman's strength instead of on her sexuality.

In most video games, the hypersexualization of the female gender is predominantly high in the present day casted games. The video gaming has significantly impacted on the child's development since the majority of the audience attached to games with the female actress as the main characters are predominantly male. According to Harveston, the female characters in the video are presented with large breasts, smooth and curvy thighs to impact the sense of sexuality in the male audience who find joy and happiness in playing the game. The female gender continues to suffer from stereotype of what roles are meant for women even in the present world. Video games, articulate that the female child needs to grow, exposing her beauty for their male counterparts; her sexuality is illustrated as bargaining power to achieving their aim from the male gender. Most of the video games have provided that female gender will lure their male counterparts into sexual affairs to ascend their desires. Sexual harassment for the female gender is widely demonstrated in Tomb Raiders: Grand Theft Auto shot in 1997 with glamorizing car steal styles (Xeniya, 177).

In video games, the female characters are sexually violated and murdered by the male gender. In one version of the play, the goal is aimed at killing as many females as possible. Despite the outraged behaviour in the game, the Grand Theft Auto is among the popular video gaming played by children. Such games direct for the evil mindset by the boy child towards the girl child during development. Also, research by Harveston in 2017 claimed that children attached to playing hard and violent games are likely to develop such characters in adulthood. As scientifically argue that video games can widely change the child's brain and as well as affect major parts of the brain. For example, video gaming is demonized of affecting the child's attention. From the result findings, video games could profoundly influence the child's attention by either developing selective or sustained attention. However, the child's development for the gamers is highly dependable on what they view in the video at than what is thought by the parents and other people; if the content is violent and sexual, the children will quickly establish such mannerism.

According to the previous research, children involved in video gaming likely to engage in early sexual behaviour, crime and assaults as compared to those not exposed to the game. Cognitive learning is highly experienced in video gaming, where the untold is opened up to the children through games. Presently, female gender makes up to nearly half of the characters in the video games to attain the primarily targeted population of the male gender (Xeniya, 180). However, female characters in the video games are underrepresented in the distinctive roles placed as the assistant to the males. Nonetheless, the female portrayal in video games reflects the traditional sexual objectification, gender roles of stereotypes. The male gender in video games is stereotypically presented as muscular and big. The Media industry is refrained by the interest to sale hence casting the women's significant roles as assistants and prizes to their male counterparts in the game. Research depicts that how gender is portrayed in the video games can influence the child's perception on gender roles; girls are articulated to increased desire to play the functions of the character of their gender as compared to boys (Hanghoj, 775).

On average, more than half of the female players will exercise following the female characters watched, including dressing style, endurance, and accepting mistreat from their male counterparts (Hanghoj, 775). Changes in technology have also influenced the roles of female gender portrayed in video games over time. Today, more women are cast as the main characters in video games other than assistant positions as it was for the cases in the early games, stereotypes in the games remain the problematic issue as most women are closely associated to sexual objects in every game cast. Although the gender disparity is being improved in the modern video games, the targeted audience is increasingly acquiring new constraints over the female sex as they get attracted to the games because, within the play, the women will be highly sexualized. According to Xeniya (180), scientific scholars, the intention of children engaging in video games profoundly impact on the child's development towards real-life experience as an adult.

The video gaming is stereotyped to the male gender where the media industry presents a cast autonomous to the male sex. Since the male are presumed as the majority gamers, the video games portray the male gender as dominant in the main course with female sex as the prizes for the successful efforts made. Ingram and Cangemi (5) state that video games impact the child development by initiating the immoral cultural practices to the boy child who perceives his female pees as weak and only sexual preference in the social setting. The young boys who predominantly play video games deeply understand the meaning of over-sexualized female characters in the game. As such, the young generation is likely to become sexually abusive with the girls remaining adamant to what they think is the societal norm. Shooters and action video games have increasing promoted violence against the female as most of the games are developed from traditional stereotypes; in the cast, girls will be portrayed playing with dolls, buy things and dress and take care of the dolls. Even though some girls love doing so, it is not the only tasks they can handle in the society leadership and management are other activities yet rarely shown in the games managed by the female gender (Ingram and Cangemi, 5).

Hypersexualization of female characters in modern video games has become a substance of concern. Today, gender and sexual discrimination are increasingly introduced to young boys through video gaming (Ingram and Cangemi, 10). Commonly, the male characters are portrayed to put up a courageous fight to rescue a weak female who in return, falls for the individuals as a sign of appreciation. Apart from such video games encouraging violence among the male child, it articulates for immoral behaviour among women where sex is tabbed as a baseline to gathering what they need. Also, negatively influences on how the boy child views the girlchild and their purpose for life. For example, in the video game of Super Mario, Peach the young woman has appeared in 14 episodes as kidnapped in 13 of them; the kidnappers presumably use the young female character, and her boyfriend goes in the rescue mission in benefit of sexual gains upon rescuing (Ingram and Cangemi, 10). In the ancient video games of the 1970s, women are portrayed desperately waiting for rescue without any efforts to relief themselves from captivity. The video-based on the stereotype of the time when women were expected not to do any meaningful action in providing security for the community or themselves.

Today, numerous video games hypersexual the female gender by portraying them as sidekicks or allies to the male hero. For example, Mona Sax cast in Max Payne is tuned into entertainer character throughout the series serving at the pleasure of male characters in the game (Ingram and Cangemi, 12). Sexualization in the video games has significantly increased conflict in marriages where the young generations grow into adults believing and exercising what they kept watching from the games. Also, sexualization has dysfunction the general roles such as leadership, political and management portraying women as sexual objects and prizes for the male counterparts in the society (Ingram and Cangemi, 12). Moreover, there are positive impacts of video gaming as well. For instance, the female gender has gotten an opportunity to engage in gaming as their male counterparts across the globe. With some of the games directed by the female as the main character, gaming has helped self-determination and empowerment of the women seeing their performing incredibly well in mission set. Innovation and creativity are highly associated with video games in the present days where everything has gone digital; the child is likely to acquire necessary skills in computer and programming through video gaming.

Works Cited

Bassiouni, Dina. "The Integration of Video Games in Family-Life Dynamics: An Adapted Technology Acceptance Model of Family...