​Video games are following a path that is quickly becoming more and more violent. Children, teens, and even adults who play these games are turning into aggressive people.

​Many teens today stay indoors, often times wasting away the day playing video games. A lot of the video games they play send negative messages to the brain. When children and teens spend a majority of their time playing these types of games, they lose valuable social skills that are critical in life. It is teens who are often influenced by the gory, hostile, or sexual content in games.

​In the Harvard Mental Health Letter, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy ofChild & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) both agree that “children learn by observing, mimicking, and adopting behaviors.” This takes Nature vs. Nurture to a different level. Meranda Justice also says that “people are influenced by what they see and do.”

​While there are many downsides to playing video games, there are some positive things too. A positive thing for adults, as stated by ABC News, is that “players perform 10 to 20 percent higher in terms of perceptual and cognitive ability than non-game players.” Another positive effect for children and teens is that virtual and interactive games help them focus and learn in school, as said by ABC News.

​“First-person games in which the player sees the action as if he or she was the shooter can desensitize the player to violence”, says the NYU Child Study Center. When people wipe away the line that defines what is acceptable and what is wrongit is very easy, as Lukas Keizer says, to “become criminals.”

​Oliver Douglas says that playing games too often can lead to a “lack of responsibility.” He also says that “I am not affected by the games I play.” While Oliver is an example that not everyone is affected by the games they play, there are still too many children and teens that inherit the negative effects of games.