Final essay (Video Games )

Video Games 

Over the past 30 years the development within the video games market has seen a phenomenal amount of progress. As a component of the media industry it has grown from a minor aspect into a colossus in a relatively short space of time. The massive progress in games technology is a consequence of the rapid improvement in the capacity of games consoles and devices to deliver high level of experience on to the screen of the user. Although there is a section of the adult community that play video games the vast majority of those who participate in this type of entertainment are children. There has been much debate about the impact of games played by children and potential positive and negative effects that gaming has on young people. Many of the games that have been developed use an interactive format that can improve the user’s levels of social skills. There are other games that have been specifically designed to enhance mental agility. These are deemed by many to have a positive impact. There are also many other games that focus on negative elements of human behavior and explore darker themes like violence and death. It is believed that these types of games can have a negative impact on younger people that are exposed to this kind of content. There is a universal classification system for video games in place. It is designed to ensure that the games are only accessible by those for whom the games are suited. This system is not very effective and many children are able to get access to games that have unsuitable content. “For the child or adolescent access to what might be considered restricted materials (adult rated) is much easier via both legal and “illegal” outlets.” (Dill 44) This paper will examine some of the key issues in relation to video games and children. The content of this discourse will illustrate that there is both a positive and negative aspect to the use of video games by children.

 

The statistics illustrate the level of social permeation that the video games industry has achieved. In the USA it is estimated that 87% of people aged 8-17 play participate in some form of video game activity. The average hours of consumption for those individuals has also escalated during the past three decades and for 13 year olds in the USA boys are spending approximately 23 hours per week. For girls the figure is less with estimates at around 13 hours (Burgess et al 377). When compared against other healthy activities like the participation in sports these figures are staggeringly high. However when compared with similar formats of activity like watching television the timings are broadly similar. In fact those that record higher amounts of time spent on video games actually spend less time watching television. This factor would indicate that video gaming is replacing television rather than being done as an additional sedentary activity. 

 

One major factor in the increase in games popularity is the interactive aspect of game play. This is an element which allows players to play against ‘live’ opponents, or in some cases to join with others and play together as a team. For children who play games in this format there are a wide variety of social skills that they develop. As games platforms have developed and restructured it is clear that there are many positive benefits overall. One historic criticism of gaming was the fact that those involved were restricted to sitting in front of a screen and as a result deprived of physical activity by this process. The proliferation of hand held devices has allowed many gamers remain mobile while they play. Many console based game devices have incorporated motion into the gaming experience and some have developed and wide range of sporting, dancing and other highly exacting physical exercise routines, into their gaming catalogues. 

 

Another positive feature in gaming is to be found in the level of intelligence required to play with most games being devised around a core principle of mental agility. Within the range of titles available there are many that pose complex problem solving challenges designed to engage the users by presenting them with obstacles that must be addressed with thinking skills and deft eye-hand coordination. Almost every aspect within video game use requires literacy and numeracy capacity. Game walk-through’s and explanations are delivered in text on screen and score cards will require basic numerate competence. In the process of play all of these skills are developed, and as a result this is beneficial for physical and mental development.

 

The argument has also frequently been made that gaming is anti-social and that those involved lock themselves away from society and lose the ability to interact with other people. This feature in turn has fuelled speculation that video gaming leads to violent behavior. In his article in science daily cites the authority Patrick Kierkegaard of the University of Essex’ view that game play actually lowers the mount of aggressive behavior, “The effect seems to be the exact opposite and one might argue that video game usage has reduced real violence.” (1) Statistics demonstrate that this is not the case with 60% of people who play games do so with friends or family. Most game consoles are devised to operate with a multi-user interface and can adopt several games controllers and display the performance of a range of users simultaneously on a screen. This aspect allows players to interact which each other and quite often enhances the experience far beyond that of the game environment on its own. Games platforms have also uniformly adopted the world wide web into the technology and many games allow users to join with other players from around the world. This feature can extend the players capacity for multicultural understanding and give them experiences that they would not have it they did not participate in video game play.

 

There are also many negative aspects to game play and many of these relate to the content within the games environments. In order to sell their products developers have worked to make the experience more thrilling than anything that has been created by competitors and in some cases this compromises the level of decency involved. Many feature realistic imitations of fighting, shooting, and a wide range of other violent experiences. It has been proven that, for children who are susceptible to influence, this experience can prompt them to carry out similar activity in the real world. (Carll 21) In their detailed analysis on the concept of the influence of violent games Eric Uhlmanna and Jane Swanson identify the influence of these types of games “participants who had played the bloody and violent video game Doom for 10 min subsequently associated the self more with aggressive traits.” (44). It is clear from this study that exposure to violence can have an impact on the self-perception of those involved. For players that have a pre-disposed propensity for aggression the experience in violent game play can heighten the potential for activating this behavior.

 

A negative aspect of video games that must also be considered is the impact that long term video game play has on how children respond to mental stimuli. The majority of games are designed around short term tasks that require seconds to accomplish. With a high frequency of exposure to gaming this type of thought process can have an impact on how the young people involved think. It has been reasonably argued that those that play games have a much shorter attention span and a lower capacity to perform well on extended tasks. It has also been proven that educational performance of gamers tends to be lower than those that do not play. In their detailed report on this topic Burgess, Stermer and Burgess clearly identified the trait of underperformance in gamers (386). This can be attributed to a displacement process where those

that play games become so immersed in this pastime that they ignore the requirements of their studies, which has an overall negative impact on their attainment.

It is clear from the arguments presented by many authorities that there are both positive and negative aspects to video game play for children. In addition to the fact that they offer a high level of recreational experience there are many games that have offer players a social environment which encourages learning a development. There are also, unfortunately, many titles that have inappropriate content that can act as a negative influence on the lives of impressionable children, who may go on to act on the violence they experience in the game environment. In order to improve the balance it is important for the media companies involved in game production to focus on the development of titles that will give the gamers an overall positive experience.

Works Cited :

Burgess, Stephen R., Stephen Paul Stermer, and Melinda C.R. Burgess. Video Game Playing and Academic Performance in College Students College Student Journal 46.2 (2012): 376-387. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.  

Carll, Elizabeth K. "Violent Video Games and Aggressive Behavior in Children Are Linked." Violence. Ed. Louise Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008.  Print.

Dill Karen E. The Oxford Handbook of Media Psychology New York: Oxford University Press 2013. Print.

 Eric Uhlmanna , Jane Swanson“Exposure to violent video games increases automatic aggressiveness” Journal of Adolescence 27 (2004) 41–52. Print

Inderscience Publishers. "Could Violent Video Games Reduce Rather Than Increase Violence?."ScienceDaily, 15 May 2008. Web. Retrieved 13 Dec. 2013. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514213432.htm

My Outline research paper

Video Games 

                                      I.            electrical games: it’s video computer games

A.      In last 30 years the video games is one of the most popular forms of new media spicily with children.

                                    II.            Some effects on the children are positive and negative of children who play it

A.      They are 87% of 8-17 ages’ people who play video games in the USA.

B.      13 years old of boy are spending 23 hours a week

C.      13 years of girls are spending 12 hours a week

                                  III.            Social development; some worries, they have ability to get along with other, the children spend too much time alone

A.      Critic say that children who playing game are unity social.

B.      They ability to think and learn

C.      The positive is true that playing video games often is social activity

D.      One study found that 60% of players are playing video games with friends

 

                                 IV.            Negative

A.      A lot of games teach children to be violent.

B.      Some games consent a lot of felons like shooting, fighting for example, the Grand fifth Ado

C.      The fighting games are more likely affect to be aggressive.

D.       13-14 old more want to fight with the teachers

E.       Some aggressive, it is not clear to make the, aggressive

                                   V.            Intellectual development:

A.      The children cannot think very long.

B.      They said games cause children to develop attention Spence.

C.      Many games don’t allow children to think creatively, to think of new idea, because they just fallow the story of video games.

D.      Many people said that video game can hurt the ability of thinking of children

E.       Children who playing video games get poor grades in school.

                                 VI.            Today many games are not only bad, we need to create new good video games.

3red interview rview

1. Who scored highest?



Alharbi, Rakan has the best scored
2. Whose interview did you like best? Why?
because he has full informations and his intervew was very orgnaized






3. Link to your evaluation score card (be sure to give public access for viewing!!)








https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AouhZlIk67uWdE82MnlBbHdUSHNPaUJ3VXdqTzJLN3c&usp=sharing

Second interview review

1. Who scored highest?




there are two who have the best scored Hussain Alsufair, Hassan Almukhtar
2. Whose interview did you like best? Why?


Because there interview were very clear and orgnaized
3. Link to your evaluation score card (be sure to give public access for viewing!!)

clack here
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AouhZlIk67uWdEExMXhkZFVfbE1CSmYtUjNaVWVaNkE&usp=sharing

My 3red Interview

Interview

Title: My 3red Interview with Musti M.

Preparations Made

Before the actual interview, I had developed 13 questions. I had a recorder that I would use to record the interview. My interview questions had the objective of comparing the United States and South Africa in terms of culture and social structure. The other objective was to uncover the reasons that prompted the interviewee to choose St. Cloud rather than any other school in the United States or in other countries and his plans after completing studies. The focus of the interview questions was to get information about the interviewee’s schooling and development in their country.

After developing the interview questions, I approached the interviewee through a friend who knew him. Musti and I went to the part of the library where few students studied to be away from inconveniences. We sat across each other on the study table. The location was good because even though there were some people around, it was quiet enough for us to communicate. In addition, the location was convenient because it made the interview casual and less pressurizing. We embarked on the interview without any hitch.

Interview Report

I met with Musti  in St. Cloud main library on the 29^th of October 2013 where talked for about 45 minutes. I think the interview went well because we discussed the interview questions and even talked more about personal life.

South Africa and Culture

During the interview, Musti uncovered a wide range of information on the educational culture in South Africa. According to Musti, the population of South Africa is high, leading to a high level of competition for available resources and employment opportunities. The need to remain competitive has forced children to come up with unique ways of up keeping with the others. For example, on a normal school day, children attend school from around 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. They extend study hours so that they can do well in high school and attend prominent universities and colleges.

Musti appreciates the American educational culture in comparison to the South African educational culture. The interviewee feels that the education system in St. Cloud is participatory because teachers tend to encourage the participation of students. Mngomezulu (234) agrees that students in South Africa should be given more attention because the population of students at all levels tends to be on the increase, which makes it difficult for teachers to provide quality education. As of 2012 for example, the population in South Africa was more than 45 million. This made it difficult for leaders in the education industry to manage learning institutions, especially tertiary institutions. Primarily, Musti suggested that the resources used in schools are not sufficient to provide quality education in South Africa hence the preference for St. Cloud.

Apart from the limited number of institutions of learning for South African students, the other problems experienced by learning institutions are associated with inequality and race. Though restructuring programs have been implemented, the incidence of racism and inequality is still high (Mngomezulu 235). The differences are attributed to cultural diversity in the country. That is, the South African culture is diverse with hybrid mixtures of cultures (South African Culture and Tradition Explored).

South Africa has several cultural attractions such as Robben Island where Nelson Mandela- the country’s first president- was imprisoned during the aphatheid era. The South African culture has also been shaped by her music where it depicts variety and diversity of the country’s culture. The music includes classical music, jazz music –common in townships, marabi, pop, and black jazz among others (South African Culture and Tradition Explored).

Interview Transcription of My Interview with Musti M

1. Do you like the weather in St. Cloud? Please explain.

Yes- I like exploring new things and I find weather in St. Cloud new and that is why I enjoy it.

 

2. What do you do for leisure?

A lot of things actually, from singing, to dancing and watching movies. Sometimes I engage in adventure exploration of nature.

 

3. Could you please tell me about yourself?

I am a quiet person –largely private and only talk when I feel it is important. I am the only child in my family to attend school abroad and I think I have made my parents proud.

 

4. How often do you communicate with your family back at home?

Communication is like everyday…I communicate with my family and friends by either calling them or through social network and sometimes though texts and emails. I am planning to Skype with them soon…

5. What is the biggest holiday in your country? Please explain about the holidays (Activities, Food, ate, Origin, and etc,)

There are several holidays in South Africa but one of the most celebrated in Christmas Day which is celebrated every year on 25^th December. Since about eighty percent of our population is Christian, this holiday is very important. On this day, people attend church, engage in singing and dancing, and eat their favorite foods.

 

6. In what ways might it be difficult to practice your religion here in the United States.?

Although there is no much difference in religious beliefs between the United States and South Africa, it would be challenging to exercise religious practices here because I find the American pace of singing slower and more reserved than ours.

 

7. Tell me some important things from your culture?

As a Zulu, one important aspect of our culture is tribal dance and song. We normally perform them with vigor. Sometimes we perform them during certain rituals or festivities.

 

8. What’s the biggest difference between the American culture and your culture?

My culture is more conservative compared to the American culture which seems to be more liberal. There are some things such as kissing in public that I find rather queer.

 

9. What are your goals for the future; after you graduate, what are you going to do?

After graduation, I would like to continue studying and get a part time job here before I go back home. I would like to take skills and knowledge back to my country as a way of giving back to the society.

 

10. Do you have any questions for me? I have asked so many of you! (mandatory question at the end)

I did not expect that…but, would you like to experience South African culture or are you satisfied with your experience with American culture

Answer: I would not mind trying something new…I definitely would like that .

 

11. How does your family feel about you going to school so far away from home?

They found it challenging at first because they were worried that I would not cope with life over here. However, they are becoming more comfortable with time.

12. How long have been studying at SCSU?

Less than two years…..am not yet half way through.

 

13. Did you face any racism since you came here?

Not as such…the people I have met are friendly and do not seem to notice that I am different from them.

Works Cited

Mngomezulu, Richard B. Politics and Higher Education in East Africa. Nairobi: African Sun Media, 2012

South African Culture and Tradition Explored. 2013. Retrieved from http://www.southafrica.com/culture/

second Interview

 

Interview # 2

Country report

My interview happened to be a woman born and brought up in Tanzania. She is a Muslim, who came to the U.S to further her education. Tanzania is a multi-ethnic country, characterised most two religions that are predominant on the Swahili speaking nation (Hydén, 1980). Tanzania is so far the third largest country in Africa. Muslims and Christians form a major part of the country religious formation, with Muslims being more as compared to Christians. Tanzanians are so inclined to their culture of watching over their brothers, up to a point that there founding president established a law that would ensure that all Tanzania had to offer belonged to everyone and not specific individuals from a particular community known as ujamaa (Hydén, 1980). Tanzania is a sovereign nation governed through the democratic system of government. They have a number of special holidays such as the saba saba where they celebrate the emergence of multi-party politics.

Transcript

Interview

Interviewer: Student

Interviewee: Member of the school union

Interview setting: Interview conducted in office of St. Cloud State university's office in the administration building. The interview was conducted at 11.00 a.m. on Monday morning.

(Start of Interview)

1. Do you like the weather in St. Cloud? Please explain.
Yes, the weather at St. Cloud is very comfortable. This is because of the varying temperature throughout the day. In the morning it is partly cloudy, with little traces of fog forming, then overcast. The temperatures steadily rise during the rest of the day. Something amazing about this place is the fact that it is never too hot or too cold.

2. What do you do for leisure?
I swim and read books a lot, but my favorite activity is swimming. Swimming to me is an exercise, and I engage more into it to keep myself fit.

3. Could you please tell me about yourself?
I am a Muslim, born and brought up in Tanzania, Africa.

4 .How often do you communicate with your family back at home?
I communicate with my family more often, especially my mother. I always make it a point to keep in touch at least every week, just to know how they are faring, and to reduce the anxiety of then worrying about me when I don’t communicate.

5. What is the biggest holiday in your country? Please explain about the holidays (Activities, Food, ate, Origin, and etc.,)
Tanzania being a multicultunary nation, and a home to incredible range of religions and tribes. Mingling and mixing of these cultures has led to a diversity of festivals that everyone takes pride in. the most celebrated events in our country would be Christmas and Eid ul-Fitr. These are two events celebrated by two of the country’s largest religious groups. They are traditional buffets and wine tastings for Christians’, as well as special midnight mass on the eve of Christmas. For Muslims this is a time to give charity to the poor, as well as families visiting friends and loved ones to exchange sweets and gifts.

6. In what ways might it be difficult to practice your religion here in the U.S?
It is difficult to practice our religion here in the U.S, because Islam is characterized by negative mind-sets and as such has little following. Fear of experiencing a religious violence also grabbles most of the Muslims here.

7. Tell me some important things from your culture?
Important things about my culture would be tolerance and hospitality. From our culture, we have learned to respect one another and to always look out for your brother, even if you are not related in any way. Tanzanian’s too are naturally welcoming to strangers, visitors and tourists.

8. What’s the biggest difference between the American culture and your culture?
Our culture makes us care about one another as well as relate to one another, however, the American culture though not being decisive doesn’t seem to bring Americans together, and at times it appears to drive Americans away.

9. What are your goals for the future; after you graduate, what are you going to do?
After my graduation, I plan on going back home to impact my local community with the knowledge I have gathered while in America. I intend to go empower my community to allow more Muslim girls to be able to undertake their education, wherever they wish the same way I did in America.

10. Do you have any questions for me? I have asked so many of you! (Mandatory question at the end)
Of course, my pleasure, what your individual perception when it comes to practicing Islam in America, and how American treat student tourists?

11. How does your family feel about you going to school so far from home?
At first they were sceptical about it, but after convincing them they realized it was a good idea, since eventually I was still going to come back, and since then they have been very supportive.

12. How long have been studying at SCSU?
This is my third year now; I have three more years to go.

13. Did you face any racist since you came here?

I have been a victim of a racism before, some time in my first year when I was new to this place, I could hardly be attended to by most of the school administration, and the students too couldn’t not give me direction to place I did not know of.

Preparations

Just as I have done with all my previous interviewee under this program, as the same preparations I made with my interview with Fatima. My objectives and interview question were all the same. As I strive to gather the most from the interview, I ensured that it remained professional between us, as I created a comfortable atmosphere for the interview, by setting up the venue to look more conveniently for the interview. I ensured there were refreshments for my interviewee and circulation of fresh air in the room by opening all the windows. To ensure that my interviewee was comfortable, I ensured that it was only the two of us in the room as she had early requested. Although, it was not a must to have a video recording of the interview, I had been conducting all my interviews on live video recordings, and as such I did set up the camera for this interview. To enjoy an easy flowing conversation with my interviewee, I reduced my intonations to hers, considering that she came from Africa and wasn’t that fluent in English. I took key consideration to ensure we do not have language difficulties. Once the interview began, we did move on quite well with minimum interruption up to the end, and I am so grateful a woman of her calibre grazed my interviews.

Review of the interview

I met Fatima on the eve of Eid ul-Fitr celebration; she was walking along the university streets adjacent to the mosque, toward the hostels. I was walking on the same street, but toward a different direction, I was going to meet the school register. From my observation, Fatima is a light skinned, tall, beautiful lady, and on the day we met she was wearing a rope.  Before this day, the student union had been out on a fact finding mission, to determine the welfare of the students in the university, I as the academic secretary, I had been tasked with the responsibility of gathering information from foreign students, specifically Muslims. This occasion provided me with the opportunity to determine if she was eligible for my field of study. On reaching her, I stopped to say hi, she was very welcoming right from the first moment I shared with her. She greeted me back, and then I did some minor introduction about myself, and then explained why I had stopped abruptly. We had a conversation for about 20 minutes, before agreeing to conduct the interview on a specific date we set out together. Though at first she was sceptical about the idea, bearing the fact that I was totally strange to her, she later gathered confidence as we progressed through our conversation, to express her much better. I was delighted to have her as my next interviewee; this is because since I was given the responsibility of gathering information from foreign students, I haven’t interviewed a foreign student who was a female and a Muslim at the same time. I definitely knew that I was going to gather more information from the interview.

She conducted herself very well on the day of the interview, as I seek to make her comfortable before and during the interview. I think the interview was great success, since I gathered information that was vital to the whole process and was going to help in coming up with resolutions, on how to improve the welfare of the students. During the interview, I gathered not only information from the interview question, but from observation on how she expressed herself as well. This helped me determine the sincerity of her answers, since there were some areas, she was more passionate to speak about, and while others she seemed very emotionally.

 

 

 

 

 

References

Hydén, G. (1980). Beyond Ujamaa in Tanzania: underdevelopment and an uncaptured     peasantry. University of California Pr.

Rasmussen, L. (1993). Christian-muslim relations in Africa: The cases of Northern Nigeria            and Tanzania compared. London: British Academic Press.

Pyle, A. (2013). How to Prepare for an Interview. Booktango. 

Review of interview 1

Review of interview 1

 

 

1. Who scored highest?
Bugshan, Abdullah A

 2. Whose interview did you like best? Why?
Bugshan, Abdullah A, Alsufair, Hussain Adel A,. because they showed all of the informations that they have to do, and theier informations were so clear and understandable.

 

 3. Link to your evaluation score card (be sure to give public access for viewing!!)