Video Game Addiction and Teenagers: Understanding The Allure

Teenagers have a big job to do. They have to cement their identity, gain a realistic sense of their power to make changes in their life and create a social support network where they are valued, accepted and feel like they belong to. In short they have to grow up feeling good about who they are and what they can do with their lives. However, our world is not perfect and sometimes these challenges are more than teenagers can bear. All sorts of things can go wrong with these goals that are so necessary to a being a well-adjusted and happy adult. When this happens teenagers experience themselves as depleted and long for meaning and satisfaction in their lives. This is usually what’s going on in a life of a teenager when they become addicted to video games.

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Teenagers and Violent Video Games: Questions Following the Newtown Shooting

In the aftermath of the nation’s most tragic school shooting, many people across the nation are asking questions to try to understand how this could have happened and how events like this can be prevented in the future. The issues coming to light are age old debates such as gun control and school security, and the link between violent video games and aggressive behavior among teenagers and young people. Adam Lanza, the killer behind the horrific Newtown massacre, was an avid video gamer who played violent video games such as Call of Duty for hours. Do playing violent video games translate to real life violence? Research into this issue shows evidence supporting both sides of the argument.

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