Computers, smartphones and tablets are an indispensable part of everyday life nowadays. Almost everyone has access to them, including children and adolescents. They use these devices mainly for watching videos, communicating, taking pictures and playing video games. This thesis will focus on the latter, foremost among which are video games with violent content, first-person video games (in which the player looks through the eyes of their in-game character) and highly realistic games that contain as much detail as possible. As society progresses in the direction of non-violence, the problem of peer violence encountered in schools is becoming more and more apparent. School is supposed to be an institution in which all employees and students feel safe and at ease, but unfortunately this is often not the case. The theoretical part of this thesis defines violence, school violence and peer violence. Afterwards it focuses on existing video game genres and how violence in them is defined. Several games that are currently popular are introduced and their level of violence is presented. In addition, existing research on the impact of violent video games on teen behavior is reviewed. The empirical part consists of a survey of students aged 11 to 14, which explores the games played by either gender. The respondents have also been asked to determine whether the content of the games they play influences their behavior towards their peers and teachers. The goal was to ascertain their opinion on the connection between playing video games and peer violence.
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