Does virtual life change real life?

There are so many wonderful possibilities for virtual technology.  I am not familiar with many instructional applications other than virtual field trips, but have used prmgrams to manipulate house plans and furniture arrangements.  I have seen websites that have 3-D models of places and things that made them come to life.  I would love to see how the Quick-Time Studio works.  And I will never forget how much fun it was to create my little granny in glasses when we got a Wii and having my grandchildren say, "That's nana!"  But, at the same time, I hear children talking about the games they play and it sounds as though they believe they are actually their avatar.  Some of the games are so violent that the avatar gets terribly hurt or killed and then jumps right up to be hurt or killed again.  Children seem to "know" the characters and speak of them as if they were human.  Children talk to each other about the game characters as though they are real.  I can't believe that is healthy.  While the technology is amazing. it appears to me that it is used more for games  than it is for educational purposes.