Can video games really to blame for violence among the younger generation? (interviews, FBI)

[JHusseinMoore]

Originally Posted by arod0331

Debating with yourself?

No.

There! I gave you the attention you were so desperately seeking. Now run along - grown folks are talking.

[city414]

Originally Posted by natalayjones

This is a sidebar but have you noticed you don't see those elmer fudd cartoons any more? Someone decided that a guy chasing a bunny with a gun and shooting himself in the face was too violent for the minds of young children.

How is that no one has figured out violent these Disney movies are? Deers getting shot, boys flying around with swords, young girls dressing like men and killing soldiers...it's a wonder these kids aren't crazy!

lol o have no clue, i guess cause its disney its all good, its all the same.

[arod0331]

Originally Posted by JHusseinMoore

No.

There! I gave you the attention you were so desperately seeking. Now run along - grown folks are talking.

You quoted and posted to yourself

Yeah, you should go, adults are talking.

[JHusseinMoore]

hi arod0331!!!!!!!

[wclac]

Originally Posted by emi__

Video games are not to blame. TV is not to blame. Movies are not to blame. Hell, even parents and drugs aren't to blame.

Killing a lot of people at one time wasn't always so easy.

Like the female dispatcher in Max Payne said, "Guns don't kill people, video games kill people".

[Frank_Carbonni]

My doubts of the Anderson study seems to be that he is biased (which doesn't make him dishonest or his methods questionable, but does mean he could be actively looking for someone even if it isn't there) and that there seems to be a lot of quacks whenever someone specializes with something to do with media.

Media sociology, media psychology, feminist studies and media, etc.

It seems that whenever someone decides to study how media effects _______, they always seem to use it to try to prove their little hobby horse. For example a lot of feminists and feminist influenced sociologists and psychologists have been trying to prove that pornography leads to rape and child molestation. They do it by implying a lot ("The shaving of public hair has become more common in the porn industry since the mid 1990s. You know who else has no public hair? Children! Imagine a generation of men who are attracted to no pubic hair...") and an extremely selective use of statistics. They ignore statistics like how murder and rape have gone down in areas where there is a lot of access to pornography (and video games) and studies that show results that do not support their claims.

Now, I'm completely willing to believe that pornography and video games have some effect on violent behavior and will "inspire" certain deranged individuals when they commit their deranged acts. I mean, so many organized crime figures and police officers have commented that the movie The Godfather has more influenced they way mobsters act and talk (the term "Godfather" was never used to refer to mob bosses until the movie came out, although Joe Valachi did use the word describe the man who sponsored him to join). Think about that. The movie was bigger influenced to the mafia than the mafia was to the movie.

However, what the anti-movie/pornography/video game/comic book/cartoon/whatever people ignore is that regardless of anything, nobody lives in a bubble. If you take a human being and expose them to nothing but violent entertainment and nothing else, do I believe that you can end up with a rather unstable, violent, and sadistic person? Certainly, but even the heaviest video game players or porn addicts or whatever still have other influences on their lives. They usually have friends, family, coworkers, school mates, other forms of entertainment, literature of some type, their own thoughts, social restrictions, larger culture, and so on. Plus I'm not counting economic factors like unemployment and poverty which seem to be more closely tied to the likelihood of committing a violent offense than 5,000+ hours of GTA IV will ever be. Any of which has the possibly of neutralizing any violent tendency that less wholesome forms of entertainment might encourage.

Besides, it's certainly not like there wasn't violence before video games. It is not like banning them will cause a noticeable decrease in the murder rate or will cause crazy people to do less crazy things. Anything can be an inspiration for murder. Hell, people have been inspired to commit anti-social and self-destructive acts from not only video games and movies, but also from Shakespeare's plays (look up how many teenage couples have committed suicide a la Romeo and Juliet), crimes previously committed (copycat serial killers and a lot gangsters view Al Capone and other famous mobsters as their heroes) and historical events and figures (serial killer Ed Gein made lampshades and other articles out of human skin like the Nazis). I really wonder what the effect on the human psyche is when it comes to reading and learning about true crime, literature, and history. I eagerly await the first study on that matter.

[Rita Mordio]

I've been playing games for well over the majority of my life. There's nothing like picking up a super violent game (like Loaded) and imagining that the enemy is the boss that ticked me off that day. There's nothing like playing a few missions of Devil May Cry 4 and just making a massacre out of hundreds of monsters.

I'ev said it before though, video games are fantasy - and to really enjoy games, you must have a clear concept of what is fantasy and what is reality. In fantasy, you can just grab a 6-foot sword and tear through your problems. In reality, you have to face your issues for what they are. In fantasy, you can shoot fireballs, steal and vandalize cars (without worry of actual jail time), play guitar by hitting just a few buttons... In reality, this is not the case.

So, it's the parents' job to ensure that their kids have enough maturity to handle "Z Game" without attempting some of the stunts in life.

I'd let my daughter watch Zelda: Twilight Princess. I would NOT let her watch Devil May Cry 4.

Just remember, obey the ratings.

Another concept that is easily argued is that Video Games may not necessarily cause violent tendencies amongst youth - but rather desensitizes youth to actions of violence. It's also one of the reason that the military uses realistic video game simulation of combat - so that the soldier not only gets to feel the gun in their hands, not only the feel of the gun going off and the kickback, but also a realistic view of what that gun will do.

[Langlen]

If you let videogames raise the child, then yes, the child will have violent tendancies, as they will know nothing else. However, if you supervise the child, instill into them a sense of right and wrong, and make sure they know that videogames are fantasies and how you act in a videogame and how you act in real life are two different things, then things will be different. The same can be said for music, movies, and regular television. Moderation and supervision is key.

I've been playing violent videogames since before ESRB came into the picture. I'm 22 now. I haven't gone on any killing sprees, I graduated high school with an advanced diploma, and I'm going to college for culinary arts. However, my personal form of entertainment at the end of the day is videogames.

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by Frank_Carbonni

My doubts of the Anderson study seems to be that he is biased (which doesn't make him dishonest or his methods questionable, but does mean he could be actively looking for someone even if it isn't there) and that there seems to be a lot of quacks whenever someone specializes with something to do with media.

Media sociology, media psychology, feminist studies and media, etc.

It seems that whenever someone decides to study how media effects _______, they always seem to use it to try to prove their little hobby horse. For example a lot of feminists and feminist influenced sociologists and psychologists have been trying to prove that pornography leads to rape and child molestation. They do it by implying a lot ("The shaving of public hair has become more common in the porn industry since the mid 1990s. You know who else has no public hair? Children! Imagine a generation of men who are attracted to no pubic hair...") and an extremely selective use of statistics. They ignore statistics like how murder and rape have gone down in areas where there is a lot of access to pornography (and video games) and studies that show results that do not support their claims.

Good to see someone actually take some time to look the study over.

My view is that they appeared to discover some stuff that might be worth looking into as video games evolve, it appears that a certain % of folks have elevated "rushes" after playing violent games, and with the advent of more interactive gaming, such as the Nintendo wii, perhaps acting out in real life shortly after playing may become more prevalent.

My opinion on the entire issue is that it probably does contribute a bit towards violence desensitivity in a certain % of kids who play these games. Hypothetically (this is only a discussion example) only 1 in 300 may act out, and perhaps 1 in 20 who act out do something really bad. So what you would end up with is 1 in 6,000 kids playing these games commits a really violent act and some would ultimately become publicized. The remainder of the kids then get defensive because they view their "hobby" as being picked on by prudish adults.

[cleatis]

Originally Posted by wclac

I know these days, whenever young people or teens do something bad, parents and the media blame the video games for their problems. I mean, why do video games have to be blamed fro all the violence for the younger generation?

I wouldn't just say video games. Violence is everywhere in our daily lives. I can tell that games, TV movies etc have effects. I just watch my nephews; after they watch something violent they act more aggressive and fight a lot more for the rest of the day.