Do video games make children violent?

[SandsOfTime404]

I say it falls on the children, or more accurately the player in general. They are the ones consciously making the decision to play these games, and therefore the responsibility falls on them to make sure they can handle it. Especially with games nowadays, the line between fantasy and reality can become very blurred. If you don't trust yourself enough to be able to separate the two then it's probably best to avoid it or limit time spent around it. The biggest issue, in my opinion, is that people lose sight of the fact that these games are not real.

[risinxereon]

I say it falls on the children, or more accurately the player in general. They are the ones consciously making the decision to play these games, and therefore the responsibility falls on them to make sure they can handle it. Especially with games nowadays, the line between fantasy and reality can become very blurred. If you don't trust yourself enough to be able to separate the two then it's probably best to avoid it or limit time spent around it. The biggest issue, in my opinion, is that people lose sight of the fact that these games are not real.

 

or trying to base their personality off of it because... their too into it... but seriously it's not just the video games... My brother wants to be like his fav games but he also wants to be like Spongebob, Ed-Ed-&Eddy, DWWH (Dude what would happen), DBD (Destroy Build Destroy), MAD (MAD TV), etc. Which he got to the video games because he based his fav tv stuff know what kind of games to look for... and then he denies it because he included what they do into his personality...

Edited January 5, 2011 by risinxereon

[DarkNinja13]

Ah this debate...

Are video games turning little Johnny and Suzie into cold-blooded murderers?

 

I say - absolutely not!

 

Why do they hate on video games? Simple, when their precious little brats go and do something that is so terrible that their minds cannot comprehend it, they need a scapegoat (just like Uberman said). Why? Because mommy and daddy know if they don't find something, anything to blame it's their fault! By pinning the blame on these evil video games that are everywhere, they excuse themselves of having to accept the fact and responsibility that, as parents, they dropped the freakin' ball.

 

Don't believe me? Let me share.

 

Back in '90 I lived in Denver, and I used to watch xtian television shows on occasion (I know, but they are just so ridiculously dumb some of them are so funny, the rest simply lame). One of them, a show called "Act it Out", would dramatise letters they recieved and at the end of it, all the people who were really involved in the incident in the letter would get up on stage, and hash things out. The host would ask them things, as would the audience. Well, the first one I saw, a kid had sent a letter in and as things progressed you could see that he was suicidal. When the host got to the end of the letter it was revealed that this kid had posted this letter and then shot himself in the head afterward. The two people mentioned in the letter that was being acted out was this kid's mom and his girlfriend. The letter had mentioned, and it was shown in the reenactment, that the girlfriend found the gun the kid was planning to use (when she saw it, she kind of pushed it under the pillow). The host asked her about the gun and her reply was she thought it was fake (the kid was a bit of a prankster and he was always pulling gags on people) - when the kid's mom heard her say that she saw the gun, Mom went into attack mode. The first words out of her mouth? "You knew he had a gun? It's YOUR fault he's dead now!" - which is such a lovely thing to say to a 16 year old girl. Point is, mom now decided it was this girl's fault - typical of most parents these days. Instead of asking "Is it something I did" or "Is it something I should have seen?" Mom whipped out the blamethrower and started firing away.

 

Same thing with the parents of the kid who was killed by a friend of his that "copied" the game Manhunt back in February of 2004. Warren Leblanc lured a 14 year old friend of his named Stefan Pakeerah to a park and killed him using both a knife and claw hammer (both of which are tools of death in the game). Even though it was later revealed by defense council that Leblanc murdered poor Stefan out of fear of a gang he owed some money to, Stefan's mother, Giselle Pakeerah, held onto her belief that the killing mirrored scenes from Manhunt, in which each player earns points for stealth murders (actually the ease of killing if why you really want to steath kill in Manhunt, but I digress). She says Leblanc was obsessed with the game. Why would she say that? Even if you ignore the fact that Jack Thompson, the now disbarred lawyer who has a mad-on for Rockstar had shown up and poured that honey in her ear, she is also (to me at least) trying to paint Leblanc out to be a victim as well. A victim of those evil video games.

 

That is the only, and I do mean, only reason that people blame games for the things some people do. They can't, and more notably, refuse to believe that their precious children could become murderers without something "conditioning" or "grooming" them for it. Without a scapegoat or a dog to kick, that means little Johnny and Suzie have something wrong with them. If the children have something wrong with them...maybe they got it from mommy and daddy.

 

....no, no, no!

It's the video games.

It's that heavy metal rock music.

It's the movie "Natual Born Killers".

It's that book "Catcher in the Rye".

It's Dungeouns & Dragons.

It's Satanic Devil Worship.

It's drugs.

It's that boy/girl they hang out with (I just knew that damned kid was bad news!).

It's....we don't care what it is - as long as it isn't us!

[marharth]

It's Satanic Devil Worship.

That might actually be a issue :biggrin:

[McclaudEagle]

I would have to say that it varies from person to person.

 

I myself have proven that violent video games don't always turn children into violence. In fact, it's the opposite. Many people find that if they are angry and they play a shooter game, they end up relieving their stress levels, all while taking it out on a game rather than a real person. However, this can be different to some, especially sadists and depressives. It might encourage them to carry out an act portrayed in the game, either because they like it or because they aren't getting enough relief from the game.

 

I would also say that if a child becomes violent due to a game, then the parents can be equally held accountable as they are responsible for their child's welfare. Now, granted, I wasn't perfect, nor were my parents. My mom bought me GTA 3 when I was young (can't remember how old I was). I did get banned from playing it, but I won playing it again.

 

I have not turned out to be a particularly violent person. If I become violent, then it's because someone has caused me to do so.

[Vindekarr]

I think at core a child's developement is the fault of an inept parent rather than anything they are exposed to in life.

 

I often struggle not to laugh in disgust when I hear "mother's groups" and "child welfare societies" "condemn" video games "that made their children violent"

 

Answer yourself this oh high and mighty maternal ones then: why are your toddlers even being allowed to play R rated video games?

 

Can you not see the huge red warning labels? did you not think to consider your childs age? are you perhaps blind? or simply do not care about their welfare?

 

Because children shouldnt even be allowed to play games that are mentioned as being a risk, For the love of god open your eyes! who is more at fault, RockStar games for making a game ai9med at adults? or the inept housewife that buys such a game for her five year old child?

 

It's the same as with DVDs, this whole arguement was begun by inept, incapable parents wanting to blame somebody else for something that is at heart, only ever their fault.

 

If you want to listen to Jack Tompson, be my guest, but frankly, his arguments are based entirely off foolish misrepresentations and a shear inability to understand or take responsibility.

 

Tompson is no longer a practicing lawyer, he lost his licence rather dubiously for "misconduct during court cases", and frankly, having read this Wikipedia entry, he strikes me as a man who simply joined this argument to further his own anti gaming agenda.

 

DarkNinja is exactly right.

 

Parents today rely so heavily on technology, and others to raise their children, that when that finaly comes to haunt them, they'll go to the ends of the earth to try and convince the world they arent the bad parents they really are.

 

Im an author. I got a letter recently from a woman who's 15 year old daughter had been given a copy of my new omnibus to read, had read it cover to cover, and been so taken by the similarity of the protagonist's early life to her own that she confronted her parents over their alcaholism.

 

The mother grounded her for three weeks, and sent me a flame-letter demanding I pay compensation for her daughter realising that it's not normal for your parents to drink alacahole to excess every day.

 

Now, I am not responsible for this, the parents are. I did not tie them down and shove a bunch of grog down there throats. They made the decision to let their daughter raise herself while they drowned themselves in booze every day. I did not use black magic to make their daughter realise that drunkardness is bad, she read a work of comercialy available fiction marketed for a 16+ audiance, saw the negative effects of alcaholism, and made an inderpendant decision to confront her parents on that.

 

Herp Derp! I bought my two year old kid XXX porn and now he is permanently emotionaly scarred! death to video games! Because that's obviously not MY fault, I only baught it, made him watch it, and didnt think about consequences! Thats NEVER my fault!

Edited January 6, 2011 by Vindekarr

[DarkNinja13]

It's Satanic Devil Worship.

That might actually be a issue :biggrin:

Trust me - it isn't :thumbsup:

[Loktyre]

My youngest brother is turning into a violent young man.

 

He does not play the same kind of video games I do, and have been playing since the old Doom 95. Violence is a constant part of daily life and is something many of us are regularly subjected to.

 

Many things can have a psychological impact on people. Kid's are no exception to traumatic experiences and desensitization. But it's important to find differences between those two.

 

If I were to link you one video off of the numerous shock sites that post both very real, and very fake material I would wager that a large majority of posters, and lurkers would interpret that into a somewhat traumatic experience. After spending hours, days, weeks, even months of browsing the same shock material you will probably become desensitized to it. Much like how watching a nut shot, or a skater wipe-out gets very old after time and what used to make you cringe only makes you yawn.

 

Some people can't continue to watch it, and will dwell on what they have seen. In daily life and on the internet there are numerous opportunities to experience things. Some we wish we will never see, some we wish we had never seen, and some we would like to see. When you blow a mans head off, and cut his body into little pieces with a machete in a game... and then witness it in real life which do you think will have a more traumatic effect first? The brain in most cases can make a distinction between the real and the fake. A 3D virtual world which actually looks 3D and has repetitive action will most times not inflict as much pain on a person as watching a real person being shot, decapitated, beaten with a bat, etc...

 

There is also the issue of young kids who begin to suffer from personality disorders. APD has been characterized to help define disorders that can manifest in psychopathic or sociopathic tendencies. But that is an entirely new issue all it's own with an even larger debate behind it. Are Psychopaths made or are they born? Children as young as 14 killing animals or people may not have done so because of games. Those games however are an easy target for manipulation by both kids and parents. People who can not make a distinction between two different worlds may have psychological conditions that are undiagnosed or misunderstood. It's a shame that so many people who are against games because of violence don't understand that a pre-existing condition can be a major cause of violence.

 

That's where I believe my younger brother is starting to show violent behavior. I have played violent games since I was 5. One of my favorite was doom 3, getting to cut someone in half from the waste was very fun. I am incapable of harming others intentionally though. It's who I am because I don't suffer from any condition in which violence is natural to me. I do watch videos and look at images off shock sites regularly. Much of the material you see is very real and very disturbing. At this point I can browse it and be completely unaffected by it. Since my little bro is only 8 right now there is still time to see what he develops into. If he ends up killing an animal or a person there may be nothing I or our parents can do to help him if he were to ever be diagnosed with tendencies that mirror that of a Psychopath/Sociopath. Since he has not been subjected to much violence I would say whatever he's been up to isn't coming to him from Harry Potter and SpongeBob games. I would say it's coming naturally.

 

This doesn't mean that everyone who is violent is a Psychopath... In certain cases it may be though and it's not a word or label you can just slap onto people. Anti Social Personality Disorder is debatable. How it's formed, and what it may lead people to do. But it's something that needs to be addressed when it comes to issues like this. Not everyone is the same, and not everyone you meet, no matter how nice they may seem may just be the next door neighbor who kills and will blame it all on something else.

 

It's a sad reality that not only are children not always innocent but that they can also be determined, and driven by many of the same things that drive adults.

Edited January 6, 2011 by Loktyre

[marharth]

I would like to say the following...

 

I am not violent at all, however I would not feel ANY remorse if I killed someone.

 

I wouldn't want to kill anyone of course, but I can't see myself caring.

 

This doesn't make me violent, I do not like violence and I am strongly against all violence.

 

I think this is what would happen to kids that played violent games, they might just not care as much about violence due to being used to it.

[DarkNinja13]

My youngest brother is turning into a violent young man.

 

He does not play the same kind of video games I do, and have been playing since the old Doom 95. Violence is a constant part of daily life and is something many of us are regularly subjected to.

 

Many things can have a psychological impact on people. Kid's are no exception to traumatic experiences and desensitization. But it's important to find differences between those two.

 

If I were to link you one video off of the numerous shock sites that post both very real, and very fake material I would wager that a large majority of posters, and lurkers would interpret that into a somewhat traumatic experience. After spending hours, days, weeks, even months of browsing the same shock material you will probably become desensitized to it. Much like how watching a nut shot, or a skater wipe-out gets very old after time and what used to make you cringe only makes you yawn.

 

Some people can't continue to watch it, and will dwell on what they have seen. In daily life and on the internet there are numerous opportunities to experience things. Some we wish we will never see, some we wish we had never seen, and some we would like to see. When you blow a mans head off, and cut his body into little pieces with a machete in a game... and then witness it in real life which do you think will have a more traumatic effect first? The brain in most cases can make a distinction between the real and the fake. A 3D virtual world which actually looks 3D and has repetitive action will most times not inflict as much pain on a person as watching a real person being shot, decapitated, beaten with a bat, etc...

 

There is also the issue of young kids who begin to suffer from personality disorders. APD has been characterized to help define disorders that can manifest in psychopathic or sociopathic tendencies. But that is an entirely new issue all it's own with an even larger debate behind it. Are Psychopaths made or are they born? Children as young as 14 killing animals or people may not have done so because of games. Those games however are an easy target for manipulation by both kids and parents. People who can not make a distinction between two different worlds may have psychological conditions that are undiagnosed or misunderstood. It's a shame that so many people who are against games because of violence don't understand that a pre-existing condition can be a major cause of violence.

 

That's where I believe my younger brother is starting to show violent behavior. I have played violent games since I was 5. One of my favorite was doom 3, getting to cut someone in half from the waste was very fun. I am incapable of harming others intentionally though. It's who I am because I don't suffer from any condition in which violence is natural to me. I do watch videos and look at images off shock sites regularly. Much of the material you see is very real and very disturbing. At this point I can browse it and be completely unaffected by it. Since my little bro is only 8 right now there is still time to see what he develops into. If he ends up killing an animal or a person there may be nothing I or our parents can do to help him if he were to ever be diagnosed with tendencies that mirror that of a Psychopath/Sociopath. Since he has not been subjected to much violence I would say whatever he's been up to isn't coming to him from Harry Potter and SpongeBob games. I would say it's coming naturally.

 

This doesn't mean that everyone who is violent is a Psychopath... In certain cases it may be though and it's not a word or label you can just slap onto people. Anti Social Personality Disorder is debatable. How it's formed, and what it may lead people to do. But it's something that needs to be addressed when it comes to issues like this. Not everyone is the same, and not everyone you meet, no matter how nice they may seem may just be the next door neighbor who kills and will blame it all on something else.

 

It's a sad reality that not only are children not always innocent but that they can also be determined, and driven by many of the same things that drive adults.

 

Then voice your concerns about this to your parents. Let them know you are seeing a trend and have them watch the little guy and see if they notice it as well. If it is a predisposition to violence and not just the usual things a child of 8 would do, then act. Find him a phyical hobby if need be - baseball, soccer, bike-riding, martial arts (hint hint :tongue: ). Seek alternative ways to stimulate him and things for him to learn from.

 

As wierd as this is going to sound children are like puppies. If you play with them and keep them occupied, they won't chew the house up. You leave them go too long and that's all they will ever want to do.

 

Again, do share this with mom & dad. If you don't you will have effectively become a part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

 

Remember: "The evil of the world is made possible only by the sanction that you give it" - Ayn Rand