Violence (again) in videogames: The points that the cautious raise |
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In Tosheena Robinson-Blair's column, over at The Daily News Journal, Robinson-Blair dishes out several reasons why those who fear violence in videogames do so. The author says that games like GTA and Killzone allow players to use weapons to shoot and kill people and provide them experiences wherein they can drive recklessly and shoot up the place.
The author says that all this is similar to training methods used by the military. The author takes time to note that in "Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence," Grossman & DeGaetana wrote that these training methods include brutalization (the training that makes one accept that violence is the norm), classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and role modeling.
The author goes on to mention that a lot of other studies which shows that long-term childhood exposure to violence in media is a key factor in half the nation's 20,000 annual homicides. The author notes the studies made in 1992 by the Journal of the American Medical Association where it was shown that since TV made it's debut in some cities in the 1950s, there was an immediate explosion of violence on the playground, and within 15 years (the time it took for those 1950s kids to grow up) the murder rate doubled.
The author's bottomline:
I have argued and still do that violent video games take off from where violent television stops. Violent television desensitizes children to criminal acts. Video games provide enough shooting practice on how to get it right.
The author warns that while wrestling games on the Xbox and the PS2 may be popular, it was just five years ago when Lionel Tate, 12, claimed he accidentally killed his 6-year-old neighbor when he tried out a wrestling move on her. The author also asks readers to recall Columbine.
The author raises very pertinent points. However, it just makes one wonder, if video games provide young kids shooting practice, and it teaches them kiddies to be violent and mean and oppressive to each other, what does playing cowboys and Indians teach us?
If video games consoles are the next generation of toy-guns that desensitize your youths to violence, what did wooden toy-swords do back then? Moreover, wasn't it supposedly the dream of every "good" parent back then (you know during the days prior to media) to raise good strong children so that they can be excel at being excellent soldiers? Perhaps just having to go through growing up and adolescence now-a-days is enough 'brutalization' for anyone?
Anyway, the author raises several noteworthy points, that are obviously worth arguing (for and against), but we'll let you guys do it. For more details on the author's argument, check out the read link below.
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Comments [refresh]
Im 19 years old, first got my greasy mitts on doom at age 7 or 8.
Have i killed anyone?
Not yet at least, nor do i intend upon
I really thought we had moved on from this debate. Throughout history, people have wrongly claimed that art drives societies trends and not the other way around.
If it was true that violent videogames make people become violent in nature, then shouldn't the mass of sports games out there have produced a generation of kids who are incredibly passionate about sports with a strong desire to succeed (i.e. to win, like they do in the games)
1- It takes an already compromised individual to even think about committing such crimes in the first place, with or without the "help" of the violence seen in video games.
2- Shooting in a game with dual joysticks and trigger buttons is no where's near the same experience of firing a real firearm. Plain and simple, a video game can't teach you how to handle a weapon, or prepare for it's kick back or deal with aiming it either.
Fact 2 is false.
As a Brit i cannot legally use real firearms, but have in my travels to the us.
Although the kick back is a HELL of alot different.
My aim is just as deadly air soft, light gun, or the real deal.
I have been playing games since I was very young. Now I am 17, and after playing gta vice city, gta san andreas, sonic, mario, and MANY other games, am I going to go around jumping on animals like mario, destorying machienes like sonic, killing mob bosses like in gta, or go kill some gangstas?
No. If someone had ever killed someoen it is not the games fault, but the persons own sick mind.
Why dont we.....
Ban books cuz we can learn to kill.
Ban TV cuz we can learn how to kill.
Ban Food becuase it kills us.
Ban people becuase they can hurt us.
Ban driving becuase people cant drive.
Just Ban everything that is not good for us and we would be in a frikin bubble eating paste out of a jar doing nothing with our lives.
On a positive note gaming has been known to be an outlet for frustration. People kill imaginary creatures and shoot people in games so they dont have to do that in real life. I dont know how many times my friends and I have been stressed out and played a game of Halo online or COD2 to calm us down.
As King Poubar kindly sugested, fact 2 is indeed false.
No, you are not prepared for the kick back, neither feels the grip the same. But (there comes the cliché-stylish "but"), you should be better at handling weapons. Not only is your reaction time better than the average, also your hand-eye coördination should be a lot better.
But those things don't make you a killer, those things let you react quicker, better and more efficient in combat situations! We indeed would be better at shooting someone, but that's where fact 2 comes in.
If you got muscles you don't necesarily break someones nose every day, but it would help if someone would try to break your's.
I rest my case.
Good point!
Just because someone made a statement saying that videogames induced violence, go and look at the full report. It could be a 2% increase for all we know. And taking into acount percent error, that number is highly insignificant. We would need something around 10-20% to even begin to make this claim.
If video games cause violence, then why has the civilized world seen a general decline in crime since..well...forever?
If games caused violence, then pulling would stop it. So go ahead, try it. You will fail you mongering swine.
And like ... said, nobody from the early days of gaming go around jumping on people's heads or running around with a giant hammer. It just doesn't happen. It's about PARENTING. People these days are just too lazy to do that and will blame anything that they can when their child acts up.
you've got to be kidding me, this bull***** again!!!???
People are sitting here *****ing about how violent video games are ruining our children's lives. Why don't they attack television violence as well, or *maybe* they should just STOP BUYING THEIR CHILDREN VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES!!! You don't go out and buy your kids pornography do you? Maybe that's why i don't hear anybody *****ing about that!!
I'm 20 years old, and you'd think that people more experienced and older than I am would surely understand that complaining about this issue is a pointless waste of time and is costing our states millions of dollars to deal with idiots that actually press charges against violent video games!!! But, I've been wrong before, because apparently no matter your age... you can still be a *****ing idiot.
The REAL problem is with the people complaining about violent video games, not the "violent video games" issue itself. They are unjustifiably afraid for no reason that a possible threat might exist in the form of one type (not all types, just video games) of media. These *fanatics* are wasting taxpayers hard earned money to fund these irrational cases against violent video games.. and IT'S ABSURD!!
There IS NO SPECIFIC THREAT directed in the form of violent and abusive video games. You have more of a threat in television and movies. Every single gamer has NO PROBLEM with violent video games. It's only adults (and i use this term only according to age, not mentality) who DON'T EVEN PLAY VIDEO GAMES that have issues against them. What's sad is that most of them are just sheep following a biased shepherd....
My final words will be this, "Give it up, because if you are one of the people that are complaining about violent video games corrupting our children.... SHUT UP, because you're WRONG."
Just another angry b itch and/or skank on her period! HAHAHAHAHA. Your a retard if you think violence in video games is a factor in some one going out and killing people bla bla bla bla bla We've all heard the speach before. That pornograhpy bit was a great point koru-sama!
Fact: Video Games caused the Lincoln assassination.
Fact: Roman soldiers played many nonstop hours of games such as Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat, and Doom, sometimes for days at a time.
Fact: It is now known that John Lennon's assassin was playing the game Tetris when he murdered the slain Beatle, not reading Catcher In The Rye as scholars had previously thought.
Fact: Hitler loved all of the Zelda games (especially the Link To The Past) because of their obvious neo-nazi views, but mostly because Link had blonde hair and blue eyes.
after reading articles like this and comments like yours I just have all these thoughts come to mind...
btw: I usually don't take sides and I try to see both points, but sometimes I get tired and I don't give a damn... this is one of those times
1) A lot of games train motor and cognitive skills, not just violent ones. Dance Dance Revolution is a pretty decent example. Anyone can see how it can train someone's agility and reaction time. Anyone can make a claim that DDR helps train children to run from the cops using the physical improvements resulting in hours of DDR. Is my logic flawed there? maybe a little, i don't know.
2) A lot of games for children, not just GTA, have violence in them. Sonic the Hedgehog goes around destroying property and jumping on things. Mario has been jumping on turtles for years, and has recently started punching and kicking them. Kirby shoots things from his mouth (upon other actions). Spyro the dragon is a cute little guy who breathes fire on his enemies (draw whatever you want from that).
I'm sure more people can think of similar situations.
3) Is it that violent games create violent people? Or is it that violent people are attracted to violent games? Or are the two linked by causation/correlation at all?
4) I think sports games can be worse than violent games in a way. Think about it. GTA is obvious. Most children know that violence, especially to that extent, is not something acceptable in the real world. Sports however, not just sports games, promote aggression between at least two opposing factions. You see football players ramming into each other and the audience cheering. It's a subtle promotion for aggression. (I'm just trying to use their logic).
5)Yes, violent video games can be a problem, but only when joined with uninvolved, or permissive parenting styles (maybe even authoritarian sometimes). Bad parenting is always a no no.
Don't blame the games, blame the people.
"The devil made me do it"
I had more to say, but for now I gotta go to work. I work in a clothing store where parents, along with their children, shop. I also play tons of violent video games.
FEAR ME
Anyone who claims games are "training" to fire a gun correctly, either haven't held a gun, or haven't played a videogame in their lives. Holding a controller and firing the digital representation of a gun at the press of a button is worlds different from firing a gun and cannot be held as training. It's entirely ludicrous. Pointing a digitally accurate crosshair that is lined up in your point of view flawlessly by a computer is totally different from lining up those sights yourself without the assistance of a digital crosshair. It's enfuriating to hear that people attack violent videogames by claiming that they are training in any way.
these people that make these freakin debates have probably never even played video games, the opinoins are worthless
nigers