All I have to say is that you guys need to chill. Video games don't cause people to be violent. Violent people cause violence. Any normal person should know right from wrong, so they know that killing somebody in real life will get you in a butt-load of trouble.
I completly agree with you. For people who don't agree with us, just turn on television to the 6 o'clock news and tell me now that violence is just in video games. When i saw two american soldier burned and tied to a bridge in irak some months ago and I see a shooter game like Grand Theft Auto, I think the video games is not violent at all. Even my child of 8 years old understand that violence in video games don't hurt anyone and that real violence is bad. When i see a father who shoot all is family with a gun, do we say: "the cause is violent video games" ?. No, we say he had mental disease and he needed help. Why it is different with other case?
Under normal conditions, violent video games and other such media have no effect on a person's demeanor. A vast majority of people feel relieved of stress when they play violent video games and are not inclined to recreate what they have done in the game in real life. However, it's important to note that video games, like any other form of information flow, can induce people to behave differently in special cases.
Let's use Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" as an example. At any given time, someone could read that book and see nothing more than the ramblings of a madman. Someone else, though, may read it and become "awakened" to what he or she is reading, increasing the likelihood that said person may act on what has been read. In this case, the book is no more or less dangerous than the video game that supposedly induces people to commit crimes. Given the history behind the book, I'm inclined to argue that it's worse, but censorship is not the answer.
Any time there is a flow of information, an individual's views and beliefs can be changed, for better or worse. I'm starting to feel like a broken record, but this is where good parenting comes in. Personally, I was not allowerd to play violent video games growing up (and I thank my parents for that), but when I was finally mature enough to play them, I fully understood that reality must be separated from fantasy. What is done in the game is not to be repeated outside. This is not up to the government; it is not up to the retailers; this is the sole responsibility of the parents to ensure their children are acting responsibly.
It games controlled or influenced how people act we'd all be running around in plumbers overalls, smashing mushrooms in a quest to save the princess. These people need to look at the root cause of the problem instead of grasping at hokey theories.
Heres an easy test to see if your child can tell the difference between whats real and whats fantasy:
Watch them play the game.
When their character on the screen dies or is injured do they feel pain or fall over dead because of a psychosomatic response?
No?
Good then they know its not real. If they believed it was and that they were truly living the events on the screen their minds would obligingly manifest their virtual pain and injury as reality.
Do they know that what their character on the screen is doing is wrong?
Depends on whether or not their parents taught them whats right and wrong.
The problem today is that video games have become the new babysitter. They have taken over from the TV as being a way to distract your child so you can spend the day not having to be a parent, completely absorbed in your own selfish distractions and schemes.
Can anyone else see that the over-abuse of this practice is the true source of childrens psychological and social problems?
Just as they used to blame TV for their childs behaviour so now video games have become the new evil since parents are incapable of placing the blame where it belongs.. on themselves. They are utilizing the age old mental defense of complete denial and blaming anything they can think of in order to keep from facing the truth.
Crucifying the entertainment industry as a scapegoat for societies ills has been a long standing crutch for those too weak minded to acknowledge their own faults.
This just proves that hasnt changed and probably never will.
Video games don't kill, people do.
Let's use Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" as an example. At any given time, someone could read that book and see nothing more than the ramblings of a madman. Someone else, though, may read it and become "awakened" to what he or she is reading, increasing the likelihood that said person may act on what has been read. In this case, the book is no more or less dangerous than the video game that supposedly induces people to commit crimes. Given the history behind the book, I'm inclined to argue that it's worse, but censorship is not the answer.
Any time there is a flow of information, an individual's views and beliefs can be changed, for better or worse. I'm starting to feel like a broken record, but this is where good parenting comes in. Personally, I was not allowerd to play violent video games growing up (and I thank my parents for that), but when I was finally mature enough to play them, I fully understood that reality must be separated from fantasy. What is done in the game is not to be repeated outside. This is not up to the government; it is not up to the retailers; this is the sole responsibility of the parents to ensure their children are acting responsibly.
Watch them play the game.
When their character on the screen dies or is injured do they feel pain or fall over dead because of a psychosomatic response?
No?
Good then they know its not real. If they believed it was and that they were truly living the events on the screen their minds would obligingly manifest their virtual pain and injury as reality.
Do they know that what their character on the screen is doing is wrong?
Depends on whether or not their parents taught them whats right and wrong.
The problem today is that video games have become the new babysitter. They have taken over from the TV as being a way to distract your child so you can spend the day not having to be a parent, completely absorbed in your own selfish distractions and schemes.
Can anyone else see that the over-abuse of this practice is the true source of childrens psychological and social problems?
Just as they used to blame TV for their childs behaviour so now video games have become the new evil since parents are incapable of placing the blame where it belongs.. on themselves. They are utilizing the age old mental defense of complete denial and blaming anything they can think of in order to keep from facing the truth.
Crucifying the entertainment industry as a scapegoat for societies ills has been a long standing crutch for those too weak minded to acknowledge their own faults.
This just proves that hasnt changed and probably never will.