26 replies to this topic

[Darklord999]

Alright now time for one more thing to get off my chest...Violence in video games.  now as of late, games today have taken a more violent turn and now parents are blaming video games for the reason y there is violence in youth today.  Rite, like computer simulation help kids plan how to kill a mass of ppl.  not the many images shown by the news or in the paper, but the games that they play.  Now what could be the difference between all these medias...how bout the fact that ur not there while they r playing these games.  U're there to clarify for what they watch on the news or read in the paper but u suddenly disappear when it comes to them playing video games.  Now i know that u cant be there every single second but thats y u should question them about what they play so then u can help them realize that what they do in games are way different than what they do in the real world.  And heres something to think about, even if these games didnt exist do u think they wouldnt be as violent.  When i play violent video games im calm afterwards and able to be happy again.  I believe if there werent any violent games, i would actually sufficate someone instead of taking it out on something else.  Its like swearing.  If we couldnt swear we would take out our anger in more hardcore ways.  So, next time that u want to bash video games or u wanna cover bad parenting skills, dont cover it by blaming video games cause then ud jus be destroying a whole industry and good venting theapy all cause u wanted to blame someone other than urselves.

[Godless-Liberal]

I think video games show too much violence, for my taste.  I do not think video games should be used to excuse behavior.  I don't believe that video games breed violence in general.  I do think those that are predisposed to violence (ie: ticking time-bombs) could be sparked by a game.  I believe it has been linked to it, although I don't know how scientific it was since it was a court case.

[Robulosity]

Lets look at games like

Doom 3
Bioshock
Crysis


How realistic are these? Graphicly Bioshock and Crysis blow EVERYTHING out of the water.. Some stuff looks rather real, but at the same time your shooting koreans trying to steal advanced possibly alien technology.. In Bioshock its the 1960's and your in an underwater city fighting geneticly corrupt people in a moral/restraint free city.

If you want to say my kid shot up a school cause these evil games showed him how to do it, then please invent a time machine and go abort yourself

[Stupendous Man]

kids ARE influenced by violent video games actually

It is a fact that children, particularly boys often mimic what they see. HOWEVER, simply playing a video game will not instantly turn a child into a hardened killer.
It's the overwhelming amount of violence children are exposed to on a daily basis that is the problem. You can't turn on the TV without being swamped with violent images. So what's the solution? Hide your child in a little bubble?
OR could it be... actual parenting?
Sorry to all the parents out there that are probably about to shoot me, but I think a large part of the responsibility lies with the parents and the lack of parenting that happens in today's society.
It's not the media, the TV networks or the computer gaming industries responsibility to raise today's children. Yes, I think there should be more restraint on the content in movies, TV shows and games, however parents need to stop relying on the TV and computer as a substitute babysitter.
Parents need to take the time to explain the differences between reality and fiction, and explain to them that violence is wrong.

I personally wouldn't let my kids (if I had kids) play games like Doom, Bioshock, etc, there's much more productive things they can do... like paint, or read books, or sports...

Anyways, that's my opinion

[Sammilicious]

I do think kids are influenced by violence. If you're taught that violence is ok, and you'll be rewarded for it (ie winning a game), you're more likely to act out on violent actions then someone who is taught to stay away from violence

[The_NuttyTart]

games and films can influence children.....but by the same token they do all come with an age rating for a reason...to show the age they have been deemed suitable for....for the children to get these games its more often that not the parent who has bought the game for them

and no matter how unrealistic these games may seem to us....we're looking from an adult perspective not a childs

jamie bulger was killed because two 10yr old children were influenced by the film chucky....a film rated for over 18s....they were allowed to watch these films

its like WWE....we all know its faked and a set up...kids dont...and they renact the fights with their friends...and 99% of the time someone always gets hurt

children have a great capacity for imagination.....and watching films or playing games deemed suitable for adults can have dire consequences

[Godless-Liberal]

Sammilicious, on Nov 19 2007, 09:20 PM, said:

I do think kids are influenced by violence. If you're taught that violence is ok, and you'll be rewarded for it (ie winning a game), you're more likely to act out on violent actions then someone who is taught to stay away from violence

Thank you for that comment!I should clarify that I was talking about teenagers, and not young children, because I would never allow a young child to play violent video games, regardless of the improbability of anything like it happening in real life.  If it involves guns, and killing, young children shouldn't be exposed to it.  Older kids, who already KNOW better, is a different story.

[Robulosity]

Sammilicious, on Nov 19 2007, 09:20 PM, said:

I do think kids are influenced by violence. If you're taught that violence is ok, and you'll be rewarded for it (ie winning a game), you're more likely to act out on violent actions then someone who is taught to stay away from violence

Then again, its called a parent should try oh...I don't know maybe try putting the stuff these kids see into context? Oh right, that would require them to get off their asses them selves and actually have something to do with their children.

And your example fails to deliver, but I'm sorry there is a HUGE difference in winning a computer game for knowing how to press your left mouse button to shoot virtual things when compared to using a real gun to kill a real person. First and foremost a person with a child should NEVER have a gun in their home (if they do, they should be using it on them selves so they're kids can be put with a smart parent). There should never be an exception to this rule.. Hunting rifels included.   Anyone ever stop to think maybe if a parent was a GOOD parent they'd be able to see the signs somethings not right with their child and they're taking things far to out of context and no longer have a grasp on reality... NOPE! Its easier to point the finger..

I've grown up with voilence everywhere in my life, and I know when its appropriate and when its not (and if any of you think voilence is never a solution, go hang your selves or something). Theres many kinds of voilence as well.  Force has a place, although it should be used as a last resort in most of them. Hell I've used a gun before, it wasn't my brightest moment but it was also one of the hardest things I ever did.  Want to tell me that shooting someone in the leg that was raping people in my cadets platoon was voilent and wrong?  Voilent sure, wrong not.

[faithrose]

Okay Sal (and everyone else)

Here is my opinion

I agree with you Sal to a certain extent....

I think you bring up a good point in that parents should be more aware of what types of video games thier kids play and that they should discuss with them the difference between a video game and the real world. For example, like mentioning to a kid "do you know that if you shoot a person in real life this would happen" type thing.

But I also think that after awhile kids get desensitized to what they play on a video game with the real world. It's a fine line, when do you know your child or youself perhaps is becoming desensitized to the different games that are played?

Also I'm glad that some guys who do feel angry or stressed go play videos games instead of letting their anger out on a peer or someone else (as much as they would like to). But I think too there are other ways of dealing with anger in a positive way other then shooting random characters in a video game. You don't need to play video games to know about violence; there is enough violence in the world around us. Just look around or read the newspaper.

Another thing that I heard from someone and I may be wrong is that some video games appear realistic (graphically) and that may play a role in the long run of desentizing a kid from the real world and the world of video games. I never played video games before so I don't know.

I think to that the kid playing video games has to take responsibilty for his or her actions. I don't think that some of the violence that you hear about in this world is due to bad parenting skills, in this case I mean (like school sootings etc..). It is the kids resposibilty because he or she is the one playing the video game and becoming desensitized to it. Also it is somewhat the parents responsibiltiy too.

Anyway I'd thought I'd post my opinion too Sal because we were talking about it a few days ago.

Hope it makes sense.

[Darklord999]

faithrose201, on Nov 29 2007, 06:14 PM, said:

Okay Sal (and everyone else)

Here is my opinion

I agree with you Sal to a certain extent....

I think you bring up a good point in that parents should be more aware of what types of video games thier kids play and that they should discuss with them the difference between a video game and the real world. For example, like mentioning to a kid "do you know that if you shoot a person in real life this would happen" type thing.

But I also think that after awhile kids get desensitized to what they play on a video game with the real world. It's a fine line, when do you know your child or youself perhaps is becoming desensitized to the different games that are played?

Also I'm glad that some guys who do feel angry or stressed go play videos games instead of letting their anger out on a peer or someone else (as much as they would like to). But I think too there are other ways of dealing with anger in a positive way other then shooting random characters in a video game. You don't need to play video games to know about violence; there is enough violence in the world around us. Just look around or read the newspaper.

Another thing that I heard from someone and I may be wrong is that some video games appear realistic (graphically) and that may play a role in the long run of desentizing a kid from the real world and the world of video games. I never played video games before so I don't know.

I think to that the kid playing video games has to take responsibilty for his or her actions. I don't think that some of the violence that you hear about in this world is due to bad parenting skills, in this case I mean (like school sootings etc..). It is the kids resposibilty because he or she is the one playing the video game and becoming desensitized to it. Also it is somewhat the parents responsibiltiy too.

Anyway I'd thought I'd post my opinion too Sal because we were talking about it a few days ago.

Hope it makes sense.

Well ur rite about the desensitizing part because i myself am desensitized to violence (probably y i like it so much) but ur rite that kids need to take responsibilities for their actions. Its the whole bad parenting not responsible for school shootings thing im havin trouble understanding.  Most kids do crazy things not only to gain the attention of their peers, but also their parents becasue they always ignore them possibly.  if u were to ask those kids at columbine why exactly they did what they did and to be honest since there werent cameras or money involved, theyd most likely say because i wanted my parents to pay attention to me for once. all im saying is that dont disregard anything jus because it doesnt sound like a nice idea Andrea and all.  jus know that in this crazy mixed up marble, nething is possible

[faithrose]

What are you having trouble understanding? Bad parenting...??

Yeah you could be right about how some poeple do stuff to get their parents to pay attention to them, that could be a factor too in the columbine shooting. But you'll never know what exaclly was going through thier minds at that moment when they killed thier classmates, we can speculate, but we won't know for certain.

Also I'm not trying to disregard anything just because I may not find it the best idea.

[Dirkalurk]

I think kids need their parents to explain things to them, you can't assume that they know violence is wrong, especially when you have them playing games that reward violence
It's a really mixed message

And as for kids like the ones in Colombine, I think that's a case where the parents should pay more attention to their kids.
If your kid locks themselves in their room for days playing any game, violent or no, that is a problem.

Though you can't put all the blame on the parents. Kids who shoot other kids are often bullied to the point they want to kill themselves and take revenge.
I think that is more a case of the schools not caring about how students treat one another.
In a modern society we should know that treating people with respect isn't something we SHOULD do, it's something we MUST do.

But what my point is, the video games are not to blame in that case, it's the access to weapons and the schools not stopping bullying

[MacDavid]

I see video games as a mixed blessing.
On the one hand yeah it desensitizes kids like crazy. Like I'd say movies do that better. Its mainly violent and often seems pointless. Many people have already made all the good points that can be said against video games. But to the young mind and the easily suggested mind, video games (as with movies, the news, and even books) must be sensored.
But on the other hand, like Sal said. I can't count the number of times I have stopped myself from walking onto the street with a knife to find someone who I'm not happy with by simply turning on my PS2 and locking myself away for the night. Now I understand that this is not the way for everyone and it may not even be healthy but it works. Video games have never suggested to me that I should do something violent, and most of the lessons I've learned and applied to life I've learned from video games. Again this is just me, I'm not an expert on people's behavior but the way I see it, human nature makes us violent, society gives us the openings and options to be violent. Video games don't have much to do with it either way.
Video games can either be a tool for some to relax through the hard times or fuel the fire. Without them, I'm sure I'd find some other way to restrain myself the times that I do, and other people would find other ways to feed themselves violent energy.

[Hollywood]

I do not see the point of violent games

[Godless-Liberal]

Hollywood, on Mar 31 2008, 03:30 AM, said:

I do not see the point of violent games

I don't like all the bloody ones.

[Robulosity]

Better then killing stupid people in real life?

[SuperSven]

I think if you take violent games in moderation it is fine. But remember violent influences CAN make you more violent, so it's good to counter your violent game play with something positive and gentle Like patting a puppy

[Apollo]

the problem is those violent games are marketed to small kids.
I'm sorry but how can anyone justify a game where the main goal is to kill people, sell drugs, steal, etc.?
And how does that not send a negative message to children?

[Violette]

what about games where the goal is to rape a woman?

[Robulosity]

Personally.. I play World of Warcraft... is it violent? It has its moments.. it also shows that you can celebrate special occasions and put your differences aside.. oh and that its totaly cool to smite some big evil dude for awesome loot..


Games like GTA etc.. are piles of garbage and market nothing BUT violence and crime