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 Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 5:50 pm
Recently, as I'm sure you have heard, or not heard, there have been numerous debates about violence in video gaming. Most of these disgussions have been about the amount of sexual content, violence and harsh themes in the game we know as Grand Theft Auto. There is a debate about cencorship and about places violent games such as these in a stronger system of ratings to keep them away from children.
Statistics were taken to show that teenagers who are involved with violent gaming among other forms of entertainment are more lickely to be violent themselves.
Do you think that Video Game violence causes real life violence among it's players? Do you think Children shold stay away from such games as Grand theft Auto or Halo? Do you believe that there should be a harsher reglation of video game rating?
This is an important topic, PLEASE don't ignore it or flame it in any way. What I would appreciate is input and serious debate. Any rant, flame, or rude post WILL be deleted!
This is NOT my opinion! This is what I know and what I want to address!
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Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 9:12 pm
There is a reason why they included in that game that it had mature content.
Anyway, little kids are known to be influenced easily (I would know, I have a younger sister gonk ), so its no surprise that they actually copy what they see. But there is a difference between playing cops and robbers with water-squirting gun and actually hurting someone while playing cops and robbers. Parents just have to know what to look out for.
For Teens... Well, I cant say much since I'm still living in the era sweatdrop
The most I can sat here is that despite all our attempts to act mature, we still have much to learn and how we should act. There are those who play games for the fun of it, my brother plays GTA too, but he has never once portrayed a violent nature. Annoyance, maybe, but its a sibling thing.
And honestly, if the goverment really do try and make a serious ban on games like that, teens everywhere would be super pissed. Seriously. I bet there might be a rally or such.
Whether or not I'm with the ban of extremely violent video games... It actually depends on the people I'm with. If I have a friend who practically lives in a video game, re-enacting everything down to gore, that friend is dumped faster than you can say "iPod nano". If I have a friend who also plays video games but can tell the difference between a game and real life, thats a keeper.
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Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 9:27 pm
No no no no no! D:
I'm 15 years old. I've been playing video games since I was three, and even earlier than that I watched my mom play. She played Doom and stuff, and I remember very distinctly when she told me that it was okay to kill stuff in games, but not in real life. xD
It's all up to the parents. The parents need to take some friggin' responsibility, read the game ratings, do some research, maybe play the game themselves or something. It also depends a lot on the kid's mental maturity, not just their age. My little brother plays more M-rated games than I do, and he's 9. But he's really mature and smart for his age, because my dad has taught him very well.
I do think, to an extent, little kids are impressionable. I mean, my grade-school days were filled with Sonic-The-Hedgehog-themed backyard adventures. But they're also smart. I always hated it when adults treated me like I didn't know the difference between reality and games.
With the media going bonkers over the whole issue, I'm more worried about the adults in my family than they should be about me! I live with my grandparents and my mom, and I've always tried very hard to hide the fact that I play games with violent content from my grandparents. I figured out early on that the news left way more impressions on them than video games did on me.
I actually think that video games are a great release of anger. When I get into one of my school-induced must-destroy-earth moods, I grab RE4 and blast some stuff. It's fun, it makes me feel better, and then I'm in a good enough mood to deal with my problems effectively.
If the government actually did go insane enough to ban violent video games, a lot of people (including me) would have no release for their feelings, which might result in... violence!
I wish I could find a really interesting article I read on this topic. It had some charts that showed that the youth crime rate actually went down after the release of one of the GTA games.
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Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 9:42 pm
I'm also 15 years old. I'm a naturally violent person (bad temper) but I wouldn't copy something I saw on a game. Like shooting a group of people and stuff like that. In fact the reason why I play violent video games is to take away the anger I have from daily drama in my life. Plus, they are just so fun whee . So in my case it prevents violence in real-life. But there are people out there that would. I read this book about school shootings I think Columbine or something. It said the kids that shot the students were really interested in violent video games.
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 8:03 am
Well, Perosnaly I think that parents should just keep a better eye on the rateings of games.
For example, two years ago for christmass my mom got us a ton of new games for our PS2, one of them included "Prince of Persia, the warrior withen" An M rated game. Now, my mom is not to bright when it comes to technolagy but she watches enough movie channels to know what "M" means on rateings. Me and my sister where playing it a few weeks after she got it for us and she comes upstairs to my sister rippin' the head off of one of her oponents and blood flying everywhere. She flipped out, naturaly, but we got her to calm down by explaining it was probably her fault and shouldn't get us in trouble.
If things like that happen more often then they should, the blame can be placed on parents. After all, when I was a kid and the N64 was just out all I wanted to do was play Lion king (( one of the better games baced off a movie, I have to tell you.)) and every varriation of mario bros I could find. And I know that most kids who I babysit want to play spongebob or some other game that is cartoon-related.
But once you get passed the cartoon-games and move on to more mature games, you are ready for it and won't be affected in such a dramatic way. I think if the parents just baught the games kids asked for, that appeared appropriate (( some kids ask for earlier versions of GTA, but I have only seen that once.)). In other words, just listen to the kids and use common judgement. I mean seriously! You don't even have to look at the rateing of a game called "Grand theft Auto", just the name betrays it!
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 2:49 pm
Arekusa There is a reason why they included in that game that it had mature content. Anyway, little kids are known to be influenced easily (I would know, I have a younger sister gonk ), so its no surprise that they actually copy what they see. But there is a difference between playing cops and robbers with water-squirting gun and actually hurting someone while playing cops and robbers. Parents just have to know what to look out for. For Teens... Well, I cant say much since I'm still living in the era sweatdrop The most I can sat here is that despite all our attempts to act mature, we still have much to learn and how we should act. There are those who play games for the fun of it, my brother plays GTA too, but he has never once portrayed a violent nature. Annoyance, maybe, but its a sibling thing. And honestly, if the goverment really do try and make a serious ban on games like that, teens everywhere would be super pissed. Seriously. I bet there might be a rally or such. Whether or not I'm with the ban of extremely violent video games... It actually depends on the people I'm with. If I have a friend who practically lives in a video game, re-enacting everything down to gore, that friend is dumped faster than you can say "iPod nano". If I have a friend who also plays video games but can tell the difference between a game and real life, thats a keeper. I agree with you on the matter that childern are influenced really easily. I think tis the parents that should moniter what thier children are playing.
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 2:59 pm
i agree but if it's only to the really sick people that take that to the extream. those are the ideat taht shouldn't be playing video games at all.
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 3:11 pm
NO! Okay, I'm 14 years old, I have played videogames all my life, and I cannot live without them! scream
Look, the goverment is f****** crazy! stressed I mean, I have a lot of schoolwork everyday so I haven't had much time to play them. crying But I have to agree, it's not the kid's fault as much as the parent's. confused You see my dad also plays videogames, so he either buys the games or approves of the games I buy. So tecnically it's really all in the parent's hands. I mean I watch Silent Hill, Grand Theft Auto, and any other violent game, and I don't go around killing people. It's a stupid idea to ban videogames.
I think it's a cover to say parents can't control their children...
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 3:14 pm
FantasyFollower NO! Okay, I'm 14 years old, I have played videogames all my life, and I cannot live without them! scream Look, the goverment is f****** crazy! stressed I mean, I have a lot of schoolwork everyday so I haven't had much time to play them. crying But I have to agree, it's not the kid's fault as much as the parent's. confused You see my dad also plays videogames, so he either buys the games or approves of the games I buy. So tecnically it's really all in the parent's hands. I mean I watch Silent Hill, Grand Theft Auto, and any other violent game, and I don't go around killing people. It's a stupid idea to ban videogames. I think it's a cover to say parents can't control their children... yeah but there thing about playing at your frineds house though all you have to do is say your studying at a friends hosue when your really going to play a volent game with your friend and if your mentally sick then you can get those idea's from playing those games.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 11:47 am
~Ami_Watase~ FantasyFollower NO! Okay, I'm 14 years old, I have played videogames all my life, and I cannot live without them! scream Look, the goverment is f****** crazy! stressed I mean, I have a lot of schoolwork everyday so I haven't had much time to play them. crying But I have to agree, it's not the kid's fault as much as the parent's. confused You see my dad also plays videogames, so he either buys the games or approves of the games I buy. So tecnically it's really all in the parent's hands. I mean I watch Silent Hill, Grand Theft Auto, and any other violent game, and I don't go around killing people. It's a stupid idea to ban videogames. I think it's a cover to say parents can't control their children... yeah but there thing about playing at your frineds house though all you have to do is say your studying at a friends hosue when your really going to play a volent game with your friend and if your mentally sick then you can get those idea's from playing those games. Then that's when the parent really has to step in! I mean that's when a parent has to be really careful. It's not our fault kids lie and disobbey their parents.
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 9:30 am
Well, I'm not exactly sure about proposed bans. For the people who can play games like GTA (which, pardon my opinion, I just don't see the enjoyment in) and not become violent, kudos to you- you are truly something else. However, my experiences with kids who have played such games are not pleasant at all- in fact, I think 80% of the boys in my grade played GTA, excluding a few sweet individuals. Do you KNOW how many fights we get a day? eek
Still, I'd feel bad about proposing a ban and punishing innocent game-players...So I'm sort of at a loss confused
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 7:03 pm
Politicians who have qualms about video games need to consider that fact that the fault lies in the gamer's parents, not the game.
There are age ratings on the game box for a reason, but some parents disregard it then pay the price later. You don't buy T or M rated games for your small child, not even your preteen. If you even want to consider buying a game with a rating that is above their level, you need to know your child's maturity level.
If the child is in the age that they are easily impressionable, then they shouldn't be presented games that have brutal acts of violence.
I, myself, play games no higher than T, but I'm looking at one game that is M. I've asked my mother about it and checked with others who have the game the reason for the rating. She's said yes, but I am still hesitant until I'm 18 (Obviously I'm not 18 yet... sweatdrop ). My mom deems me mature enough to play M rated games, but I'm still going to wait until I'm 18.
Another issue, i say, is how parents shelter their children far too much in this day and age. The world is a horrible nasty place and those who can't deal with it will fall short. If only, the children need a slow maturity that increases with responsibility. It'll improve the next generations of children, but only if it is applied by the parents.
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 8:19 pm
FantasyFollower ~Ami_Watase~ FantasyFollower NO! Okay, I'm 14 years old, I have played videogames all my life, and I cannot live without them! scream Look, the goverment is f****** crazy! stressed I mean, I have a lot of schoolwork everyday so I haven't had much time to play them. crying But I have to agree, it's not the kid's fault as much as the parent's. confused You see my dad also plays videogames, so he either buys the games or approves of the games I buy. So tecnically it's really all in the parent's hands. I mean I watch Silent Hill, Grand Theft Auto, and any other violent game, and I don't go around killing people. It's a stupid idea to ban videogames. I think it's a cover to say parents can't control their children... yeah but there thing about playing at your frineds house though all you have to do is say your studying at a friends hosue when your really going to play a volent game with your friend and if your mentally sick then you can get those idea's from playing those games. Then that's when the parent really has to step in! I mean that's when a parent has to be really careful. It's not our fault kids lie and disobbey their parents. yeah i agree with that. most parnets now adays keep a short lesh so those kids get the 3rd degree most of the time because their parents have the hardest time trusting them.
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 8:53 pm
I think it's ridiculous, the way politicians like to blame poor gun control on video games.
They tried to blame the Columbine shootings on heavy metal music and video games, didn't they?
Anyway. Obviously, yes, there is violent material in video games.
If parents are concerned about their children mimicking video games, they need to accept responsibility and filter what their children are exposed to!
You can't hand a 6 year old a copy of GTA and expect them not to mimick it in some way.
I remember when my little cousin started playing Halo 2 with his brother, when he'd get mad, he'd yell, "I'm going to kill you with a plasma grenade!"
But there are plenty of children who don't mimick such violence. I've played video games all my life, and I've never had that problem.
If parents are so concerned, they need to make sure their children understand the difference between reality and a video game.
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 7:26 pm
I will agree with most of you above that parents should regulate what thier children are watching/ playing, but I have to say that there are instances that children sneak around, out of curiousity to find out what is so taboo. There is reasearch that shows children are extremelly influenced by what they see. There was an anaysis a few years back that put preschool kids in a room one day and showed them watching Barnie. The next day they were watching Power Rangers. The differences in play time after watching the two shows was phenominal! Kids that watched Barnie were more into sharing and sensitivity, and kids that watched power rangers seemed to be acting on a more agressive scale.
In such times when a child is away from a parent for one reason or another, how will it be certain they won't be influenced is they got thier hands on a game like halo or grand theft auto?
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