Are violent games adding to violence in children/society?

This is one of my biggest "pet peeves" who in the world came up with the poposterous idea that a game or listening to a song can "make" you commit violent acts or suicide? What is everyones stance on this.

This was just brought forward in my mind again by this article:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/29/dixons_manhunt/
In which someone was murdered by an individual supposedly because of the game manhunt.
I think that is totally absurd and is just another 'excuse' for this kids actions so he'll get off with a mental plea or a like.

-_LeeBkr_-

Sick kids are sick kids, they don't need music or video games or anything else to go off. The one thing you can draw similarities between with all these kids is that their parents didn't pay attention enough to their problems. They probably all let the T.V. or computer be the babysitter. Now why these people are even allowed to procreate is beyond me but what are you going to do?

Do you believe it's a valid 'reason' or 'motive'? or just another 'excuse'. You said no but kind of infered that the TV/Computer was the babysitter. Do you see that as a cause?

i just love games with violence (with a lot of blood, better) and same kind of movies too and i cant consider myself as a "violent" guy. As my children. that like the same stuff.

I think there is no relevance for "regular" ppl. We know the diference between:

"Fantasy" AND "Real Life"

I vote yes b/c video games do have an effect on some kids - but the effects vary. There are violent games like "hitman" for example where for each person you kill, your score goes *down*. Also - when I was growing up there was this one kid that really would get violent when he played violent games. He and I got in fights just b/c he'd get riled up by the games... I never reacted like that, but they do have an effect. *However* - no videogame in the world can cause a kid to pull out a gun and blast his friends in the face at school. There would have to be some extreme problems with that kid, in which case he/she would probably gravitate toward more violent games anyway...

I voted "no" but I think there are extreme exceptions where they might have a factor. However, regardless of the case, it comes down to do parents know what their kids are playing? They should. You can't blame violence on games. I grew up on video games, and I'm one of the most peaceful people you'll ever run into (and I do like violent video games!).

The only games I'm vehemently opposed to are the Grand Theft Auto games, which is hard for me to oppose because game-wise, it's a genius work, but content-wise, it's a piece of crap. It's too realistic. Any game that has you shooting cops for kicks and taking prostitutes in your car has crossed the line and is a little too realistic for my tastes. I don't understand how that can be fun (heh heh, so play True Crime instead! Much better game! ;)). But even in that case, I can't blame those games for violent behavior, because again, parents should be watching what their kids play. As for adults -- well let's hope that surely, by then, they're old enough not to be influenced by a video game!

My thoughts, for what they're worth...

Who cares, apart from child psychologists, social workers, probation officers etc, etc, etc. There will always be the so called "professionals"who have a vested interest in looking for a reason or some explanation for violence in society. Violence exists, some people do not require a reason,to perpetrate some form of violence against another person. At some time or another, TV , videos, has been attributed to causing violent behaviour in kids. Now games.
I say beat the **** out of kids, give them some real violence.

I blame the parents. Don't even dare argue.



















































And Canada.

100% agreement, jm. It seems our society is trying to get away from the concept of responsibilty over one's own actions. We blame video games, TV...canada...;) What really got me was what I heard on the radio the other day -- "scientists" discovered in a recent study that bad behavior can be caused by genetics. So nothing is anyone's fault anymore! Woo-hoo!

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Originally posted here by Cybr1d
I blame the parents. Don't even dare argue.

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Which one? :D

The Canadian one?

All parents that are not there for their kids, that do not monitor their kids behaviour, who ignore a kid, who ignore a kid's behavior, who blame others for their kids behaviour, who never punish their kids when the kid mis-behaves, who have 4-5 kids when they can only take care of 1, who have kids for the sake of collecting more Welfare for their greed, who do not spend enough time with their kids to teach them right from wrong, who spend not enough time with kids to teach them about love and respect. If a parent meets any of those criteras, they should STFU when they see their kid shoot up a school, then kill themselves, and try to blame it on video games. Its the parents fault that there's kids from age 10-14 in my counter-strike server when the game clearly states its rated M for mature(17+). Its the parent's fault for letting their kids play these games and watch these movies.

Why **** not blame Pharmacies for selling Oxycotin, when kids rob em and OD and die?

All these games/movies are rated for the right age. Its not the producer's or game maker's job to make sure those ratings are followed.

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Originally posted here by LeeBkr311
Do you believe it's a valid 'reason' or 'motive'? or just another 'excuse'. You said no but kind of infered that the TV/Computer was the babysitter. Do you see that as a cause?

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Maybe I didn't make it clear enough but sick kids don't an excuse or cause to go off. My point about the TV or computer being a babysitter is that the TV or computer don't teach morals neither are they concerned about your mental welfare. That is a job for parents. When parents fail to be involved in their kids life they only have themselves to blame when their kids kill someone or themselves.

BTW- you used the word "motive" incorrectly.

I blame it on poor parenting. Poor parents blame it on the games, the government, the entertainment industry, etc.

you mean something like:

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All parents that are not there for their kids, that do not monitor their kids behaviour, who ignore a kid, who ignore a kid's behavior, who blame others for their kids behaviour, who never punish their kids when the kid mis-behaves, who have 4-5 kids when they can only take care of 1, who have kids for the sake of collecting more Welfare for their greed, who do not spend enough time with their kids to teach them right from wrong, who spend not enough time with kids to teach them about love and respect. If a parent meets any of those criteras, they should STFU when they see their kid shoot up a school, then kill themselves, and try to blame it on video games. Its the parents fault that there's kids from age 10-14 in my counter-strike server when the game clearly states its rated M for mature(17+). Its the parent's fault for letting their kids play these games and watch these movies.

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:D:D:D

Children don't come with intructions each and every child is different on how violent they are.I blame the media for a lot of this and poor parenting skills for not seeing how violent their child is and not seeking the help they need for this type of behavior

Did anyone notice that after Columbine... parents and the lovely scaremonger known as CNN kept calling it the Columbine incident.

incident - minor or casual or subordinate in significance, nature, or occurring as a chance concomitant or consequence;

Ahh with words like minor & casual... wouldn't you agree that these people seem to be trying to down-play a couple of things. When you think of the word incident another word comes to mind... accident which is commonly used in phrases such as:

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Oh, but it was an accident officer... I swear to god it was.

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Originally posted here by cdkj
I blame the media for a lot of this

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Ugh! :rolleyes:

The media (see also: liberal propaganda vehicle) is resposible for influencing the ignorant and those unable to form their own opinions. This is approx. 33% of what is wrong with this country.

I hope you are not saying the media is responsible for adding to violence in children.


Cybr1d:

While I agree with what you said, I simply took out the grammatical and spelling errors....then stated what I thought. ;)

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I hope you are not saying the media is responsible for adding to violence in children.

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No i not saying they are adding to it .what i meant was it's the media that blows it out of proportion.b/c the kid just happen to play the game when he commited the violent act. so what else is it to blame for it but the game. A child learns what is teach to them. If they live in a violent structure they are going to grow up thinking violents is ok.I not saying all are going to be violent only some. There onething i like to say thou parents will blame T.V ,games, Movies, etc ,But will not blame their selfs

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who never punish their kids when the kid mis-behaves, who have 4-5 kids

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I have 6 kids does that make me a bad parent :p

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A child learns what is teach to them. If they live in a violent structure they are going to grow up thinking violents is ok.

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Well, only to a point. Keep that in mind. Sometimes kids are smarter than we think. A kid can grow up in a violent environment and still become a peaceful person, simply because they think for themselves and don't just mimic what they see.

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Originally posted here by cdkj
No i not saying they are adding to it .what i meant was it's the media that blows it out of proportion.

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Good for you.

Yes, the media is famous for sensationalism. Unfortunately, the once (yet long gone) socially accepted "You are responsible for you." conviction has been abandoned for the quick-and-dirty "Who can I blame for this?" mentality.

I'm with cybr1d on this.

To much of this is happening due to lack of time spent with kids by parents

IMO it is bad parenting that leads to these issues but, what really pisses me off so much is when the parents blame our games for the actions their children took! Or, just another example of this same type of scapegoating how about when Nick Berg was beheaded in Iraq (after being warned and offered a way home) and his idiot father blamed Bush? I believe the true issue is in responsibility. Responsibility is one of the most lacking qualities in people now. I truly believe that is the source of a very large percentage of our contries and worlds problems. We have to be able to stand up, follow through, and be responsible for our actions. But instead games/books/music/etc. are banned because irresponsible parents decided to blame them for it because they are to prideful and embarassed to admit they made a mistake in parenting and maybe their children aren't the perfect little kids they thought they were...


-_LeeBkr_-


Are you sure I misused the word motive? (these are from dictionary.com)

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mo·tive Audio pronunciation of "motive" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (mtv)
n.

1. An emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an incitement to action.

rea·son Audio pronunciation of "reason" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (rzn)
n.

1. The basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction.

ex·cuse Audio pronunciation of "excuse" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (k-skyz)
tr.v. ex·cused, ex·cus·ing, ex·cus·es

1.
1. To explain (a fault or an offense) in the hope of being forgiven or understood

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The problem is so many people have an external locus of control, so they want to look for blame anywhere but from themselves. Emotions take over, find the nearest target, and there ya go...

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I have 6 kids does that make me a bad parent

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You missed something. I said:

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, who have 4-5 kids when they can only take care of 1,

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That makes you an insane parent. ;)

I personally do not think that there is a such thing as bad kid...
Just a misguided or misdirected child, with bad parents and/or very bad parental supervision!
But there are just some very horrible kids out there that do not care... but the reasons i listed above most likely comes into play there.

I think there are exceptions, unfortunately, jr05. I've learned a lot about that living in a cop family myself. I think it's best portrayed in the movie 9mm. At the end of the movie, the perveted sicko turns out to be a normal guy. When explaining his motives, he explains that he had a great childhood, great family life, no past trauma...he was just simply evil. It's what he wanted to choose, so that's what he chose. Nothing more complicated than that.

I believe there are bad kids. Though I don't really think that is the issue. I believe the issue is more with bad parents and lack of responsibility as I said before. What do you guys think of the ESRB ratings system (Kind of off from the original post but still in the same category)? Do think it's accurate? Do you think it's a good guidline for parents too follow? IMO there are some kids who at 10 could play any AO game and be mature about. While other 25 year olds shouldn't be allowed to play them! Just my opinion though.


And you know what they say....
"Opinions are like @#$holes everyones got one and they all stink!"


-_LeeBkr_-