Video games and Violence

airemeth090590

Hey i have got a paper in english to do, and was wondering if you all could post ur views on video games and violence. basically do you all think video games cause kids to be violent or not. Please and Thank you

Santacruz - Heavens Tear

basically.

i left my paper to the last minute and need some stuff to copy paste so i can pass the paper

Alliptica - Raging Tide

the shooting games probably. and stuff like Grand Theft Auto, oh my

Santacruz - Heavens Tear

imo its the persons mind and how their brain functions that makes them violent, not games and materials.

i was brought up watching horror films and violence on tv at a young age and it has not affected me atall, ok i was scared sh*tless at the time lol but im not a violent person irl atall

Graviora - Dreamweaver

I believe children are capable of knowing what is fake and what isn't. Well, in video games. Movies are a different story, but with video games, the animations aren't quite realistic in most cases and I believe that registers with a child's mind.

Flauschkatze - Heavens Tear

I'd be pretty violent if that would be tha case...

I started playing at around the age of 7, with a learning game for maths (which didn't help a bit, lol) and a game where you had cats on to play with (because we weren'r allowed to have real cats where we lived). somewhat later I also owned Jazz Jackrabbit (yay!) and some other jump'n'runs.

at 12 I started playing ego-shooter games and mmos, which I still do now (I turned 22 last month) and I think I hardly play less than 5 hours a working day now and never played less hours, only A LOT more when I was still in school and had the time.

I guess that would only be a problem if I had no social contacts or my parent's wouldn't have watched me (mh, my dad plaed some of the games with me^^)
many of my friends play even more than me, and they're not a bit violent.

I guess if there are people who play a lot that become violent, the games aren't the only reason for it. ofc games have an influence on your daily live, but just because I kinda know about different weapons in a game, I have no idea how to operate a real one.

k, this is a complicated topic, but it's hard for me to find the right sentences in english, and I don't have time to write a lot more now.

for me gaming is and was always just a big hobby that I do for fun. I also draw and play guitar/drums in my free time, there's not a big difference. every hobby has an influence on who you are.

Edit: omg, no time to correct the spelling mistakes I did, sry!

Esnemyl - Dreamweaver

i never play horrow games kllike the Resident evil series, i'll stick to my mmo's
PW doesnt have alot of gore at all, jsut those zombie things i see near harpy wraith aaand some sins skills, so i guess really the gores very lighthearted ?_?

BeingHope - Harshlands

Well it really depends on the person. PWI is my first game and I don't feel more violent than I first started (before I played PWI, I punched this guy in the stomach for telling my friend she was fat.... <__<) so yeah.

PWI isn't so violent and I love it because of that. No blood, I'm good. b:chuckle

I guess if people play violent games then maybe it might affect them? It doesn't necessarily mean it'll make them more violent, it could affect them in other ways such as use of improper language, more quiet/energetic, etc.

o.O yeah, my two cents on this topic

Zenzell - Dreamweaver

I think the only reason this is seen as an issue is that violent people are...well attracted to violence, and may like to play violent video games. Then they try to say that it was caused by the game instead of acknowledging the idea they are a fan of kicking peoples teeth in regardless of whats around them....thats sort of like saying watching Oprah makes you a nice giving person, if your not that kind of person you ussually turn that **** off.

ChaoticTears - Harshlands

Blaming video games for violence is a cop out by both Goverments and parents who are refusing to see the root "real" problems of todays society.

Which in most cases is themselves.

Bad parenting > Blame everyone else but themselves

Airyll - Dreamweaver

Children are the most vulnerable to having their view on the world twisted by video games, and even then, it requires special situations in order for video games to have any real "effect" on a child.

For example.

A child of sane mind who is brought up in a household where they are taught right from wrong and fact from fiction should never suffer confusion as to whether video game violence is real, or right. I was brought up in such a situation, and as I grew up I lived off games like Pokemon [where you battle practical pets against one another although back then, Pokemon didn't die in the games or movies.] Final Fantasy was another series I grew up living off, which can be perceived far more violent than Pokemon.

Did I run around setting my dog on other people's dogs or abusing my pets or beating up other people I didn't like? No.

However.

A child who is not taught fact from fiction or right from wrong is far more prone to having their views and opinions swayed by the games they play. This is because the games take the place the parent should have taken, and they are the teachers of morals rather than the family.

Even in these cases however it isn't doomed to make a person violent. Those with a mildly sane grasp and even faint morals should be able to tell that killing and hurting is not right, regardless of what they were taught.

Finally.

A child not of sane mind, so for example a child who suffers from a mental disorder [such as ADHD, like my little brother does] can unwittingly confuse video game lore with reality. In a household with caring parents, while the confusion can still happen and it can cause slight violence, it should cause nothing lasting.

In a household where the child isn't taught morals, in this particular case, it can turn out very grim. In these special cases, a child can become somewhat violet, as their perception on life isn't that of the normal young human.

Most people attribute child violence to video games because they don't want to admit the real facts of poor parenting. The truly abusive children are normally children who were abused themselves, or witnessed abuse of a family member. They may have been taught wrong from right, but in a constantly or near-constantly abusive household a child's mind follows the logic "actions speak louder than words" because this is how a child's mind develops. The actions of a parent can have an incredibly heavy impact on a child; this can range from a child being ignored to being constantly abused themselves.

Video games are the scapegoat for poor parenting and down right atrocious child abuse.

Because it's nicer not to think there are parents out there who beat their children, which causes this violent behaviour.

Kyna - Lost City

Hmmm.... well I'm a total fan of virtually beating the **** out of something after a rough day. For me violent video games are just an outlet, but I'm also not a small child. I can't say that games ever made me violent. If I turned it on with the intention of beating the living **** out of the pixels then I obviously had violent tendencies to begin with b:chuckle

Perhaps really small children would be swayed by video game violence, but a teenager or adult should most definitely have the sense to know what is right and wrong and that video games are just that. Games. Not real. When you're younger I think that it can have an influence on how you view things but that's what the rating system was put in place for.

In short: don't give your 9-year-old an "M" rated game.

That's how I see it anyways.

Fries - Dreamweaver

I've been playing all sorts of games for about 14-15 years now (started at around age 11) and you can be sure a hell of a lot of them were violent in one manner or another.
Based on my ''gaming career'' and if video games really made people violent, i'd currently probably be a serial killer with a couple of dozen bodies stashed in my basement yet somehow i'm probably one of the most peaceful people you'd ever meet. I'm not even sure i'd hit someone after getting hit myself.

If someone can get emotionally affected by games to the point where violence comes into question, they probably already had some serious issues before even picking up a game.

Waterfal - Sanctuary

Hmm.. it really depends on the person I gues.
I mean.. I can play any game, without getting violent... even if I keep dying over and over xD just makes me go >_> -.- take a walk... try again.
A friend of mine though b:embarrass
He destroyed about 10 mouses, including the one of his brother xD (who isn't going violent if he loses a game)
He also ones bit a piece out of his keyboard b:shockedb:embarrass

Zirrilla - Heavens Tear

No I don't think video games make people violent. I think it's how their parents raised them. Another thing would be if they had any mental problems, like being unable to decipher reality from non-reality(I think the phrase I'm looking for is schizophrenia).

OpalAthame - Dreamweaver

I don't think it makes people violent, its no where near real enough. I mean not many people can constantly run and shoot and beat the snot out of people and manage not to get in some deep trouble.
Although I have a violent imagination, I hate seeing people get hurt. And I was 7 years old when I started playing Unreal Tournament all the time for years with the gore setting to its highest. When you shot someone with a rocket launcher, they blew up, body parts and all and I thought it was tons of fun. Am I a sadistic trigger happy psycho obbsessed with blowing people up? No XD I can barely hurt a fly without feeling guilty. But like I said, I have a violent imagination and play violent games once in awhile. That is only so I can feel a sense of destructive all hail-me-or-be-obliterated power now and then in the safety of my own home that doesnt harm anyone in the real world.

The problem arises when a person gets stupid and forgets what is logical and real and OKAY.
Then gets worse when they pretend to be what kind of person they are in the game and start influenceing others.

Bottom line, it depends on the person. But there are some violent games that definetly shouldn't exist.
Such as a certain sicko murder happy religious game I won't name ><

Biafra - Heavens Tear

Violence in games came from violence in real life. Not the other way around. I think war, abuse, pride and hate and so on are more likely causes for kids to become violent. Video games, nah not so much. I love to run around shooting people in video games, but I have a phobic fear of guns and a disgust in violence.

Biafra - Heavens Tear

Airyll - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Children are the most vulnerable to having their view on the world twisted by video games, and even then, it requires special situations in order for video games to have any real "effect" on a child.

For example.

A child of sane mind who is brought up in a household where they are taught right from wrong and fact from fiction should never suffer confusion as to whether video game violence is real, or right. I was brought up in such a situation, and as I grew up I lived off games like Pokemon [where you battle practical pets against one another although back then, Pokemon didn't die in the games or movies.] Final Fantasy was another series I grew up living off, which can be perceived far more violent than Pokemon.

Did I run around setting my dog on other people's dogs or abusing my pets or beating up other people I didn't like? No.

However.

A child who is not taught fact from fiction or right from wrong is far more prone to having their views and opinions swayed by the games they play. This is because the games take the place the parent should have taken, and they are the teachers of morals rather than the family.

Even in these cases however it isn't doomed to make a person violent. Those with a mildly sane grasp and even faint morals should be able to tell that killing and hurting is not right, regardless of what they were taught.

Finally.

A child not of sane mind, so for example a child who suffers from a mental disorder [such as ADHD, like my little brother does] can unwittingly confuse video game lore with reality. In a household with caring parents, while the confusion can still happen and it can cause slight violence, it should cause nothing lasting.

In a household where the child isn't taught morals, in this particular case, it can turn out very grim. In these special cases, a child can become somewhat violet, as their perception on life isn't that of the normal young human.

Most people attribute child violence to video games because they don't want to admit the real facts of poor parenting. The truly abusive children are normally children who were abused themselves, or witnessed abuse of a family member. They may have been taught wrong from right, but in a constantly or near-constantly abusive household a child's mind follows the logic "actions speak louder than words" because this is how a child's mind develops. The actions of a parent can have an incredibly heavy impact on a child; this can range from a child being ignored to being constantly abused themselves.

Video games are the scapegoat for poor parenting and down right atrocious child abuse.

Because it's nicer not to think there are parents out there who beat their children, which causes this violent behaviour.

I only want to say one thing, I have adhd and I refuse treatment for it. I have no problem knowing whats real and whats fake. ( when im sober )

Airyll - Dreamweaver

Biafra - Heavens Tear wrote: »

I only want to say one thing, I have adhd and I refuse treatment for it. I have no problem knowing whats real and whats fake. ( when im sober )

I only want to say one thing.

My little brother is eight years old, has ADHD, dyslexia and shows signs of autism.

He struggles sometimes.

Happy yet? Honestly. I wasn't picking a certain disorder, so calm down. I was giving an example based on my little brother, and two other ADHD positive friends I have. Chill.

airemeth090590

ChaoticTears - Harshlands wrote: »

Blaming video games for violence is a cop out by both Goverments and parents who are refusing to see the root "real" problems of todays society.

Which in most cases is themselves.

Bad parenting > Blame everyone else but themselves

I totally agree
Bad parents always blame everything elseb:angry

DeadRaven - Sanctuary

I am at work so I am going to make this post quick b:chuckle

My personal opinions aside, empirical research on this issue most consistently suggests that exposure to violence has a short term impact on the behaviours of elementary school aged children (they will act more aggressively in their play) but does NOT have a statistically significant impact on long term behavioural patterns. Consequently, your question, "do video games make people violent," needs to be qualified with greater specificity.

However, I have not personally read any cohort studies examining "long term, repeated" exposure to television and video game violence. My suggestion is to hit a database like Sociological Abstracts and look for metaresearch articles that review multiple data sources.

It is definitely an interesting, and controversial question to raise

ArchSeraph - Dreamweaver

Generally, people choose to play certain games because of their behaviors, not the other way around. You can see this in action by trying to get someone to play a game outside of their normal genre, which often leads to them playing it only to appease you before returning to their games or becoming open to a new way of playing games.

People that have violent leanings may play violent games as a way of expressing their violent tendencies without real-world repercussions. However, that being said, they are just as likely to engage in games that aren't necessarily violent as a form of healthy escapism.

If playing video games lead to people being violent, then check the statistics for the number of players that have reached high levels in shooting games and compare that number to the number of public shootings. You will not reach a correlation, as the number of people that play games such as Halo 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Counter-Strike, Quake, etc. do so as a competitive passtime, not because they delight in bringing about human misery and death.

The idea that video games produce violence in our youth was brought about by people that haven't played video games and thus feel that they need something to show for it. If you want empirical statistics of what video games do to children, read the statistics of improved eye-hand coordination as a result of playing shooters, improved empathetic judgement as a result of playing Role Playing Games, and improved logical reasoning as a result of playing puzzle/adventure games.

Slivaf - Dreamweaver

In my honest opinion it is not just 'bad' parents that blame others for there short-be-comings. No ONE likes to have the blame 'placed' solely on there shoulders.

Argo, there is many articles from BOTH sides, disputing that it is the other, person's fault.

Video games can not be blamed for brainwashing our society into a violent frenzy fueled rampage, any more then this person or that person can be blamed for letting themselves succumb to the words of some crazy dictator bent on world domination.

Though yes it starts with the parents, but it does end with the person that it "affect's" it is BOTH of there faults that the violent offender turned out as they did. Perhaps the violent offender didn't get enough love/hugs as a child, or perhaps the parents were never prepared for parenthood. Either way, the blame can't/should never be placed squarely on the shoulders of one person; however, there are sadly indeed times, where that does happen. I wonder how many violent offenders ACTUALLY played video games as much as avid gamers do?

/end reply

My advice to the orinigal poster, I wouldn't use what we post in your paper, sure its faster, then researching the topic; but, we can not be credited as a 'legit' source, sure some of us may seem real... knowledgeable about the subject, but we are no english majors, nor are we definitive/giving you much needed facts about the subject, not to mention, I know my grammar sucks big time. =x lol

XanZerstorer - Dreamweaver

Nah.

As other said, I'd be violent as **** if that was the case.

I've been playing games since my father got us a NES, like 20 years ago. I was 4. My older sister (now 31) never got into it, and my dad hogged the thing a good part of my childhood, lol. Still, he got me to play. Our games were Bubble Bobble, Dragon Warrior (the original Dragon Quest), Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. Most of my cousins got NESes... which turned us into one game-happy family.

AFAIK only one out the... maybe 10-12 gamer cousins I have, only one was monitored. (I've got a large extended family... most of my aunts/uncles had 2-3 kids on my mom's side, and they were 10)

And none of us came up to be violent. I'm agressive, not violent. We knew that stabbing people with swords was a bad thing, and I don't recall my parents telling me that either. I mean, making the difference between what's fake and what's real isn't a hard thing to do...

My cousins and I used to basically LARP. We grew up on JRPGs, fighters and beat'em up's... but it still remained fake. Today, most of us are into MMOs, or retro gaming.

What goes wrong is when kids believe games to be real. Lotsa factors in that, ranging from relatives' behaviors, general environment, the child's abilities to differenciate between what's real and fake...

MoonUsagi - Heavens Tear

I am playing games for a long time, i had a little sister and brother.
My sister once liked a game that let you slash or bomb many people at once, like three kingdom games or something like GTA even counter strike.
Yet she not violent at all o.0 . . i am not violent too . . o.0

For me violence is part of someone since birth, it have a potential to grow much more especially if the owner feel his needs & rights not satisfied yet.

Boredom, bad days, losing on everyday competition, little knowledge of reality, heavy burden, love, confusion, money over humanity, lost of faith, can't wait for dooms day (so earth can be cleaned from humans), greed, politic influence, mind corruption , endless self conflict, fail on reaching life dream, lacking of something since birth, tired of human works, and many other.

Basically violence is already on everyone mind, and the potential will grow depend on how you seeing and react to many things at everyday live in these world.
I think games only show you some example, if the player understand the meaning of living a peace full live (before dead come) then it just another entertainment on their live.
Many violent people never play games, yet they were violent. b:surrender

Yulk - Heavens Tear

ChaoticTears - Harshlands wrote: »

Blaming video games for violence is a cop out by both Goverments and parents who are refusing to see the root "real" problems of todays society.

Which in most cases is themselves.

Bad parenting > Blame everyone else but themselves

well put

10 chars

Zenzell - Dreamweaver

Baifra wrote:

I only want to say one thing.

My little brother is eight years old, has ADHD, dyslexia and shows signs of autism.

He struggles sometimes.
[QUOTE=Aiyll - Dreamweaver;7534922
Happy yet? Honestly. I wasn't picking a certain disorder, so calm down. I was giving an example based on my little brother, and two other ADHD positive friends I have. Chill.[/QUOTE]

Er....he doesnt sound angry to me, I think he is just stating his veiwpoint. I have asberghers myself, and tbh as a person with a syndrom I think it only has a really massive effect on a persons behavior if the main way to deal with it isnt centered around self control...it doesnt force behavior, just makes things harder. I played games all the time and I practically grew up without parental figures and I still turned out fine.

Airyll - Dreamweaver

Zenzell - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Er....he doesnt sound angry to me, I think he is just stating his veiwpoint. I have asberghers myself, and tbh as a person with a syndrom I think it only has a really massive effect on a persons behavior if the main way to deal with it isnt centered around self control...it doesnt force behavior, just makes things harder. I played games all the time and I practically grew up without parental figures and I still turned out fine.

Regardless, it seemed he was trying to make a point that what I was saying had no point to it, where I'm afraid to say it does.

Certain mental disabilities - or mental disorders that stack up one on top of the other - can make this issue complicated and can cause video games to have a slightly more profound effect on the mind.

Like my original post in this thread stated, the main problem for child violence is bad parenting. My little brother can get incredibly violent at times - he has broken a lot of things in our household when he gets incredibly angry. This isn't because he plays video games, this is because his father does not supervise him. Like I said, bad parenting. My little brother will bully me and swear at me because he sees his father doing the same and in the mind of a child, the parent's example plays an incredibly large role.

Remember to read the original, initial posts of people too. Nowhere did I say that a disorder is the sole reason a child (also note, CHILD - I doubt that poster was only eight or nine) would misconceive video games being based on reality. Only that disorders can help confuse a child's mind, and that if this coincides with poor parenting, yes, video games can end up changing the way a child sees the world.

Note how I'm still coming back to parenting, because this is what it comes down to.

Biafra - Heavens Tear

Zenzell - Dreamweaver wrote: »

He struggles sometimes.


Er....he doesnt sound angry to me, I think he is just stating his veiwpoint. I have asberghers myself, and tbh as a person with a syndrom I think it only has a really massive effect on a persons behavior if the main way to deal with it isnt centered around self control...it doesnt force behavior, just makes things harder. I played games all the time and I practically grew up without parental figures and I still turned out fine.

lol somehow that quote made it look like i said i had a little brother with adhd.

but yeah i wasnt upset at all.

Biafra - Heavens Tear

Airyll - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Regardless, it seemed he was trying to make a point that what I was saying had no point to it, where I'm afraid to say it does.

Certain mental disabilities - or mental disorders that stack up one on top of the other - can make this issue complicated and can cause video games to have a slightly more profound effect on the mind.

Like my original post in this thread stated, the main problem for child violence is bad parenting. My little brother can get incredibly violent at times - he has broken a lot of things in our household when he gets incredibly angry. This isn't because he plays video games, this is because his father does not supervise him. Like I said, bad parenting. My little brother will bully me and swear at me because he sees his father doing the same and in the mind of a child, the parent's example plays an incredibly large role.

Remember to read the original, initial posts of people too. Nowhere did I say that a disorder is the sole reason a child (also note, CHILD - I doubt that poster was only eight or nine) would misconceive video games being based on reality. Only that disorders can help confuse a child's mind, and that if this coincides with poor parenting, yes, video games can end up changing the way a child sees the world.

Note how I'm still coming back to parenting, because this is what it comes down to.

yeah im 20.

I'm not saying your wrong either, I'm just saying its not for everyone. I'm just making a case against that point, not in bad intent or anything though, just for the sake of debate.

tweakz

Violent games are a scapegoat for the SSRI family of drugs which don't prevent suicide, induce apathy and hostility.