blackhawk
Diamond Member
I just finished a game of Modern Warfare 3 got 10 kills feel no desire to kill in real life.
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I just finished a game of Modern Warfare 3 got 10 kills feel no desire to kill in real life.
There is no evidence that violent games breed killers. The first amendment protects the rights of the producers and the right of people to purchase these games.
No right should be discarded because of the acts of criminals.
I think we've gone the wrong direction with video games.
We've limited the amount of gore in games, very little blood. It takes the realism out of the game.
We saw a demonstration at Scout Camp once where the range officer put a pumpkin out in front of the target board and proceeded to shoot it with a 12 gauge. He then explained to the boys that this is why we practice gun safety as that is exactly what a gun like that can do to a persons head.
I could see that it had the boys thinking.
But are you kids who have been playing these games since you were pups? Day in and day out? A possible form of programming during the years your core values were formed? Sure we all played Cowboys and Indians, Cops and Robbers, etc. when we were kids. Sometimes we were the Cowboy; sometimes the robber. But it was not hours of repetition in which success was measured in how successful we were in creating mayhem.
I love video games and play them a lot. And my very favorite happens to be a game based on wiping out all the opposition. I'm not about to judge anybody for enjoying something I too enjoy.
But isn't there room to at least consider what these super violent games could be doing to some kids?
But are you kids who have been playing these games since you were pups? Day in and day out? A possible form of programming during the years your core values were formed? Sure we all played Cowboys and Indians, Cops and Robbers, etc. when we were kids. Sometimes we were the Cowboy; sometimes the robber. But it was not hours of repetition in which success was measured in how successful we were in creating mayhem.
I love video games and play them a lot. And my very favorite happens to be a game based on wiping out all the opposition. I'm not about to judge anybody for enjoying something I too enjoy.
But isn't there room to at least consider what these super violent games could be doing to some kids?
We should consider everything. In most cases, video games will have no negative impact, but like all things in life, some will become obsessed. We've all heard about those who called off work for 3 days when the newest World of Warcraft expansion came out, or the crazy Korean who played Starcraft until his bladder burst and he fell over dead. Humans are a strange species. But these are the rare exceptions.
Should we try and develop ways to identify people like Adam Lanza and Jared Loughner? Of course. Maybe the first sign is the inability to distinguish fantasy from reality. I knew a guy in high school who took Batman comics WAY too seriously. If it were today, little doubt he would have been obsessed with video games. But it was the personality that made him obsessive, not the medium.
A boy like Adam Lanza who doesn't have access to guns will just fill bottles with gasoline, the gun isn't the issue. Likewise prohibiting video games will just drive him to obsess on comic books, or GI Joe dolls.
There is no evidence that violent games breed killers. The first amendment protects the rights of the producers and the right of people to purchase these games.
No right should be discarded because of the acts of criminals.
There is no evidence that violent games breed killers. The first amendment protects the rights of the producers and the right of people to purchase these games.
No right should be discarded because of the acts of criminals.
Which is why I have not proposed that people be denied the right to purchase the games.
I HAVE proposed that we as concerned citizens consider what these games may be doing to some kids.
Is it not possible for both concepts to co-exist side by side?
Very good analysis my friend... It was the point that I was trying to make exactly.. Think about how insensitive or badly programed that many minds are now, towards that which was once good in our society anymore. Then think about how drawn to these other bad things ((just as you have also mentioned)), that we are drawn to anymore, in which as a nation we are now glorifying or lifting up these days? It has become an ugly and very bad problem in this society anymore.Well while I understand your point Beagle, I don't think Paul is in favor of corrupting minors any more than I think most who enjoy violence in their entertainment, including video games, is going to commit violent acts.
But you do raise one point. There was a time in America when Andy Griffith and I Love Lucy and all the old long running sitcoms were great entertainment for the vast majority of Americans. But as they lack gratuitous and graphic sex, violence, profanity etc., they are no longer intriguing or fun for the younger generation coming up. Just as those who watch the super violent movies become immune to the pain, gore, blood, and mayhem and seek more of them; just as those who become fixated on pornography seek it out; it only stands to reason that young people will become accustomed to violent video games and prefer those to the Mario Brothers and other more innocent pastimes that a lot of us learned to play.
And maybe the genie is out of the bottle and we can't turn back the clock and recreate a society with different tastes and perferences. But I doubt any kid was ever inspired to go out and kill people after watching Andy Griffith.
Would require further test ? How about the reality test and their results that are already out there ?There is no evidence that violent games breed killers. The first amendment protects the rights of the producers and the right of people to purchase these games.
No right should be discarded because of the acts of criminals.
Which is why I have not proposed that people be denied the right to purchase the games.
I HAVE proposed that we as concerned citizens consider what these games may be doing to some kids.
Is it not possible for both concepts to co-exist side by side?
Considering what the games do (not may do) to children would require double blind tests with full controls and detailed psych evaluations prior to the playing and then at intervals during the period of play. We can see the anecdotal evidence in the violence rate among the age groups that we are considering and the violence has gone down since the games were introduced. You must remember that our children don't always learn what we teach but they will learn something from what we teach depending on their interpretation of the consequencial value the information holds for them.
There is no evidence that violent games breed killers. The first amendment protects the rights of the producers and the right of people to purchase these games.
No right should be discarded because of the acts of criminals.
Which is why I have not proposed that people be denied the right to purchase the games.
I HAVE proposed that we as concerned citizens consider what these games may be doing to some kids.
Is it not possible for both concepts to co-exist side by side?
Considering what the games do (not may do) to children would require double blind tests with full controls and detailed psych evaluations prior to the playing and then at intervals during the period of play. We can see the anecdotal evidence in the violence rate among the age groups that we are considering and the violence has gone down since the games were introduced. You must remember that our children don't always learn what we teach but they will learn something from what we teach depending on their interpretation of the consequencial value the information holds for them.
Kids are not walking into stores purchasing video games rated Mature, the store won't sell them to minors. It starts with the parents. They are the ones buying this stuff. Maybe they buy it for themselves then let their kids play it as well? I don't know. But I do know that many, many parents today seem to think absolutely nothing of letting their kid have a cell phone at age 7, an iphone or android with internet access at age 12, tv in the kid's room, computer with internet access in kid's room, Playstations and Xboxes in kid's room. Really? That's like opening your front door and saying 'come on in world and have at it'. I simply don't understand giving a child that much freedom at such a young age.
If the demand for these games/shows goes down and demand for better, less violent/graphic goes up that's when the makers will change what they produce. Unfortunately I don't see that happening anytime soon. The genie may indeed be permanently out of the bottle.
But are you kids who have been playing these games since you were pups? Day in and day out? A possible form of programming during the years your core values were formed? Sure we all played Cowboys and Indians, Cops and Robbers, etc. when we were kids. Sometimes we were the Cowboy; sometimes the robber. But it was not hours of repetition in which success was measured in how successful we were in creating mayhem.
I love video games and play them a lot. And my very favorite happens to be a game based on wiping out all the opposition. I'm not about to judge anybody for enjoying something I too enjoy.
But isn't there room to at least consider what these super violent games could be doing to some kids?
Kids are not walking into stores purchasing video games rated Mature, the store won't sell them to minors. It starts with the parents. They are the ones buying this stuff. Maybe they buy it for themselves then let their kids play it as well? I don't know. But I do know that many, many parents today seem to think absolutely nothing of letting their kid have a cell phone at age 7, an iphone or android with internet access at age 12, tv in the kid's room, computer with internet access in kid's room, Playstations and Xboxes in kid's room. Really? That's like opening your front door and saying 'come on in world and have at it'. I simply don't understand giving a child that much freedom at such a young age.
If the demand for these games/shows goes down and demand for better, less violent/graphic goes up that's when the makers will change what they produce. Unfortunately I don't see that happening anytime soon. The genie may indeed be permanently out of the bottle.
No quarrel with any of that. But cultural pressures can change the culture. When I was a young adult, all the cool people smoked cigarettes. Ash trays were as common in almost every home as coasters on the end tables. It took awhile but gradually places where people could smoke became less and less. In the airport, it was almost funny the poor smokers huddled around the one ash can in the one designated smoking area, or the smokers were assigned a distant area of the restaurant. And then even those designated areas disappeared. It was no longer 'cool' to smoke and it was especially unacceptable to do it around children. Advertisements for tobacco products disappeared from television and in magazines. The remaining smokers, all good people mostly, are all mostly trying to or contemplating quitting. That's what social/cultural pressure can do.
We didn't become a society tolerant of gratuitous sex, violence, and profanity overnight either. It happened drip by drip, pushing the envelope a little until people got accustomed to it, and then a little more, and then a little more until now almost anything goes. That's what social/cultural pressure can do too.
And when enough of us get enough of it, I don't see why we can't start pushing back the other way.