The Effects Of Violent Video Games

Are video games causing children to become more violent? Discuss please! :)

Oh blimey. This old chestnut. Google or search any gaming forum for 'Jack Thompson' and go from there.

 Yeah i agree with you..some games are showing certain things like playing with guns and bombs..that will effect the children mentality..

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 I think so.  Especially, the modern games where the violence is so realistic nowadays.  It is wrong to let children play game which make them think that it is ok to rob and kill people.

I would argue that these games are harmful to society as a whole.  Even adults playing such games (like GTI for example, which I find really horrible and abusive) must be affected by them in some way. it's just wrong to enjoy killing people even if only in a game.

"(like GTI for example, which I find really horrible and abusive)"

Do you mean GTA ? 

Shall we ban violent films as well ?

When you play a video game you do not kill anyone - you move pixels around on a screen.

When you watch a film the actors are not killing anyone either. But still you sit in a trance and take it all in.

Much more influential on the habits and learning patterns of our youth - is the example set by the behavior & moral codes of our 'leaders' & pinnacles of our society.

Sorry, I did mean GTA :)

 I know what you mean about the films, however I think that there is a big difference between passively watching a film and actively killing people in a video game.  Yes, you are right that you only move pixels around on a screen, however the games are so realistic nowadays that they make it feel very realistic!

:o) Good point!

I'ld generally be against censorship, but I recently saw an ad for a videogame set in africa, where you're invited to kill and slaughter people, using a machete like in the infamous civil war in Rwanda, and that is just wrong. I still don't think there should be a legal ban, but it should a matter that concerns an individual moral judgment, and the way society can affect that judgment via education and information.

 Apart from that, are there any reliable and scientifically-sound researches on hte impact of violent videogames? If we don't have any, I'm afraid any opinion on such a complicated subject is not particularly significant, and risks being shallow and paternalistic.

Eliska,

There could quite easily be a case for humans being more 'suggestible' when being passively absorbed in watching a film. The metabolism slows, the mind is soft - and impressionable.

I dont know - as Stefano says we should rely on research - and afaik there is none conclusive.

I've done my own research though, having always been a gamer.

I know this is more about the effects on children - and I'm all for parents observing the Age Rating, but I've played the most violent, materialistic, Gory, shocking games out there - & I'm a peaceful, vegetarian - I try in every way I can not to encroach upon the freedoms of any individual man, woman or beast !

Because - video games - are just a little part of life, just a movies are just movies, music is just music - games are just games ;-)

Havn't there been times when convicted murderers have sited particular songs/tracks as triggering their crimes ? - but I think we can all agree - its not the fault of the songs ! 

Very well argued :).  I must stress that I do not thik that people who play violent video games are violent.  Not at all - my husband is on his Playstation all the time ...

 I just do not understand why it is so popular and I suppose that I never will :)

 One thing I will say though, I can't spend much time on Xbox live - because the way people (mainly males below 25) talk to each other is unbearable.

 Very aggressive. Very insulting.

The American kids are bad enough, but in my experience the English are worse. 

Alot of 'kids' do forget that these are JUST GAMES.

I also very much take issue with Microsoft's (and other publishers) policy of generally only releasing big explosion, lots of bullets, war / violence type titles.

The Japanese have a much healthier & creative approach to playing games and game design.

 

Do you mean the way other online players speak?   I suggest that violent video games are ok for adults who don't get as carried away as children.

 Yes, Eliska - the language used and what is said. It's generally four letter words used in as insulting a way as possible.

(The Xbox gamer demographic is a very narrow one, centering around adolescent males)  

This culture of dumb offensiveness isn't helped by the kind of titles which do well on the Xbox.

- As for how these games actually effect our minds, I think we really need to rely on research.

This whole issue is certainly going to become bigger over the next couple of decades, as technology takes us to the point where the lines between what is 'virtual' and what is 'real' become more and more blurred.

But then it wont just be 'games' - all kinds of 'virtual' experiences will really start to test our 'virtual' morality !

I really don't think that bad leanguage is necessary, but how can we expect people on not to use it on games if the games very often contain bad language too! I don't think that games should contain too many rude words.