The Truth About Violent Youth and Video Games

[Shwoo]

Yeah, you.

[numbuheightbitstar]

You know, blaming parents is just as stupid (no offense) as blaming video games. In all honesty, if anyone deserves the blame, it's just society in general, and moreover the school system, where children are treated like a herd of sheep who exist only to be slaughtered and used. Schools are run like jails, and kids are treated like criminals, often based on nothing but their looks.

Whats worst is that children are forced to interact with people they're incompatible with. I mean my parents have always told me that the key to being social is to be exposed to a wide variety of people at a young age, but thing is, I WAS exposed, and there are still some folks I just can't stand. For example, I see a lot of people who act like getting drunk is the meaning of life, only watch anime because it shows naked girls (and go around oggling every girl they see and talking about who they would like to bed), and go around listening to bad music at pumped-up volumes. I've never actually SHOT anyone (mostly because I don't like violence), however at school, when I was surrounded by people like these ALL THE TIME (and couldn't do anything about it), the thought DID run through my head.

[thuhjesheekuh]

In my school district it gets really annoying because everything is so political (we live in the greater Washington D.C. metropolitan area...). I think the principals get a pay raise for every child enrolled in an A.P. class because I have some really stupid kids that really should not be in my classes, kids who should be in A-level (if anyone uses the same system as us...). This has nothing to do with video games, but it does involve an unnecessary mixing of different people. When you have an A-level kid barely pulling off a D in your A.P. history class, he disrupts the learning process and causes all kinds of extra problems. Then when you get half the class in a level higher than they should, tension runs really high. In addition, these are the kids who make fun of/bully the smart kids, so they have more time to push them over the edge (if you'll recall that was one of the other causes behind many of the major shootings). Again, nothing to do with video games, but I thought James opened the door...

[poppyseeds]

SOME parents...
not all.
O.o
...i hope i dint offend anyone.
if i did, im totally sorry
sometimes i rant without me knowing its ranting...

okay...?
its just, it kinda gets me mad that SOME people think that just because we're kids that we dont have complex emotions and thoughts too, and that there are far deeper reasons why a kid picks up a gun. nobody sane just does it for the fun of it or because of a game, and people that do should be easy to spot.

[chixiedixie]

My parents don't know about the ratings on video games cuz,
I never told them,
I'm not stoopid enough to tell them,
anyway,
(SOME) parents might just think of the old times you know traditional expectations......

(sorry to bring this up but what were the off-topicness about?)

[bootcamper]

The only game that has real rating problems is grand theft auto. its rated mature but it should be rated adults only.

[SAVE_US.WBTC]

Are you saying that because of the Hot Coffee mod? It turns out that the game was re-rated AO because of that, and Rockstar will rerelease the game with the code for the mod taken out, and it will be rated Mature. While I admit that Rockstar did something stupid by leaving the code in and then denying they did it, a game should not be given a rating based on unused code that may have been accidentally left in, and was not meant for the public to find or alter in the first place. If you're talking about giving a game an AO for violent content, Manhunt is worse than any of the GTA's yet that still gets an M. It's like we don't see films get NC-17 for violence, we're unlikely to see any games get AO for violent content, rather than sexual.

I agree parents should look at the ratings and determine whether or not they want their kids playing the games. However, even within M-rated games, there are some that are beautifully rendered with as great of a storyline you would find in movies or literature (Metal Gear Solid), some that have excellent storylines, but also gritty, graphic content that is used more satirically (GTA), and others that are just stupid clusterf***s with violent content just for its own sake and for shock value (Postal). Some games have realistic, life-like depictions of violence (Manhunt), and others are gory, but not physically possible and therefore not imitatable (Mortal Kombat). It's up to each parent to decide which of these they are and are not comfortable with, and it's not something the government or retailers should be responsible for.

Responding to James' earlier post, parents should be more informed about game content, but a lot of them don't care. It's not a medium they are familiar with, as they did not grow up with it. The violence offends them, they easily latch on to scientists and advocates who say it's harmful, and they take that at face value without thinking to explore more carefully. We need the industry's defenders, people like Gerard Jones, Henry Jenkins, and Joseph Friedman, to be more vocal, to point out the problems in the other side's arguments, and to praise the benefits these games have, so the attacks won't be entirely one-sided.

Another problem is, like I've said before, the voting, parenting, governing generation did not grow up with video games, and thus are afraid of what they don't know, or in other cases, just think of video games as kids' toys. As the Mortal Kombat and GTA generations grow up, fill seats in legislatures, and have their own kids, they will be more receptive to the medium as an art form, and something that is perfectly harmless.

This is a good place to tell you to check out my fanfic, Operation G.A.M.E.O.V.E.R. It is completely finished, and in the Fanfiction Drafts section. It satirizes this very issue.

[bootcamper]

mn i would kill someone if somebody banned mature games like washington. Halo 2 is only rated m for all the shooting which isnt even bloody. Games like that are only rated mature for more respect. The higher the ranking the better the action.

[himurakenshin]

bootcamper said:

mn i would kill someone if somebody banned mature games like washington.

^OMG, an example

[bootcamper]

No i wouldnt be the one to kill but i know someone who has married his mature video games would assinate someone if they got banned. Theres more crazy people in America than you think.

[poppyseeds]

so the ultimate question is now what promotes killing the most:

A. violent video games
or
B. withdrawal from violent video games

YOU DECIDE!!^.^

[bootcamper]

Both actually B because if somebody kills somebody its the parents who raised them who are at fault because they had no disipline.

[numbuheightbitstar]

poppyseeds said:

so the ultimate question is now what promotes killing the most:

A. violent video games
or
B. withdrawal from violent video games

YOU DECIDE!!^.^

I think Ketchup is what inspires violence, because its red like blood. ^__^.

[bootcamper]

Wow that was so random it could compare to spam but its not because i agree with you. The ketchup is used in movies for blood when somebody stabs somebody. And that scene is what inspires people to play video games that are addictive. Then when those video games get banned people kill people for that reason.

[poppyseeds]

yes of course!
the thing wrong with americas youth today is ketchup!!
we must rally together to stop this menace
*sarcasm alert*
seriously you guys are just kidding, rite?