video games lead to violence?
By Sillychick
@Sillychick (3275)
United States
December 22, 2007 9:39am CST
For those who think that violent video games are harmless, listen to this story. I heard on the news that 2 teenagers were babysitting a 7 year old girl. They decided to try out some of the moves they had seen in video games on her, and ended up killing her. This is only one example of people turning violent in real life after playing video games. How can people let their children sit and play these games for hours on end and think it won't affect them?
2 people like this
6 responses
@jormins (1223)
• United States
22 Dec 07
If that's the case kids should watch no tv at all. Even cartoons are full of violence.
A few examples doesn't mean that videogames cause violence. How many kids have played these violent videogames and done nothing violent? You don't hear about that because it wouldn't make good news.
I agree young children should not be raised by Grand Theft Auto and other violent games but you can't blame media for bad people. Some people are genuinely bad people.
1 person likes this
@Sillychick (3275)
• United States
22 Dec 07
I agree that TV has a lot of violence, but the difference between that and video games is that the person is actively involved. Instead of sitting and watching, the person playing the game is doing the shooting or killing, and in fact the killing is the point of the game, it's how you win. That's what these kids did, they played a fighting game, and then acted it out in real life.
And yes, there are lots of people who play these games and don't commit violent acts in real life. But would you be so quick to dismiss this one instance if the child involved was your daughter or sister? Probably not.
1 person likes this
@jormins (1223)
• United States
22 Dec 07
The only thing you accomplish by trying to ban these games is glorify them even more. Look at 2 Live Crew, they were a terrible rap group before a naive US Senator or Congressman (I can't remember who exactly) tried to take away their 1st amendment rights. That exposure made them rich and brought mainstream people to defend their constitutional rights. Their some Banned in the USA was a top seller for some time and this group was terrible, no talent.
The video games do not make kids go bad. Bad parenting causes kids to go bad. I have played Grand Theft Auto my whole life and have yet to steal a car, or fire missiles at police cars, even though in the game I did it. That's ridiculous.
1 person likes this
@Sillychick (3275)
• United States
23 Dec 07
I never said I was an advocate for banning the games. What I said was parents need to pay closer attention and instead of letting the TV or video games be the babysitter, they need to get involved, be aware of what their children are watching or playing, and take notice when or if they start to see it affect their behavior.
1 person likes this
@soccermom (3198)
• United States
23 Dec 07
I don't think video games can be blamed for this. My hubby and I are avid "gamers", and have several "violent" Xbox games in our collection. Heck, hubby even bought a separate flat screen to put in our living room to game on!
There are ratings on video games for a reason, and it's up to parents to do the research. Even on some of the more violent games you can turn the blood off, etc...It's also up to the parents to monitor how much time their kids play and reinforce family values. I'll bet if we checked further into this sad story we'd find out that these young adults played excessively and were never taught about the negative effects of violence to begin with.
@Sillychick (3275)
• United States
23 Dec 07
Right, they probably did play excessively, which means that there probably is some connection between the games and the actions of these teens.
I know that it is possible and in fact very common for adults to play violent games responsibly and never commit a violent act after playing the games. But when parents ignore the ratings, and let children- teenagers- who are very impressionable and feel invincible- play very violent games for hours on end, there could be negative consequences. Parents definitely need to take responsibility here, by limiting the games and the amount of time played, as well as teaching about the difference between games and real life.
@troopy (168)
• Australia
23 Dec 07
It's a hard one to call, kids are so engrossed in the games they play now, that maybe they dont know the difference between a game and real life.. But who's fault is that.. I blame parents who use t.v and these games as a substitute baby sitter while they do whatever.. How old were the 2 boy's looking after the 7 yr old girl ? To my mind I wouldnt leave any child under 15 to supervise another child on there own. So is it the parents who are to blame as much as the kids ?
One thing you have to remember though is games dont kill people and no matter what they say in there defense in relation to blaming the game the end result is they killed that little girl, not a computer game..
1 person likes this
@Sillychick (3275)
• United States
23 Dec 07
I think the kids were 16, and yes, it is partly because they are played excessively and to the point that they have a hard time separating game from reality.
@krowbar (79)
• Philippines
23 Dec 07
I agree that violent video games and TV does cause violence at some point, but the parents make the last call. What the kid learns at childhood affects how he/she processes thoughts later in life. Even phobias usually start from a bad experience in childhood. And serial killers usually had a bad childhood causing them to do bad things later in life.
Parents do have the last call. Curse a lot in your home and you cant blame the kid for using profanity like commas in a sentence. Violence is everywhere so parents have the responsibility to make the child understand what is going on before he/she interprets it incorrectly.
1 person likes this
@Sillychick (3275)
• United States
23 Dec 07
Absolutely, the parents have a lot of the responsibility here. Games used responsibly, in moderation and with supervision will not have such serious effects.
@kraize_jatt (72)
• India
23 Dec 07
well everything has its pron's n con's its dependents upon we people to make it or break it..!
just like nuclear fusion was discovered as a energy source but now days its being "MISUSED" as weapons..
as for the topic i consider video games do leave their effect on u like i will drive fast if i just played NFS or any other racing game. But games are made for children when they are growing into their personalities and in that age anything they do have a effect on them..!
But games are so addictive to leave them :(
Its parents duty to teach their kids the difference between "REAL WORLD" and "A Game".
1 person likes this
@Sillychick (3275)
• United States
23 Dec 07
Thank you for saying that you drive fast after playing a racing game. You are aware of that. Most people either don't admit it or aren't even aware of the connection. That fact is that many people are affected to some degree, not all so seriously as to kill someone, but after playing them for hours on end, it has to have some sort of effect.
@4000pm (25)
• Morocco
22 Dec 07
you are right , but i have to say something , is that every video game is destinated to some people , for example , everyone can play PES , but only people of 18 years or more can play Fable , because it contains some violation scenes . the problem is that we let everyone plays every video game , and so we find ourselves in such dramatical results .
@Sillychick (3275)
• United States
23 Dec 07
Right, some are intended for people over 18 years of age. But younger children are playing those games.
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