Violence In Video Games & Its Effect On Young Adul

[Questionable??]

Heyy guyys,

 

As part of my uni work I have to create a forum on what people think of my proposed question which is:

 

"Could it be argued that violence in video games has a direct influence on the psychological behaviour of children?”

 

Could you please take the time to give me some thoughts on what you think of games such as Grand Theft Auto and other violence related games.

 

Much appreciated

 

(Can you please include the following)

*Name

*Age

*Thoughts

 

Thanks:)

[vertical limit]

As part of my uni work I have to create a forum on what people think of my proposed question which is:

 

But you see, you created a topic not a forum.

[Toup]

 

As part of my uni work I have to create a forum on what people think of my proposed question which is:

 

But you see, you created a topic not a forum.

I'm sure he knows that, and you can either contribute or go post in the off topic section.

 

It depends on the type of child and how they're educated. How one reacts to one thing will necessarily be different in other person. As an example, take it you are afraid of dogs, and I'm not. I'm not going to be affected if I see a dog in the street, but you, yes.

 

I believe same thing applies for this matter, but of course, not to the extent of doing the same thing in games like these.

[Tom Toole]

 

As part of my uni work I have to create a forum on what people think of my proposed question which is:

 

So.... I agree completely with vertical limit, and disagree with Toup regarding that the OP knows what a forum is versus a topic. However I believe one sentence answers are at least somewhat forbidden here in D&D, so vertical limit was perhaps wrong for other reasons.

 

quoestionable?? you might want to chech whether it's a forum as in message board that you have to create - To create a forum/message board you might wanna try google searching "create a forum".

 

Onwards!

 

"Could it be argued that violence in video games has a direct influence on the psychological behaviour of children?”

 

1 Yes. You could conceivably argue anything.

2 Script theory says we basically take stories we see and incorporate them into scripts we ourselves use.

3 Focus on children is troubling, cartoons like looney toons are extremely violent and that's a big part of what makes them fun, children do not live in a world free of violence. The right wing takes this artificial idea of an innocent, sexless, crueltyless "child" to impose a lot of restrictions into the rest of society.

 

Grand Theft Auto and other violence related games.

"violence related games"?

 

Much appreciated

You're welcome

 

(Can you please include the following)

*Name

*Age

*Thoughts

 

What is this a survey? I mean it's also Questionable??'s first post. I mean I don't think that it's really a debate/discussion that he's proposing. Not that it couldn't become one.

[thecommander]

This issue has been tried in court here in the US. The case was Strickland v. Sony. A boy, Devin Moore, stole a car and got arrested. While in police custody, he stole an officers gun, shot him, another officer, and a dispatcher, then stole a police car. He was apprehended later. Here's where I'm probably going to lose some credibility; Jack Thompson filed a wrongful death suit against Sony on behalf on two of the victims. He argued that Devin Moore got the idea from playing GTA: Vice City. Now, Jack was probably doing this to get media attention and create a bigger controversy around GTA. The case was eventually dismissed.

 

I did a presentation on this same topic four years ago, and if I had my old computer, I would gladly share some points with you. But, I have been playing GTA since I was 9 (now I am 20) and I have never killed anyone.

[El Dildo]

if you know who Jack Thompson is, then you already know that there is NO evidence to connect violent video games with violent behavior.

 

/thread

[Dingdongs]

if you know who Jack Thompson is, then you already know that there is NO evidence to connect violent video games with violent behavior.

 

/thread

That guy is just a f*cking lunatic. I think there is some correlation, at least to an extent. The kid in the above example, I don't think he would have done all of that without GTA. It's sort of like a gun control argument. Some people will go against what the other 99% of people do and make a bad example for the rest. That kid is a good example. To counter it though, there was a case of a young girl I believe who helped get her family out of a burning car because she learned in GTA that if a car is burning, it will blow up eventually. But I think saying that it has no correlation whatsoever and can't, say, turn an already unstable kid into a murderer is tenuous at best.

[KilnerLUFC]

Complete and utter BS I say, saying that media can purely effect the actions of children/young teens etc. For someone not to be able to see the difference between what is fantasy and reality is where the real problem is, and this usually boils down to the mental state of said person. It's the same when it comes to people who take drugs and suffer the side-effects of it...one person can take an E and feel fine, whereas another person could take one and feel like sh*t...it's all about the mental state of the person and maybe the background history.

 

The main issue is, you're on about kids who are effected by violence within video games; games that are usually age-rated as 18 or whatever. If the parents are willing to let these young kids play violent games, then it could show some problem within the family unit itself.

[Killer.Khan]

Been playing since a very young age and no effect on me as an adult whatsoever. I'm not overly aggressive or anything. No brutal thoughts, nada. Thompson would be upset

 

I think media CAN influence teens and children though since they might try to emulate mannerisms of characters and how they dress etc.. but that's mostly done in good fun for costume parties and the like.

 

As for people who shoot up schools or kill actual people, there was something horribly wrong up there before they played that game. They recently tried to blame the Oslo bombings on Breviek playing World of Warcraft. Out of all possible arguments, they brought up that!

[Finn 7 five 11]

if you know who Jack Thompson is, then you already know that there is NO evidence to connect violent video games with violent behavior.

 

/thread

That guy is just a f*cking lunatic. I think there is some correlation, at least to an extent. The kid in the above example, I don't think he would have done all of that without GTA. It's sort of like a gun control argument. Some people will go against what the other 99% of people do and make a bad example for the rest. That kid is a good example. To counter it though, there was a case of a young girl I believe who helped get her family out of a burning car because she learned in GTA that if a car is burning, it will blow up eventually. But I think saying that it has no correlation whatsoever and can't, say, turn an already unstable kid into a murderer is tenuous at best.

Well while i kind of agree but what's to say they weren't gonna go off anyway? They could have watched violent movies or read violent books and gotten the same ideas.

I am sure that most people who play GTA/other violent games are well aware of murder and how to commit it before playing the game and it has little effect.

 

If someone does this stuff it is their decision entirely, they may have gotten ideas from video games but that did not influence them to do it.

 

That my opinion anyway.

[Icarus]

If I have kids, I'm taking the same approach my mother took with me in regards to "violent" video games.

 

She asked if I could distinguish between real life and fantasy. I told her that I was capable of distinguishing that what I do in the game should not be mimicked in real life, because there would be severe consequences if I were to do so. I knew the difference between real life and the game.

 

I have not once gone out in the middle of a city and unloaded an AK-47 or other weapon into a crowd of people and attained a six star wanted level.

 

The problem is, in my opinion, when the person playing the video game fails to differentiate between reality and fantasy, such that there's no dividing line in between them. That's where the parent should be stepping in to prevent the kid from playing that game in the first place (provided they're aware their kid does not possess the fantasy-reality line). So you might be able to find some correlation, but I would be more concerned with the underlying mental health issues that might be leading to said potential correlation.

[Saggy]

I think most of the talk about video games causing people to become violent was said about television and music long before video games became popular, and most of the points about someone already having to be crazy to imitate this type of media have been made dozens of times before.

 

I think the real new element here is whether the actual participation and gradual "acclimation" to committing violence in video games leads to any higher propensity or desensitization to violence in reality.

[Dingdongs]

 

I think the real new element here is whether the actual participation and gradual "acclimation" to committing violence in video games leads to any higher propensity or desensitization to violence in reality.

 

That's definitely a good point. We're all players of one of the most violent and sexually explicit games out there - and it seems the conventional answer is "hey I'm not killing people" or "most people aren't killing people like they do in GTA" but I think you have to look a bit further. Could it be true that GTA, unlike a movie which simply displays the violence, activates something psychologically in younger people leading them to mimic it? I don't know enough about psychology to answer, but I think it goes a lot further than "oh it's just a couple of crazy f*cks that would've done it anyway".

[El Dildo]

 

Could it be true that GTA, unlike a movie which simply displays the violence, activates something psychologically in younger people leading them to mimic it?

of course not.

that's absurd.

 

being able to shoot a fully automatic machinegun into crowds of virtual people in a game does not translate to the ability to perform such action in real life.

any normal child would be scared of and intimidated by a real firearm, no matter how many hours they have spent slaying people in Call of Duty.

 

someone who is capable of murder will be capable of murder regardless of their level of exposure to violent media.

[Yossarianite]

Some mentally weak people may try to imitate, in some circumstances even a normal person when highly motivated would do that. Just depends on you.

There have been such cases in history some of them leading to deaths as well.

Edited May 30, 2012 by Yossarianite

[OysterBarron]

Allthough very rare cases its not just violent video games that spawn violence in the real world http://m.digitalspy.co.uk/odd/news/a199400...a-argument.html

 

Im no footballer but i brought fifa once to play with friends and i must addmit it wound me the hell up. I got very angry an infuriated with my other teammates more so than any other game ive ever played. Im not a violent person but 8ve never felt that sort of rage before. It scared me that much i have vowed never to buy another installment again.

[CheesyJ]

I've long held the opinion that this sort of thing is really exaggerated and that if anything, it is used as an excuse for horrible people. If they've done something awful and have no viable explanation for what they've done, then they'll just think of a game like GTA and blame it on that game. The reality is that they should have to simply face up to their own actions and see that they have done wrong.

 

I've been playing GTA games, as well as other violent ones, since I was young and I can personally say that they haven't adversely affected me at all. By the looks of it, the vast majority of people on this forum are in that boat as well. It must also be remembered that their is an age restriction on these games for a reason. Most people who play them underage are fine, but in the odd case that they're not, then you can't really blame the game for what they've done at all if they're underage, since the company would have enforced the age restrictions to try and spot that person from getting their hands on the game in the first place.

 

I generally think that this whole thing just is an unfair opt out though, and is a way of people trying to pass on blame from their own actions to others, when in reality they should simply face up to what they have done and accept it.

[Yossarianite]

I've long held the opinion that this sort of thing is really exaggerated and that if anything, it is used as an excuse for horrible people. If they've done something awful and have no viable explanation for what they've done, then they'll just think of a game like GTA and blame it on that game. The reality is that they should have to simply face up to their own actions and see that they have done wrong.

 

I've been playing GTA games, as well as other violent ones, since I was young and I can personally say that they haven't adversely affected me at all. By the looks of it, the vast majority of people on this forum are in that boat as well. It must also be remembered that their is an age restriction on these games for a reason. Most people who play them underage are fine, but in the odd case that they're not, then you can't really blame the game for what they've done at all if they're underage, since the company would have enforced the age restrictions to try and spot that person from getting their hands on the game in the first place.

 

I generally think that this whole thing just is an unfair opt out though, and is a way of people trying to pass on blame from their own actions to others, when in reality they should simply face up to what they have done and accept it.

Exactly, thats what I feel too.

[3niX]

Well...

 

 

It scared me that much i have vowed never to buy another installment again.

Id argue that it isnt entirely the games fault... such behaviour could have come out in any other stressful and competitive scenario. People can get just as wound up when playing (heck, even just watching) football, basketball or any other competitive sport. Should these people start avoiding sports altogether?

 

Blaming games, music, films etc. is the easy option. People are often too lazy to look at their own flaws and fix them.

 

Now, whether games (and media in general) alter our perception and tolerance towards violence is the real question. Its quite baffling how, in the modern world, sex is still treated as a taboo but extreme gore and violence isnt.

[Rown]

First because it's bugging me:

 

@vertical limit & Tom Toole

A forum can be a place of discussion or exchange of ideas. The website is a forum. This topic is also a forum.

 

His usage of forum is correct, just broader than the one you're most familiar with.

 

 

On-topic:

 

I saw this on Yahoo and thought it relates well to the thread. It discusses how the Norway shooter played violent video games like WoW and "first person shooters" (their "") like Modern Warfare. The article doesn't come out and say that it's the fault of video games... but the loaded language does.

 

I think like substance use and the other boogeymen of society it's really more of an individual thing, but generally I think it's probably more true that violent people are drawn to violent video games than the game actually causing anything.

 

Rown

Edited June 7, 2012 by Rown

[stroud458]

The violence in video games, in my opinion, only affects as small amount of people, not every single person who decides to kill someone in GTA. It's not like you squash a turtle in Mario then go to every zoo you can find jumping on turtles, is it?

[Mr Rabbit]

My behaviour is not influenced by GTA - I always shoot people and pick up the floating glowing wads of cash.

 

Basicly violence in video games, and other media like movies, is blamed too much, it affects nobody, ever!

If you were to grab a gun and shoot someone, your motive is NOT video game violence in any way, it is because you are psychotic and/or you have some actual motive.

I have never seen any legitimate investigator use VG or TV violence as the motivation for a murder or an assault, and I never will. The only way it is relevent is perhaps the method in which it was carried out, like some guy copy-cated Dexter's murder technique. But these kind of people will kill others anyway, they don't need a TV show or a game to make them do that, the fact they can do that is because of a psychological issue, and they would have done the deed eventually.

 

It is mostly parents who are either in denial that their child is just a 'bad person', they think it reflects poorly on them, when that is not necessarilly the case, as if someone is psychotic they are psychotic, just born that way. Consequently they will look for someone or something to blame. Also if parents have lost their child they will look for someone or something to blame, people do this in times of grief, and media violence is a scapegoat.

 

At the risk of sounding like LW:

These parents make it a scapegoat by getting some politician on board who wants to make a name for him/herself get on the front pages be seen as a 'crusader against violence' and climb the political ladder

 

[stroud458]

it affects nobody, ever!

 

I'm sorry but I do not agree with that part. I heard about somebody killing another person in the real world because of a conflict in World of Warecraft. Although I didn't find this exact story, I did find some others. They can be found here.

[KaRzY6]

The people who blame their violence on violent video game, such as the GTA series, are f*ckheads! They are just not mature enough to play the game. I played GTA 1 and Half Life at the age of 7, I have no problems with violence. I knew that it was only a game, and that's it.

[sivispacem]

The people who blame their violence on violent video game, such as the GTA series, are f*ckheads! They are just not mature enough to play the game. I played GTA 1 and Half Life at the age of 7, I have no problems with violence. I knew that it was only a game, and that's it.

Wasn't Half-life 2 released by the time you were actually 7? Judging by the birth-date on your profile, it was. Personally, I'm of the view that in small numbers of people, and in small numbers of cases, violence in video games, in music or in other media forms does have an impact on their mental state and thus their actions- but these cases are few, far between, and the exact relationship between these influences and their actions is not clear-cut. So put simply, someone who is sound of mind should not be influenced by them.

[Viperman]

The people who blame their violence on violent video game, such as the GTA series, are f*ckheads! They are just not mature enough to play the game. I played GTA 1 and Half Life at the age of 7, I have no problems with violence. I knew that it was only a game, and that's it.

Wasn't Half-life 2 released by the time you were actually 7? Judging by the birth-date on your profile, it was. Personally, I'm of the view that in small numbers of people, and in small numbers of cases, violence in video games, in music or in other media forms does have an impact on their mental state and thus their actions- but these cases are few, far between, and the exact relationship between these influences and their actions is not clear-cut. So put simply, someone who is sound of mind should not be influenced by them.

Excuse the short answer, but I disagree.

 

I think its more likely these few cases already have a unstable mental state, and the violence in media/games probably justs tips them over the edge.

 

I find it hard to believe that one can go from being 'stable' to 'unstable' purely by playing/watching/listening to violence. They must be ill minded in the first place, no?

[Otter]

Ah, but we must remember that children are incredibly mentally unstable. They're thrust into this world and burdened with expectation before, in many cases, they can even talk.

 

So, yeah, I think if a very young child has no social community to speak of beyond playing violent videogames and being rewarded for developing his or her psychopathic tendencies, it's going to lead to a screwed up adolescent. But the key fact here isn't the access to violent media, it's the absence of community. That's the real abuse and it's happening more and more frequently these days - partly because of irrational fear, partly because both parents are more and more likely to be working professionals these days, and partly because people are having less children. Lonely kids locked up in their basement with a nanny who can't speak english and a copy of Grand Theft Auto.

 

 

....wait, sorry, this is the rant section, right?

[sivispacem]

I find it hard to believe that one can go from being 'stable' to 'unstable' purely by playing/watching/listening to violence. They must be ill minded in the first place, no?

I think you have misunderstood me. I've not made the claim that video games are the trigger for transition from "stable" to "violent" mental states- I firmly believe that unless the individual concerned has, as Otter indicates, been indoctrinated with violence using these mediums over all else, they can only form a contributing factor. The psychological predisposition to violence, history of mental illness et cetera pre-exists. The violence in video games or other media just acts as a contributing factor in some cases.

[Mr Rabbit]

 

it affects nobody, ever!

 

I'm sorry but I do not agree with that part. I heard about somebody killing another person in the real world because of a conflict in World of Warecraft. Although I didn't find this exact story, I did find some others. They can be found here.

That's not violence inspired by video game violence; to which I was referring to and that is the issue here. This is about people taking a game too seriously. Completely different issue, people could do that over any game really.

 

The murder was not due to the game being violent, it was due to 2 main factors:

1 - The guy took WoW too seriously, can happen with any game, this has nothing to do with violent content of the game, could happen over WoW, GTA or Mario Kart

2 - As with any murders (as I see them) the perp has something off with him, to take another person's life you must have something off with you, thats how I feel about murder anyway.

[Shiva.]

^agree with you

Maybe, the guy who killed the other guy due to the WoW has some problems such as getting angry easily, bad tempered etc. We can't relate it to the violent contents in video gaming. Games do not make people's mind unstable. Parents use to say that to their kids who spend too much of time playing video games. It eventually became a huge issue over the recent years. It's a false statement.