Video Games :: Are they really that much of an issue?
 

I'm a gamer chick and I don't understand how people can possibly be so anti games. Especially games that don't have realistic violence.

I hate parents that think it's the gaming industries responsibility to monitor what children should be doing.

People who blame things on games are stupid I reckon... :| I mean, it's just a game!

Video games.
 

i think it's wrong when parents blame video games for their children's behavior when they are not also actively taking part in raising their child. instead, many parents use the TV as a sort of day-care for their children.

the problem isn't just "TV" or "Video Games". the problem is with parents that ONLY use that as a form of guidance for their children. i think before parents go off and blame other companies for their problems, they should take a look at their own child raising methods.

however, i'm also not denying that tv, movies, video games, etc don't play an important role teaching children about culture. there should always be a balance in things. but it's the parent's job to research and observe their children, not the video game's job to put huge warning signs everywhere on their product.

Well, a lot of people are against video games I think because they are very violent, and some crimes, like Columbine and other crimes happen because young teens practice shooting on video games with guns. @[email protected] I think it's ridiculous because these people are just a little more extreme than everyone else. I mean, I play video games all the time, and I'm not a violent person at all, in fact, I am a happy type of person. xD

My parents make fun of me for being such a gamer though, and they don't get why I think it's super and stuff, because they don't get how things work, with all of the buttons, etc. xD

I think that video games are way more popular today than ever before, with more casual gamers and people playing them on portable devices like PSP's, Nintendo DS's, and cell phones.

I find that usually the argument against video games is the violence or sex that are portrayed in them - instead people should be asking where are the parents?

It is a parents job to monitor their children's activities, they have the money and get the final say on weather something is in their house or not - parents need to teach their kids the difference between reality/ fantasy, right & wrong - not depend on movies, games, and TV to do it for them.


The only issue I have with games is the same one I have with TV - some kids spend too much time on them and not outside or engaged in some sort of physical activity (but games are getting better with things like DDR, eye toy, and the wii can keep you moving at least a little)

It really all depends. Gaming is a wide enjoyment for several people, and even sprouts new video game developers, and computer techs. Although, there are some pretty hardcore WoW jukies out there, no doubt. Some people go as far as to spend there whole paychecks on gold. etc.

I really don't think it's too much of a problem- but somthing that could very well become a problem.

Games are games. They are supposed to be enjoyed and fun to play, with friends, people over the internet or on your own.

I own a PSP with a few games, and my parents refused to pay for it because they believed that it would cause me to focus more on games than on my schoolwork (I have pretty big exams in a few months time D=)
I could see where they were coming from, but I still bought the PSP myself. I have now proved to them that having a games console doesn't affect my studies ^__^

I don't agree with violent and gory games that get given to younger kids. Yes, it does give them ideas because they see things in video games and think it's alright to do in real life, because you die and get 'game over', but you come back to life again. I would much prefer my children (if I had any) to be playing Star Wars, than a game such as Grand Theft Auto. Simply because Star Wars doesn't focus on reality as much, so its easy for kids to think "robots and spaceships like that aren't around, so stuff like this can't happen"

I also think the problem is that some parents are 'stuck' in the past ^^;; I don't mean that offensively, but some don't know anything about computer games, so they'll buy their kids what they ask for because they love them. If the parents played the game too, maybe more parents would think "this game really isn't suitable for my son/daughter"

The argument that the video games raise violent kids is pretty absurd, in my opinion.

I mean, if you're the child's parent, and he or she begins acting out, violently, would you allow it? And if they said "Oh, I saw it on a video game" would you allow them to play it? Honestly, it's the parents decision whether the child should play the game or not.

And if they can't control what games their child plays or doesn't play, they have a problem.

I love violent games, but I'd never hurt anyone. It's knowing if the child is old enough to understand what's right and wrong. Games are just for fun, and most kids know it's not real, and it's just to play for fun. The games aren't teaching us ways of life.

Really, I mean, would a child pick up any less information if they played Pokemon or Grand Theft Auto? They both aren't real. And most kids know that. And if they are too young to learn, they shouldn't be playing those games yet.

Parents blaming video games for their violent child behaviour is quite stupid. Most of them don't take part in their child raising and let them stay all time in front of computer of video games or tv shows.
There is a lot of different games and most people are too prejudice against it to even reaslize it or reaslize they are prejudiced. Some studies have reported that even some basic video games developped strategic, communication, reaction to difficulte situation etc.

One of the best reasons I love my parents is because of their tolerance of video games. My brothers and I have always had a gaming issue. Constantly this is what we do, play games. They know we like to stay up-to-date in our systems so they buy new parts for our computers, or buy new consoles at Christmas time. Although they don't necessarily like the M-rated games like Grand Theft Auto, they know we are old enough, and they have taught us enough to know that that is fake, and illegal! Although, having three brothers we fight, they don't assume it's videogames! The people who assume things such as that need to have children. I mean how should they know what's going on inside of our heads? They never lived in an age where they are the kids who are playing these games. Plus, who doesn't like the pretty pictures? :D

I'll never believe in blaming videogames/movies/books/whatever for people's behavoir for one simple reason - if that person was so suseptable to the environment the game offered then if it had no been video games it would have been something else. Sure though, I don't think you should buy kids games with lots of gore or sex in them (come on, use common sense) but that's down to the parent to buy or not to buy for them. At the end of the day games come with a certificate on them, just like movies.

I like videogames, i play them ... i have them. But sometimes a kid can play too much, i mean, playing 7 hours a day can make someone crazy ... maybe loose perception of what's reality. It has kinda happened to me, when i play too much, that i keep thinking of what to do on the game instead of other stuff. xD -weirdo-

About it being the reason kids kill, i would say no. I don't think that because someone sees it on a game, they do it. It can even serve as a anger management thing. * O*

I definitely believe that video games cause people to become more desensitized to the violence that they witness on TV.. but I don't think it's the case in reality. I've played games like GTA, where you just run around beating the fuck out of some poor guy with a baseball bat and steal all his money.. XD but when my grandmother died and I witnessed her lifeless body laying on the couch in her living room... I was pretty freaked out. Very young children definitely have more trouble understanding the reality of the video game verse real reality, but in general I think it's a case by case issue. Parents need to be aware of what their children are thinking, and how they are reacting to violent imagery. It's the parents responsibility have conversations with their children about these kinds of things, and decide what is appropriate and what isn't... not the government.

There honestly isn't any common sense when it comes to the arguments against video games. Here's the usual ones and reasons why they don't work.

Parents complain that kids get too involved. If anyone remembers when the large Harry Potter book came out, kids were calapsing because they weren't sleeping or eating due to the book. Kids play sports outside with their friends instead of doing homework, it's not something new or special, though people like to pretend it is.

Video games make kids do the things in the games. This arguement is also not special and involves a bigger issue that goes down to a result of bad parenting. I'll again use Harry Potter as an example. A few kids died because they jumped off their roofs with broom sticks. No this doesn't mean Harry Potter is bad. It simply means that these kids had no parental control and not only were able to get to the roof and jump, but they also couldn't understand the difference between fiction and reality. Children believe in Santa and have imaginations, and these are great, but parents have to mold these imaginations along with real world facts, so they not only expand their mind but they also learn about life.

If a kid says he tried to run over an old lady with his car because he could do it in GTA there are obvious things wrong with this statement. First of all, the GTA games don't promote activity like that and the police are there to stop you from being able to do it. Second, if the kid is acting that way then there's something psychologically wrong with the kid and his parents and his entire life. The game is just an extension.

I agree with what you said about how parents don't like M rated games, but they are the ones buying it. If they would be real parents and just say no, they'd have nothing to worry about. To me, it's exactly like buying your kid a R rated movie. You can't say movies are bad and should be banned just because you bought your eight year old Scary Movie. Just like you can't say Video Games are bad because you bought your eight year old GTA.

On a note about the positives of video games, they have been proven to not only increase intelligence (certain ones more than others obviously), but they also help in driving skills (ironically, not the driving games, but the games with a lot of action because you get used to having to look everywhere and react quickly), they (contrary to popular belief) promote friendship and playing together. Competition, Math skills, all the way up to Appreciation for music. If you ever read some tests done about video games (which are non-bias) you'll find these positives and more everyday are being discovered.

The debate on video games is a double edged sword. On one hand they can be recreation and on the other hand with some who are prone to addiction, it becomes life. This blurred line is where the problem lies. We have this problem with other gamers too. The game then consumes the one prone to addiction and they lose their sense of what is acceptable in society and believe because a game says its ok... that its ok. There is a very low population of these easily brainwashed weirdos around that it shouldn't be too much of a problem to control if parents would just step in once in a while. If the kid becomes violent when you ask them to stop playing and come to dinner... then there is a problem and the kid may be succeptable. We live in a world where pleasure consumes. People throw responsibility and morality to the wayside for pleasure.

We have a bunch of losers at my college who skip class and play video games all day while their parents pay tuition. 8 hours in a game room each day... five days a week like it is a job. They lose sense of how to treat people and have become aggressive to newcomers and run them off through bullying so they don't have to share and even fight amongst themselves. Its messed up really.

Very stupid. I think video games is a great stress releaver, not a violence increaser of doom. I think this is just their way of blaming it on something then on themselves.

I'm sorry but this along with argumnts against TV and computers and other such devices really pisses me off it's blaming human behavior on an inanimate object which is stupid, if your grades suck(or whatever the problem may be) put down the controller no ones forcing you to play