British Teachers Still Blaming Games for Schoolyard Violence

[DirtyJunkieScum]

The "Hand Egg" thing doesn't really work considering the shape of Rugby balls. Though I agree, American Football would make more sense if it was called "American Rugby" or "Padded Rugby". Putting that aside, I think the difference between a "game" and a "sport" is that a sport allows for intentional controlled violence and encourages contact. Some people make the distinction contact vs. non-contact sports, but I just don't think there is such a thing as a non-contact sport.

Rugby; sport. American Football; sport. Hockey; sport. Lacrosse; sport. Field hockey, Shinty etc.; sport. Water Polo; sport. Wrestling; sport. Etc. (Though not Boxing or Martial Arts, I consider fighting to be different than sport. Wrestling doesn't count because the goal is to pin the other person, not beat them into submission. While some martial arts competitions function like this (you're not supposed to hit with full force in Karate but are measured by a points system), their ultimate goal is to teach you how to fight.)

Basket Ball; game. Football/Soccer; game. Cricket; game. Baseball; game. Tennis; game. You get the picture. This is not to denigrate games, they require a lot of skill, can be very entertaining and can be every bit as physically demanding as sports. But there's just something more virtuous about sport. Bleeding heart liberals would probably complain that it promotes violence, or the sexist ideal of manly virtue. But I frankly view them as a bunch of whiny over-reacting complainers who are out of touch with the nature of the world around us and thus I really couldn't give less of a crap about their values.

So if it's Football/Soccer against American Football, then I'm going with American Football. Though I'm open to the argument that Rugby is superior to Football because the lack of pads makes it rougher, so I wouldn't say that it's an entirely cultural thing.

It was a comment on the idea of naming something "improperly" and the meanings of words .

 

[Comando96]

Absolute Bullshit. I have lived in England my whole life, played some pretty Gorey games and watched horrifying films but I have yet to ever once start a fight. Video games are not responsible, the fact that more and more children grow up around concrete estates with almost no money is the reason. Turning to crime/violence for young children seems to be the only way for them in their eyes, instead of fixing the damn problem at its core these teachers only perpetuate it by blaming video games.

Bad parents buy games that are too old for their kids to play to act as babysitters. They then let their kids play these games all night until they are too tired to play, and when it time for school... they are tired and therefore a problem to teach and existing conditions will be exaggerated.

I have lived in England all by life... I have never started a fight... however my mum kept me and my playing games in-line and didn't use it completely to fill a gap in my young life left by my alcoholic dad... in short, she did a good if not brilliant job as a parent...

Your correct to say that Games aren't the route cause but you can't call this "Absolute Bullshit" as there is also a lot of truth but it is the Parents, not the games to blame.

 

[ReiverCorrupter]

It was a comment on the idea of naming something "improperly" and the meanings of words.

I realize that, I was just going off on a self indulgent tangent because I felt like procrastinating.

The "Hand Egg" thing doesn't really work considering the shape of Rugby balls. Though I agree, American Football would make more sense if it was called "American Rugby" or "Padded Rugby". Putting that aside...

 

[DSK-]

Education in secondary was shit for me, and I can't say further and higher education have been any better. Start improving standards, please.

Sheratt also claims that since gaming is a "fairly solitary existence" it can have a negative effect on communication skills, which affects school performance.

Hah. You'd be surprised. Teamwork playing multiplayer needs decent communication and teamwork. Sure, it isn't in something practical, but the theory is still there.

Besides, I'm sure shouting profanity and flaming fellow gamers on voice will give some gamers a bit of confidence thanks to the anonymity.

 

[zehydra]

"Children are vile little goblins. That's a concrete fact"

Lol, no it ain't.

In all seriousness children are human, just like everybody else, except with protection.

They'd kill if they could, but aren't allowed to be harmed by the rest of society.

 

[Dastardly]

The article is about teachers blaming games for violence at schools. BS. The school system is broken.

No, they're blaming the lack of supervision by parents for the problem. To narrow the focus, they're simply using video games as an example. If you read what these people are saying in its entirety (not just the snippet from the article, which is filtered through the people publishing it), you'll see that.

Throwing more money at it won't fix it. Seriously. That has been tried many times many places. It failed.

Putting more money in the wrong hands won't fix it, no. Putting the money in the right hands will. But even then, it's entirely possible the current amount of support just isn't adequate to undo the damage done by those wrong hands.

But if it is happening at school then part of the problem is there. Maybe where you are at administrators were never teachers. Here it is a different story. Most principals were teachers. They are definitely part of the problem.

Most administrators here were teachers, yes. But you're forgetting they're a middle link in the chain. They answer directly to the school board, so they're trapped into siding against teachers. They're under pressure not to take the "problem kids" out, for instance. So they don't, and they pass the buck down to the teachers... who have no one to pass all these "bucks" to that fall down from on high.

blaming the taxpayer for not putting more into a broken system is counter productive as would any further replies between the 2 us would be.

Putting money in the back seat of a broken car is stupid. Putting money toward fixing that broken car is not. It's about where you put the money. Think.

You will still get no sympathy from me. And I could care less how hard you think the job is. But how the job is being done is part of the problem and yo u can't get away from that. Sorry if you don't like hearing that from the sidelines. But it's not my job. It's yous deal with it.

You're right. It is my job. And I'm an expert. I've done the coursework, I've done the real work. I work on the front lines and behind the scenes. I didn't just sit through class for a handful of years, see the system from only one side, and decide I knew exactly how it works.

You were a passenger of the education system. I didn't just ride in the car once. I drive the car. I perform maintenance on the car. I perform repairs on the car. I help build the car.

But hey, it's cool. I'm sure you tell the surgeon how to do his incisions, too. We're done here.

 

[DirtyJunkieScum]

I realize that, I was just going off on a self indulgent tangent because I felt like procrastinating.

The "Hand Egg" thing doesn't really work considering the shape of Rugby balls. Though I agree, American Football would make more sense if it was called "American Rugby" or "Padded Rugby". Putting that aside...

Ah, right, I just saw the massive wall of unrelated waffle and TLR'd.

 

[Sarah Frazier]

I call BS on "Video games make kids violent!" mantra. There are horror flicks out there (new or older) that would make modern shooters feel more like a walk in the park. But what else could be behind kids getting more violent?

What about the lack of discipline for bad behavior at school or home? They'd think they can get away with murder.

What about encouragement from peers/staff/family? They'd think that it's not only okay, but expected that they act that way.

What about parents who show violence to others? A young child can think that their family is completely normal, so act violently too unless they learn better.

Don't forget that some people are simply more aggressive and violent regardless of whatever is done. Maybe too much adrenaline or testosterone. Maybe their brain is wired differently. Laying all the blame on one socially common source is as stupid as blaming homosexuality on shoes.

 

[Charli]

This just in: British teachers forget all of human history and embellish current behavior as worse than their own back when they were kids and blame current trends just like every other generation before them.

Lets. Alll do the, bullshit daaance, the bullshit daaance.



Captcha: Jiminy Cricket. I know you're watching me you creepy little cricket. Come out so I can smush you!

 

[Cain_Zeros]

If little Timmy sticks his hand in a wood chipper and it gets shredded, that's not the wood chipper's fault. Little Timmy might just not be that bright, but more likely you might want to supervise your impressionable children and explain to them that sticking their hand in a wood chipper (or re-enacting a scene from Super Violent Piece of Media That Clearly Says It's Not For Children 7) is a bad idea.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Sheratt, a teacher at Riddlesden St Mary's Primary School in West Yorkshire, says she's seen children "throwing themselves out of the window of the play car in slow motion and acting out blood spurting from their bodies," apparently in imitation of whatever awful murder-simulations they've been playing on their consoles.

No offense, but if there are really idiotic little twats out there that think that it's completely safe to try to imitate the car torpedo from Saints Row the Third, then I say we let them do it and have Darwinism remove their ineffectual brains from the gene pool. They're already lost if they think that's OK in real life.

Video games are not that different from motion pictures and TV, or radio before that, or novels before that. Violent content is only as bad as the parental figures around the child (be it actual parents, older siblings, teachers, etc.) allow them to be; if you let them be completely engrossed by this content and let it teach them, then it's YOUR damn fault, not theirs.

 

[bigfatcarp93]

Sheratt, a teacher at Riddlesden St Mary's Primary School in West Yorkshire, says she's seen children "throwing themselves out of the window of the play car in slow motion and acting out blood spurting from their bodies," apparently in imitation of whatever awful murder-simulations they've been playing on their consoles.

No offense, but if there are really idiotic little twats out there that think that it's completely safe to try to imitate the car torpedo from Saints Row the Third, then I say we let them do it and have Darwinism remove their ineffectual brains from the gene pool. They're already lost if they think that's OK in real life.

I could get behind that.

 

[archvile93]

Humans are naturally violent critters, it has very little to do with the "age we live in" crap.

The article was attempting to blame violence in kids on "age we live in" crap. I made my statement because I believe videogames to be a part of a larger issue in that regard, if that is the issue.

It may be because people are naturally violent, but that's getting into a much longer debate over the nature of man, nature vs. nurture, the role of society in shaping a man's personality, etc. I didn't bring all of that up because whether that is a cause, and, if so(and it probably is), to what extent, is part of a centuries-old debate I just didn't want to get into.

This reminds me of the people who complain that we're making kids into wimps who can't handle violence like in the good old days.

I'm gonna say that we probably don't glorify violence much more than before.

I think the whole "thing" with that is that we do glorify violence more today, as we do really hype it up and revel in it, but we've also made it much cleaner.

Think of most of the video games, action movies or anime you've seen in the last few years. They probably had a lot of violence in them, but the protagonists never really seem all that bothered by it. They'll take bullet wounds and long gashes and leap through windows with only minor cuts. They'll clearly feel pain, but they won't do much more than grunt a little or lie down after a fight. Most of the hyped-up violence we see isn't real, and I'm willing to bet a lot of people aren't really used to the weight of real violence, even if they see violent things all the time.

And that's new how? Those kinds of scenes have been around for centuries. Just look at the bible for a quick example; it's filled genocide, incest and rape. Movies have also reveled in violence since movies existed. Just look at anything with John Wayne in it, or Humphry Bogart. Ever seen "The longest Day"? There might be a mysterious lack of blood, but there's lots of Americans getting mowed down by MG42s, germans blown up with grenades, and a British RAF pilot who causually mentions how he shot the German in the face whose corpse is lying just across from him. I can't say with certainty, but considering humanity's interest in violence crosses cultural boundries, and is seen in just about every time period, I suspect it's more nature than nurture.

 

[Metalrocks]

oh wow, again a smart ass person who thinks they have solved the mystery to the big question.

 

[I.Muir]

It's possible but yet again the people responsible are the parents again.
This is how it should be; The government blames the parents, the teachers blame the parents and the parents blame radiation from space and everything else but themselves.

Some kids are just little shits no matter what their parents do

 

[PureIrony]

Humans are naturally violent critters, it has very little to do with the "age we live in" crap.

The article was attempting to blame violence in kids on "age we live in" crap. I made my statement because I believe videogames to be a part of a larger issue in that regard, if that is the issue.

It may be because people are naturally violent, but that's getting into a much longer debate over the nature of man, nature vs. nurture, the role of society in shaping a man's personality, etc. I didn't bring all of that up because whether that is a cause, and, if so(and it probably is), to what extent, is part of a centuries-old debate I just didn't want to get into.

This reminds me of the people who complain that we're making kids into wimps who can't handle violence like in the good old days.

I'm gonna say that we probably don't glorify violence much more than before.

I think the whole "thing" with that is that we do glorify violence more today, as we do really hype it up and revel in it, but we've also made it much cleaner.

Think of most of the video games, action movies or anime you've seen in the last few years. They probably had a lot of violence in them, but the protagonists never really seem all that bothered by it. They'll take bullet wounds and long gashes and leap through windows with only minor cuts. They'll clearly feel pain, but they won't do much more than grunt a little or lie down after a fight. Most of the hyped-up violence we see isn't real, and I'm willing to bet a lot of people aren't really used to the weight of real violence, even if they see violent things all the time.

And that's new how? Those kinds of scenes have been around for centuries. Just look at the bible for a quick example; it's filled genocide, incest and rape. Movies have also reveled in violence since movies existed. Just look at anything with John Wayne in it, or Humphry Bogart. Ever seen "The longest Day"? There might be a mysterious lack of blood, but there's lots of Americans getting mowed down by MG42s, germans blown up with grenades, and a British RAF pilot who causually mentions how he shot the German in the face whose corpse is lying just across from him. I can't say with certainty, but considering humanity's interest in violence crosses cultural boundries, and is seen in just about every time period, I suspect it's more nature than nurture.

I know that "clean violence" has been around for a while. I just think that people today see it a lot more than any other before us.

And I do agree, there must be some instinctual "id" factors which gravitate people towards violence. I mean, its just a naturally intense experience for us. But I do believe that nurture still has a strong role in how we react to violence and be violent ourselves, and while I'm sure that certain societal aspects have been a factor in almost every generation, I think that some factors change over time, and that its important that we recognize those factors.

I know that clean violence isn't new. Very few things are. But things do become more and less important over time. Issues wax and wane, and so do their causes. That's why I think that this "age we live in crap" is important. I mean, it can't possibly hurt to be examined.

 

[Kuilui]

*sigh* No of course it isn't bad parents ignoring there children and letting them be monsters while they do whatever. Of course it isn't the parents fault. Its not their faults its not like they have control over their own children's lives. Nope they are entirely powerless to sit down with their own children and talk with them or punish them or whatever to make them stop being little you know whats. Nope, its those darn video games fault, of course. What else could it be? *Facepalm* This world... Its really sad when instead of blaming the parents anymore they start doing studies about video games and kids. Is the world so devoid of common sense at this point? Has it really gotten this sad?

I get some kids are just going to be crazy no matter what but I think for the most part its just parents not being proper parents.

 

[Strazdas]

I link violence in children to bad parenting. Lets ban parents. To the pools!

It is no news that parents dont want to take the blame, after all most of them egoistic bastards that didnt want the child in the first place. Blaming teacher for bad behaviours is like blaming geologist for extinction of dinosaurs.
as for kids palying out falling out of the car bleeding..... well there used to be a time when my room was full of lava, and that was before computer games existed in my country.

 

[blackrave]

I honestly think that games have made me a better person. Now where's my gun?

I like this guy!
Because anything is better with guns.
And good person is even better with a gun.

 

[OManoghue]

The teacher then proceeded to blame the tide on six mischievous witches.