Poll: Violent Video Games

[Osirisgod16]

Today in my high school English class, we were choosing subjects for our persuasive essays, I considered my topic and chose the banning of violent video games (coming from the recent Supreme Court trial) The teacher (luckily) already had a beginning question for me to start on.

When I told my friends what my topic was, most of them agreed with banning violent video games! I was shocked to hear my friends saying gamers were psycho! So I come to you, people of the Escapist, help me write this essay and change the minds of the ignorant masses. Or at least some of my friends.

Despite the question options, feel free to post! I'd love sources to things that would prove my point.

Edit 1: Here is the essay question: There is much discussion as to whether some video games are responsible for aggressive behavior. Many adults want violent video games banned.
Consider how you feel about video games and their effect on behavior.

Edit 2: This is for a high school in Utah, despite how awesome some answers would be, I do have to keep it G.

 

[Kurokami]

Tell them to ban violent shows, and then the news, and then porn.

Whoever doesn't jump aboard the boat with TV/News will definitely join when porn's gone.

 

[Blemontea]

Even if we ban violent video games, or make it illegal to sell them to minors, people are still going to get violent video games from independent devs. or even black markets. So if were trying to ban games so the people don't play them, its pointless because a large majority of people will still play them. Plus if were banning games because there violent then why haven't we banned violent movies/tvs and violent books?

If you wish to change your friends minds challenge them with the definition of "violent" and ask them about the games they played, pointing out even the slightest violent games.

 

[technoted]

If people did what they do in violent videogames we'd have people running round with chainsaw guns and when was the last time you saw that happen?

Basically the government, media and parents who didn't pay enough attention to the fact their kid was completely fucked in the head have to blame something and so they go for the easiest target, whether it's musical lyrics, TV or Video games.

 

[Osirisgod16]

Those are some great ideas, but they always counter with "But in video games you're controlling the character, you're actually telling him to kill those people"

 

[Rewdalf]

I don't think Violent video games cause normal people to turn crazy.
The issue is people with recurring mental problems or deep issues.
Violent video games can easily bring out the worst in a mentally unstable person.
If it is possible for a normal person to be turned into a murderer because of a violent video game, then we'd have thousands of murders within the hour, due to the sheer mass of players...
Hopefully my opinion helps with your essay.

 

[Blue_vision]

Really, I'll say that freedom of speech in this way can go fuck itself. Freedom of speech is being able to give a message no matter how much another person may not want to hear it. Unless one of your messages is through violence, (which I'll say there are probably plenty of games that do so,) you're still not negating anyone's freedom of speech by banning violence (in that more traditional sense at least.)

You are harming artistic creativity though. Games are part fun, part art. And we still have plenty of movies that are just as violent as some games, and not even those ultra-violent movies. Saving Private Ryan's probably got as much real violence as Halo or Call of Duty, and you could say that it has the exact same effects on people. But it doesn't, and games don't. Just smack parents over the head so they don't go around buying GTA for their 11 year old.

 

[Daniel Laeben-Rosen]

No, of course not.
"Children shouldn't play these games" and all that is why there's an AGE LIMIT RIGHT ON THE DAMN BOX!
Fact that kids play violent videogames is more a matter of faulty parenting. But that said, if you're a parent and feel your kid can handle the game in question; go for it.

It's the VCR-debate all over again. How we needed to ban the format because now kids could watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre at home! Egads!

It happens all the time with new media and personally I'd have hoped videogames would've gotten past this by now.

But if you ban videogames you also have to ban:
Television
News(both printed, radio, televised and web)
Music
Books
REAL LIFE

Because you see, there's violence in all those things. Frankly if we could completely irradicate violence in humanity we'd probably solve one or two problems in itself. That's not going to happen however.

So no.
There should not be a ban on violent videogames.

 

[JWRosser]

No. That's all I'm saying. The idea of banning violent video games is pathetic. It's also late and I'm tired.

 

[Stalk3rchief]

Watch this video

Spoiler: Link

It should help a little. If you have never seen this I suggest watching it all the way through, being one of the best televised debates on the subject, if you ask me anyways.

 

[zfactor]

-sigh-

I did a essay about the same a similar thing (regulation/government rating of the video game market) and my reasons against were as follows:

-It is already self-regulated, just like the movie and music industry

-The governmental red tape resulting from regulation would hurt the industry

-The volume of games makes this not feasible (online releases of independent/solo games would need to be regulated too)

-Governmental control can result by not rating some games (always on the bottom of the pile)

Those are some great ideas, but they always counter with "But in video games you're controlling the character, you're actually telling him to kill those people"

Counter with this

-There is no casual link between video games and violent behavior (some judge said this, forgot which one...)

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Of course not! Human beings are aggressive by nature. After all the 2 most violent wars in human history occurred before video games were even invented.
Even if violent video games did cause violent behavior in young people, parents have the power to control what their children see and hear. There are systems in place to ensure parents are informed about what content goes into games(ESRB etc.). If there's still a problem, then the fault lies with the parents themselves. In my mind there is no (rational) reason for video games to still be a target.
In a related note, it baffles me that Americans are so willing to put such control in the hands of the government. I was under the distinct impression that Americans hated government controls on anything. You'll oppose government controlled health care, but you're fine with the government raising your kids for you??? o_0

 

[Requx]

I think there are tons of media controlled countries who believe they should be. But once you cut out what your population can see the world would shrink I guess. But yeah controlling media don't do it.

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

There are some people that believe that the more realistic the game is, the more likely we are to emulate the violence ourselves. I disagree with this.

I, being a former psychology major and now sociology major, believe that the supposed increase in violence isn't from contact with videogames or other such things, but a poor environment.

The concept of "family time" seems to have gone out the window. When kids are raised by being plopped down in front of a TV, it's not unusual, indeed, it should be expected, that they wouldn't be able to interact with people like they might otherwise. Sure, mass media may desensitize us as far as violence and sex are concerned, but for the most part, we are sexual and violent beings. We wouldn't be attracted to such things if it weren't in our nature to be.

The problem doesn't lie within the games themselves, but in the amount of time the person spends on them. It's only natural to be immersed in something you spend a long time doing. Reading a long book for hours on end has immersion similar to playing a game for the same amount of time.

The main problem lies within young and easily influenced people. Children are highly impressionable, and at the very young ages, typically between...I'd say 4 and somewhere around 8 or so, may have trouble distinguishing reality from fiction. Of course, this age may vary from child to child, but these children often come into contact of this content through the parents.

I don't think the games themselves are the problem. I blame bad parenting, poor environment, and just lack of common sense on a lot of people's parts.

 

[Osirisgod16]

MasterofWorlds, do you mind if I quote you on that? That is a perfect statement for my paper.

 

[The Rascal King]

snip

I agree 100%. See, during the pre-operational stage(which is about ages 2-7) of cognitive development, a child's highly impressionable and likes to imitate behavior of an adult. This means bad news if a child is playing a game that feature swearing, nudity, and grotesque violence.

This is where parents can stop their child from likely becoming a total asshole in the future. They must take extra steps by only allowing them to play games appropriate for their age (the reason ERSB exists). In the case that parents constantly let their kids to play games to get them out of their hair, they are far too nurturing need to cut that permissive shit out. Make em' read a book or shove them outside to play when they're lying around too much, that's what my parents did.

 

[Mr. Omega]

I'm not even going to go into free speech or any of that stuff, and just point out how useless these kind of laws would be.

All the banning and regulation in the world isn't going to stop parents from making stupid choices when buying games for their child. All the California regulation stops KIDS from getting violent games, but does nothing to stop the PARENT. A mother could walk in with her 4-year-old son and buy GTA4, with clear intention of giving said game to her son, but because the person making the purchase is over 18, there's nothing that can be done. That's how it is now, that's how it will be even if the Cali. law does pass.

Furthermore, with the age of digital distribution fast approaching, said regulation and banning will become even less effective. Even with stuff that IS regulated and actually enforced, people have found ways to get around the system to get whatever they want.

 

[SpireOfFire]

video games didnt make me violent. my temper, my impatience, my frustration, and watching the news makes me violent.

video games calm me down.

 

[Paularius]

You created a thread to get people to do your homework for you? Nice move!

The ammount of people who play games must be staggering. With numbers like that your gonna get a few crazies playing games. When they do finally snap, people are gonna realise that he had infact played tetris and thus games caused him to kill all those people...

Political logic... You cant make this shit up.