Opnotikis / Member

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Video Games and Violence

Video games are Violent!Unless you have been in a cave for the past 40 years or so you would have noticed that video games are violent. Most entertainment is to some point. People that say video games cause people to be more violent are just trying to give you their unwavering opinion. Having done research for two college papers, looking up articles on both sides and books that talk about influence of violence and gaming, I have found no real scientific proof that anyone can say with any data that video games are the cause of people being violent in life. Yes people can be idiots and try to reenact a stunt from a game, but that is because their idiots. Yes violence is something most everyone is exposed to on a daily bases be it from television, movies, music, video games, playing outside, walking down the street, or riding in a subway train, violence is everywhere. So if video games are the main cause then why are people not complaining about them being the reason for all violent acts? They usually use video games as a reason for youth violence.

I have been playing violent games since my sister and I started playing our NES in 1989. I didn't get into violent content till my dad got me a copy of DOOM on shareware. I have played plenty of games that make Doom look like a car accident involving a dog. I have seen some bad accidents driving/riding in cars or on a school trip, but a video game is nothing new to me. Why? Because my parents sat me down when I started playing Doom and talked to me about the game and the difference from the game world to the real world. I understood what they were saying and guess what....I have yet to commit a crime of any kind.

Games are not the issue, parents not talking to their kids are. If they parents are not able to then someone needs to talk the the kid or kids that are playing a violent game. The kid(s) will understand what your saying if you just give them a chance. Don't shield them, they'll just go to a friends house and play the game there.

No I don't mean to say let the kid play GTA 4 or Resident Evil 4 right off the bat, make them prove that they can handle it and not just say they can. When a kid sees that their parents trust that their not going to go out a shoot someone because they saw it in a game, the kid will listen to them when they say a game is not right for them to play just yet.

So the ESRB ratings are in place to help with this and most states in the US(not sure about the rest of the world) have laws that prohibit stores from selling games rated R or AO(adults only for those that don't know the ESRB system) to anyone not 18 or older and they must ask to ID with a birthdate. So if you are a parent of are thinking about having kids someday, and letting them play video games, you may want to get an understanding of the ESRB rating system. And if you can rent the game and play it before they do that can give you the best idea of what you fell they are ready for or not.

Sorry about the rant, but I get into this mood sometimes and hate that video games are made as an excuse for violent act in the world, when there is some other reason that is actually the reason someone did something terrible or stupid depending on what happened.

Please leave comments I would like to see what people think about the subject no matter what side you are one or what you think.