Video Games != Crimes
And more lunacy! Here’s the current question on CNN’s QuickVote:
Should video game makers compensate victims of crimes that courts say were inspired by their products?
Answer: not until the gun manufacturors and gun resellers are required to compensate for the crimes their products are used in.
October 23rd, 2003 at 3:27 pm
How about requiring the parents take some personal responsibility for raising the kids who perpetrate these crimes? How’s that for a novel idea?
One would think they should pay attention to what games their children are playing or what assault weapons their children are buying…
October 23rd, 2003 at 5:05 pm
I have such issues with people who blame video games for leading people to violence. For one thing, there is MORE than enough violence on film and TV (especially the news) to influence kids. Secondly, I don’t even think that those two can easily be blamed.
I agree with Amit. If these kids have not been taught the difference between fantasy and reality (or right and wrong) by their parents, then video games and media are the last things we should blame for their violent crimes. And if the parents did their part, then clearly that person was not of a sound mind because no sane person who had been taught to know the differences between what’s on screen and real life could do anything like that so easily.
There are millions (billions?) of people all over the world who play these violent video games every day. Are all of these people engaging in violent activities as a result? NO. It’s a select few, so I think it’s pretty clear that there must be some other factor playing a part other than the video games.
Okay. I apologize for the rant. I just get very annoyed when people place the blame on the easy target rather than deal with their own problems. I know that it’s hard dealing with the idea that you raised your very own little psychopath, but blaming someone else for your own shortcomings as a parent or your child’s chemical imbalances is not the answer.
October 23rd, 2003 at 6:22 pm
If these kids have not been taught the difference between fantasy and reality
It’s funny, Jen and I were mentioning something like this just the other day. There’s a stage in child development where you learn this kind of distinction — that’s why we both think marketing to children is so very wrong. Before this key developmental stage, children just aren’t able to decide what is hype and what is fact, and the result is they think advertisements are the literal fact. Marketing to this age group is taking unfair advantage of this.
So I see this as another side of the coin. Sure, a kid will know that the images on the screen are generated, but the ability to distinguish it as a fictional mise-en-scene could be difficult. In other words, the poor kids need to learn this isn’t how the real world is. And guess who’s responsibility that is? The parents. Not the babysitter or daycare. (which in a larger and larger percentage of families these days spend more waking hours with the children than the parents do)
c’est la société
October 31st, 2003 at 10:21 am
You guys covered quite alot, and i do not think the video games should be blamed, but it they are easier to blame due to the fact that they are interactive, and require your attention, unlike other media sources. And parents should not always be the ones to blame. Many times bad influences come into a childs life, and going with that for whatever reasons (rebellion etc.) is appealing to us/them. I am not an expert, but the parents should not always have the finger pointed directly at them, because that is also the easy way out.
October 31st, 2003 at 12:36 pm
That’s a good point — video games do have an edge because they’re interactive. But they’re also rendered graphics, basically complicated cartoons. I think that is enough to cancel out whatever additional impact the interactivity causes.
And while I agree, there are a lot of outside influences governing the life of a youth, I still think that parents are ultimately to blame — with one exception. There are actual, mental health imbalances that of course just can’t be controlled. That’s why the law allows you to plead insanity.
But other than that, parents should really just trump all of the other influences. If a parent allows their children to socialize with the kind of misfits that cause these problems, one of three things is happening: 1) they don’t know, 2) they don’t care, or 3) they don’t think they can do anything about it.
Well, 1) they need to ask about their child’s life, and socialize with the parents of their friends, 2) they’re either too lazy, or are so immature themselves that they are only living vicariously through their child, or 3) they’re wrong.
A hands-off approach is not a way to be a parent. Yet so many problems arise because the parents either don’t spend enough time with their children from an early age, or don’t interact with the children enough that they can maintain control.
Teenage rebellion is just one example of what happens when the child doesn’t get enough attention at home. It’s more or less an echo of the ‘terrible twos’. When a baby reaches about two years old, they have achieved a significant role in child development — they can conscienciously think of themselves as a complete, seperate person with rights and needs. During this phase the baby will test waters, and see how much power they have, and how much control they have over the situation. From the parental side of things, this comes across as being obstinate and fussy.
Teenagers go through a very similar process. They are thinking about themselves as independant adults, with their own rights and powers. So, they test the waters. They rebel. They pretty much come across as being obstinate and fussy.
Parents are responsible for both phases. It is their job to handle the baby and make sure the baby isn’t the one controlling the situation. They also need to handle the teenagers and make sure they are not the ones controlling the situation. Yet so many parents these days go weak at the knees whenever their teen goes up against them.
Blah blah, I could rant about this for hours, really. But I’ll stop now and just hope there’s a point in there somewhere.
January 14th, 2004 at 1:52 pm
is there any crimes that can be tolld,that are related to videogames?For instance grand theft auto?
January 14th, 2004 at 2:20 pm
I think the argument is just for the general violence present in the games. Although I have heard accounts of people shooting random cars on the interstate that claimed to be inspired by the grand theft auto games.