Every time some kid shoots up a school or steals a car there are always three convenient scapegoats: video games, that music they listen to, and those movies they watch. Recently here in the Bay Area there has been an upswing of service vehicles being stolen: ambulances, police cars, etc.
Now normally I’m of the school of thought that says parents who parent well are to blame for kids stealing cars or being miscreants, not RockStar Games, Eminem, or Quentin Tarantino. Nonetheless, stealing service vehicles is a core part of the Grand Theft Auto series (III and Vice City in particular). It’s a little odd though, I mean what are you going to do with that fine new ambulance you’ve jacked?
But….
“Computer games don’t affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we’d all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music.”
Kristian Wilson, CEO, Nintendo, 1989
December 8th, 2003 at 7:00 pm
I agree, if video games did affect me, I would believe that I could get shot or stabbed about 100 times and just grab a first aid kit and be back to normal. I have played Grand Theft Auto for endless hours almost, but I have not had any tendencies to run and steal a cop car or blow away a tourist with a shotgun. In these games I am always able to get away from the cops, but seeing pretty much every cop chase scene put on air, I have never seen a man out run a cop, mainly because WE CAN NOT RUN AS FAST AS A CAR, GRAB THE HANDLE, AND EXPECT THEM TO STOP COMPLETELY, STEAL THE CAR, AND DRIVE TWICE AS FAST AS THEM!
December 10th, 2003 at 1:45 pm
What about the guys who claim they did it, inspired by GTA. Admittedly they probably weren’t real upstanding citizens to begin with, but why give people like that a push in the wrong direction.
As for more subtle effects (than murdering people for fun), I see changes in behavior when my 9 yr old son plays any kind of “twitch game”. He gets moody and sensitive. Tends to lash out at any disturbances much more than if he’s been say reading or playing soccer or the piano.
There’s plenty of evidence to back this up.
-robertw
December 13th, 2003 at 8:41 pm
Robert,
I’m a little unclear as to what position you’re staking about the ‘the guys who claim inspiration.’
You cite that there are people who claim that they were inspired to commit a crime due to the presence of GTA. Yet, Hinckley claimed he attempted to assassinate Reagan because of Catcher in the Rye, are we to ban Catcher in the Rye because some loose cogs in society might go too far and assassinate presidents?
The Bible has resulted in plenty of anti-abortion activists shooting doctors, to say nothing of the Crusades and the inquisition. Should we ban this cultural institution?
[Aside: This bloody aspect of the Good Book is subtly pointed out by Kubrick in Clockwork Orange where Alex enjoys reading the Bible for all the bloody parts….and the Chaplain applauds his reading devotion!]
You cited that your nine year old was rather calm when reading which got me thinking. Here’s an experiment (I wouldn’t propose experimenting on your child of course, BF Skinner showed us all the havoc in that) I hypothesize that your nine your old might get quite twitchy if you were to give him a steady diet of the Illiad, the Torah (Jews killing other tribes), and Sophocles.
That there is a physiological reaction to twitch-material cannot be debated, our internal machinery is designed to get primed up when exposed to that material so that our genes can make it to the next round.
I simply find that the threat that these materials pose is much less frightening that the necessary empowerment of some Orwellian arbiter. That said, I’m glad you’re acting as a parent ought and are involved in your child’s reaction to twitchy material. Arbitration of reaction and education about the physiological reaction to such stimuli is occurring in your household at the appropriate level.
Steven
(I do like your phrase ‘twitchy’)
December 15th, 2003 at 2:58 am
This article ran in salon.com today.
January 13th, 2004 at 4:29 pm
I dont think vid games really have an effect on people today… I think that the people who go out and do something crazy are really just people who alredy had other problems in their lives. Its kind of stupid to try to get a game banned just cause you don’t like it.
And another thing remember the little kid who almost died becuz they were looking for spongebob in the ocean? wtf would you want to ban spongebob coz of sumthing like that
March 1st, 2004 at 9:11 am
I think that it is alright for kids to play violent games. But I also think that the kid’s parents should look at the rating before letting their kid buy it. GTA is rated mature whick means that kids who are 10 and 12 shoudn’t be playing it. And if a kid who is young is playing games like that then the parents should have a talk about how that is not how life is and how if you get shot once you could die.
April 5th, 2004 at 5:22 pm
I dont think violent game effec too. I am 15 and i play lots of violent video game. You do see me runing down the road with a frikin sword and some god damn gun pointing it at people for the hell of it. I know that some people might do that, but i think they just had a mest up chiledhood and they were regected as a kid.
May 19th, 2004 at 7:19 am
Video games dont affect education or anything else at that. This whole talk about getting rid of video games is stupid…all because they say its a distraction. If they get rid of video games they might as well get rid of the TV, telephone, and computer. Arent these everyday distractions? Also they use video games to blame for teen shootings and this is where they learn it from. I am 16 years old and have never really played a video game, but i dont see what the big deal is. I also say that if someone goes out killing people, its not because of video games, its because they already had a mental problem that should have been dealt with.
September 15th, 2004 at 4:01 pm
Hi there,
I’m a die-hard video gamer, 17 years old, and am currently doing a paper on all this. My arguement is that violent vido games do not affect teens, or younger gamers for that matter. Now, people will tell you that they do because people have done lab tests. However, these tests are fualty. They are fualty in that several college student are forced to play a violent or nonviolent game(whether they love it or absolutley hate it) for a time between 15 and 75 minutes. After the alloted time, the subjects are observed for agression.
But you have to ask yourself, what if you were forced to take time out of your day to play a game you hated for over an hour? Don’t you think it would put you into a bad mood? This is like going to a friend’s house and having to listen to his or her favorite music-music that you happen to dislike. I speak from personal experience, it bothers you, annoys you, and just puts you in a bad mood. It just happens, and it’s the same case with games. These lab tets are, therefore, faulty.
Well, that’s my little piece. Got any arguements? If so, please present them, but I warn you-don’t think that I wont shoot it to pieces. I’ve done a good bit of research on this subject. Now, if you want to know what I think would be a valid lab test, let me knoe and I’ll explain. Infaxt, I plan on doing one of these tests on the freshmen younger guys in my school. I just gotta work out the kinks….
September 15th, 2004 at 4:05 pm
Steven-You made a good point with the Bible. Very good, point. And, if you don’t mind, I’d like to quote you on my term paper. You made a good point, and here’s one of mine-Little girls love barbies, and alot of them really like her dream car, but do we see little six, seven, and eight year old girls driving? I think not.
October 10th, 2004 at 6:19 pm
I believe that this same argument about video games leading to undiserable behavior can be applied to music, television, reading material and personal relationships. If the parent or peers indicate that a certain behavior is acceptable then that behavior will be practiced. In addition some behavior is directly linked to different cultures ie. “good” girls in Asian cultures don’t show their legs (wear skirts) because in their society only prostitutes show their legs. Well even in the rural areas of the United States on any given Sunday you can see girls going to church wearing dresses or skirts. Does that mean all U.S. women are prostitutes? Hardly! Video games can be used to teach/learn good or bad. Moderation and reenforcing good quality are to be preferred.
October 24th, 2004 at 6:51 am
Yea
That crap with that nut in england, where that psychotic kid blamed manhunt for the killing the other guy, that is absolute bullshit. That kid probably was already a psycho and needed something to blame his behaviour on, and a easy blame target is video games, he then goes on to ruin the game for millions of others who will none the less get the game from another country or just get it illegally. If anyone blames another violent act on a video game or a television show or anything, they should be put to death. Ive had enough of this crap.
October 24th, 2004 at 6:54 am
Hi Marty! Mwah!!
October 24th, 2004 at 7:14 am
I think this topic stinks. No one becomes a criminal due to games. It’s just something parents put the blame on because they can’t face the fact that their kid has hidden issues they knew about subconsciously but failed to act on. And if it’s not a kid who’s doing it, then they know how to work with blame in like the parents do. Enough said…I’m tired.
October 27th, 2004 at 7:08 am
they dont affect couse kids dont skate around jumping off buildings and land on ramps or if the fall off the building with a skateboard and get back up like nothing
October 27th, 2004 at 7:16 am
they dont couse theres no zombies running around and killing people or aliens. if they did affect there would be people running around with full loaded guns or bazukas shoting people if the enemy ranto them.or kids skating in electric wires and cars
November 15th, 2004 at 8:38 pm
How would we get the bazookas?