[DEBATE] Video Game Violence Influence on Children

Discussion in 'Community Discussion' started by iRupees, Oct 5, 2015.

  1. So there are tons of articles about Video Game Violence and how it can change children's attitudes about aggression, and I felt like I needed too bring this up because Black Ops 3 is coming out next month and no doubt there will be more articles on the violence in the game and how kids get their hands on it even though it is rated for age 17 and up.

    My personal Opinion

    People saying "Violent Videos" encourage children too become violent is a bunch of crap, honestly, if it did you would see a lot more crime coming from our generation. Parents who are worried about that, shouldn't buy it for their kid, simple as that, and if they go too a friend's house who may have it make sure too let the parent or guardian of that child know that yours is not allowed too play games with that type of content. There are ratings on the games for a reason, you have too be a certain age to buy a game that has a Teen or Mature rating on it.

    I worked at GameStop for a year and a couple months, and we could not sell a game rated mature too anyone under the age of 17, and I never did. But I did see many, many kids coming in and buying games such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty and their parents bought it for them. The thing is, if a child is old enough to pick up a controller or mouse, and know how to work it and what to do in the game, they should know the difference between right and wrong by now, if they can't do that then they probably can't even understand what is going on in the game anyway.

    Feel free to let me know your opinions.
  2. I tried to play assassins creed and at one point I was completely grossed out by one scene and I sold that thing in a heartbeat. Also I tried to play advanced warfare in the campaign and the first one at the end of the sequence. I felt my heart just stop. I cannot handle Rated M video games. Also I know that Rated M video0 games, can't really happen but may, but by a slight chance. I am friends with this one kid, younger than me, who plays GTAV all day, and gets heavily influenced by it. I am a good kid, and I only play until Rated T. I can't handle video game blood and gore, but I watch television. NCIS has a lot of it on autopsy. I guess the way I react is that IRL this stuff happens, surgery and such. But in a video game I just stop playing the game because I was so caught up in the game that I didn't know it would happen.

    Back on topic, I think it is smart for your gamestop to do that. But the thing with parents is that they don't care about their kids until they grow up, get a gun and shoot them up and becomes a murderer and robs banks. More violent games will come out in the future and then the kids get caught up in that and then...god only knows what will come up next. So you can blame parents for it, or the way the parents treat the kids.
    607 likes this.
  3. I've been playing grand theft auto since I was like 7 or 8 and can honestly say that it hasn't affected my aggression. I can't recall ever being aggressive with somebody, the most that happens is I get a little frustrated but that happens with everyone, does it not?
    However, I do believe this decision should be down to the parents as they are the ones who know you the most and monitor the behaviour of their children.
    Dektirok, Sparticals and SoulPunisher like this.
  4. I'm the same way, I've had a controller in my hand and GTA or Call of Duty or some other form of violent video game in front me for my entire life.
    Sparticals and Deadmaster98 like this.
  5. I bought this bag for a reason.

  6. Before video games, it was television.
    Before television, it was comic books.
    Before comic books, it was... hell, I don't even know, I'm not that old.

    The point is, the media is always trying to find a scapegoat for aggressive, deviant, or violent behaviors. The honest truth is, it's all about parenting. If parents aren't willing to take responsibility for their children and raise them correctly, a sidewalk splatterfest in GTAV is not going to let them off the hook.

    This isn't a debate worth having. The real question should be directed at parents, and how they choose to educate their kids. Games, TV, Movies, whatever, it's all a smokescreen.
  7. The first mature/15+ game I played was Destroy all Humans for the PS2. It wasn't really gory it was just the adult humour in it. I then moved on to TF2 by the age of 9/10, I didn't really take it all in it was just so fun I wanted to play it. I then played the Black Ops demo, back then I didn't really care for the gore I wanted to see what it was like because my friends at the time were CoD nerds. Now being 13/14 in January, I play all sorts of games from CoD to The Last of Us, LittleBigPlanet and Disney Infinity, I don't really mind age ratings, I just want a good game to play. However. I'm not allowed to play games like GTAV.

    My view is that kids shouldn't play violent games as it may affect them. But if they would do anything from say GTAV, they would need some sort of mental illness for it to trigger that. Some people can act mature around them sort of games and not take an act of violence outside the game. That's my view on it anyway.
    Deadmaster98 likes this.
  8. I've had a controller in my hands since I begged to play Spyro on my dad's PS1 when I was two years old. I started playing more violent games when I was about 6 or 7. The only time I have ever been aggressive with somebody is when they made me feel like crap for five years - I reached a tipping point and got into a physical fight with them... multiple ones, actually, since I lost in the first few fights until I took my 'mental restraints' off and hit them as hard as I could, as many times as I could. I wound up bashing their head into a tree... :rolleyes:

    I agree that the argument that video games causes aggression and violence in children is a load of crap. If anything, it provides an outlet to get aggression out of their system. A child getting bullied at school may be scared to hit back in fear of getting in trouble with the teachers (I know I was for almost six years, which I regret, since the punishment was minor compared to what I would get now and it would have solved so much shit in my life... besides, when I finally done it, my teacher congratulated me on finally sticking up for myself >.>), and then they can come home and go all 360 noscope mlg on people, shake off their anger by killing polygon people, and feel good about themselves.

    With the right parenting, a child will be able to play games like Battlefield from a young age. If a child knows the difference between a virtual world and the real one (which most kids do, like, really, it's not that hard), I see no reason why they shouldn't be able to play a violent game.
    Dufne and Deadmaster98 like this.

  9. I think playing games rated 16 or up will indeed change and/or damage you. Of course it depends on the person how much so, though. Some people are just more sensitive than others. But I'm not sure if playing mature rated games will do permanent damage. Also, I think it should be obvious that A-rated games will definitely change/damage your mental health more than M-rated games.
    ShelLuser likes this.
  10. The invention of the wheel caused violence.
    Deadmaster98 and Patr1cV like this.
  11. The discovery of fire caused violence.
    SkyDragonv8 likes this.
  12. Well...true. But The invention of guns kill the cat/person
  13. Guns don't pull their own trigger.
    SoulPunisher and Deadmaster98 like this.
  14. Does this mean that muscles cause violence?
    We go to gyms to get muscle...
    GYMS ARE THE ROOT OF EVIL
  15. Pretty much.
  16. That's the spirit! Gyms are the epitome of life itself!
  17. That entire debate is just a dumb way that the media makes money. It's not a debate worth having at all for anyone that has spent 10 minutes playing a game.

    Don't let your young kid be playing CS:GO or something, but if you're like I'd say 12+, you've already established that real life violence is not a joke and it should be fine for you to play basically anything.
  18. I'd say something, but following the saying "if you're not sure if it would be allowed, assume not" I won't.
  19. You could look up my profile on Xbox: It is clear that I am a fan of FPS'es.

    Also, this problem may not just affect children, but ANYONE who plays videogames, but to stay on topic, I will stay on the topic of children.

    I don't believe that video games are a leading cause to motivate people to be violent.
    I am going to attack this from a psychological standpoint.

    So, kids are kids.
    They do not know better.
    Kids also like to be rebels.
    Other kids in the schoolyard, playground, etc. may be a little violent, which goes from shoving people to a full out bully-fist fight.
    Kids are imprinted with what they see those other kids do, and try to be "cool" and "fit in", and then do what they saw others do. This goes back to the parent who was violent in front of their kid, and now that kid has the vision that he/she must be violent to be cool like that parent.

    Video Games do not make MOST people violent. As I said, since I am attacking this issue from a psychological standpoint, no two brains are alike.
    There are many disabilities which can cause a lapse in judgement, leading to a blurred line between reality and video games.

    I do not believe that video games, if monitored correctly, can make people violent.
    For instance, there is no respawn button in this world.

    Here are some links that I read about some people thinking the real world is the same as in video games.
    http://patch.com/ohio/stow/stow-teen-who-stole-dump-truck-to-serve-two-years
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ughts-violent-solutions-players-problems.html
    Deadmaster98 likes this.
  20. im not sure if this argument has been made or not, but what causes deviancy, and in some cases extreme violence and criminal acts is the fact that in some people (not many, but enough to keep prisons up and running) is a small part that in criminals, is extremely smaller than a normal civilian, its the part that helps you decide and learn right from wrong by attaching emotions to the actions, for instance you can ask a serial killer if he feels remorse for what he did and if he is telling the truth, he will tell you that he does not, because he has no emotional attachment to the act, so when the media and parents blame video games for violence, they are being dumb, the real problem is not just one single thing, its a multitude of things such as environment, how their parents raised them, etc, plus ive been playing violent video games since I was 4 :D

    edit: small part in the human brain located in the central of it ^u^