Violence in Video Games

I recently saw a (possibly somewhat biased) study that PC Gamer published. They showed charts of violent crimes (mostly shootings) and since 1994 ish, violent crimes have been on the decrease, and the most significant decrease was in the 13-19 year old age group.

Last edited by ChrisMG on Mon Jan 16, 2006 5:47 pm; edited 1 time in total

Shootings, yes.

Overall violence done to another person? No.

Aggravated Assaults and Batteries are up.

I saw some news special awhile back that just blew me away. Apparently, some kinds get together and decide to just go find someone to kick the junk out of. There was a video of one. This guy was just getting slammed by like six or seven kids. Was crazy to see. Kicking him in the head, hitting him in the head with skateboards, just plain nuts. They stated in the report that batteries like this are becoming more popular for whatever reason. I think they had one in Chicago not long ago as well. The one I saw was somewhere out in California.

There is actually a phobia called the Universal Human Phobia that 98% of the populace has and doesn't even know it. It's the fear of direct harm from another human being. Actually pretty interesting.

This is a really good site that posts numerous studies about the UHP and juvenile violence:

http://www.killology.com/art_onkilling_phobia.htm

Last edited by kahrn on Mon Jan 16, 2006 5:53 pm; edited 1 time in total

You obviously haven't been to America. 2 out of every 3 Americans is obese, a major cause being the increase in inactivity, junk food, and video games.

Last edited by ChrisMG on Tue Jan 17, 2006 11:32 am; edited 1 time in total

Sitting down for hours and hours on end without any other type of mental and physical stimulation is unhealthy for you. End of story.

It's hard to refute facts that have been gleaned from the last decade of studies.

Kahrn, your statements only prove my point.

I said that video games depicting death, mayhem and destruction could teach people how to go about it.  Just as you said that you learned how to drive, basically fly and save someone's life from a video game; some people have learned to put a bullet in the best place on someone's body.  So you don't raise your eyebrows one tiny bit when you read of an 8th grade student bringing a gun to school, shooting 8 of his classmates, scoring 8 hits [5 torso, 3 head] and having no remorse about it?  Under questioning as to his motives, he replied that he learned to shoot from video games.

Let me explain something.  As someone who has to carry a gun everyday for work, it's not easy to solidify my mind that I may have to shoot someone someday.  When in an extremely stressful environment, your body begins to shut down it's major motor functions so that it can concentrate on fine motor skills.  Your hands begin to shake, you get the proverbial \"tunnel-vision\" and you experience whats called \"auditory exclusion\".  I'm a trained professional who has been doing this for a long time, yet I still feel the effects of stress in that situation.  This kid is an 8th grader who felt none of this. none.  That's called desensitizing.  He played shoot/shoot/kill/kill games so much that in his mind, shooting a living human being became part of the game.  He desensitized himself to the fact that he was spilling real blood.  Now, I don't know about you, but I think that's a cause for concern.  Do I think we should ban all violent games?  No, but I do think we need higher restrictions on them.  If a major motion picture has lots of blood, gore and violence, what rating does it get? It will probably get an \"R\" rating, a rating in which anyone under 17 is not allowed in.  If a video game gets the same rating, a kid can still walk into most stores and buy the game, no questions asked.  Something is fundamentally wrong with this.

I never want to have to respond to a scene where a kid has killed people, especially one where the kid learned to take a human life by playing video games.

You can disagree all you want. But you're not out patrolling the streets at night seeing first hand what kids are capable of.  As for me? I'm going to keep having the belief that in some kids, extremely violent video games are something they shouldn't get their hands on.  When you put knowledge alongside the means and the will, you get a nasty combination in regards to violence.

By the way, you're right.  Obesity comes down to diet and exercise.  The only problem with that statement is that what is one of the main factors of not enough exercise and a limited diet? Well, besides just pure laziness? Yeah, video games.  It's a nice little circle.  A person who plays a ton of games doesn't want to take the time to get up and exercise, nor take the time to eat a proper meal.  Why?  They'll miss something in the game.  I'm sorry, but in my mind...in my opinion [Note: Opinion] this only breeds laziness, and the more often it is done, the more often it will happen.  This not only applies to games. TV too.  They both require a person to sit down, [pulmonary heart rate decreases] be entertained and not get up again for however long they feel like doing it, which apparently, is a long time.

So let's say someone comes home from work after working for 8 hours.  They plop themselves down in front of the TV/computer/game console and play until they go to sleep.  Now you have 8 hours of semi-active activity and 16 hours of inactivity because when you sleep, your heart rate also slows.  Two-thirds of a whole day are now devoted to inactivity, which leads to poor eating habits, which leads to obesity, which leads to these debates which leads to infinity.

Last edited by kahrn on Tue Jan 17, 2006 11:50 am; edited 1 time in total

All of the cases I have seen, the kids had mental disorders. If it were normal people killing, then it'd be different, but all the cases I have seen have had people with mental disorders. But let's not go through the number of people that have killed others from watching movies by immatating them. To say that games is the root cause of murder is still wrong.

And also, why are you blaming violent games? If they were regulated properlly, and were not given to mental people or young people, then it wouldn't happen.

And as with the obesity part, well.. being a truck driver could be an addition to the cause of obesity. What shall we do? Get rid of all the worlds trucks? Nope. Get rid of all the TV's? Not really. Get rid of games? Well yes they are totally evil and killing everyone. And while we are at it, get rid of Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1.2600. Too many office workers are using it and if they don't stop they'll all die.

I'll accept the fact you think video games HELP cause obesity the same as many many other things, provided that they don't eat what they should and do the minimal exercise that they should do. Not only that, but being fat can be down to your genes. Some people will be fat no matter what they eat and how much exercise they do.

Thanks for all the help guys. I just finished the report. It came out pretty good. I don't think I will have any problem getting an A on it.

Last edited by S.W.E on Sun Jan 22, 2006 3:49 pm; edited 1 time in total

Do you think that video games are good or bad for children to play?
-I think it depends on thier age afterall there are some learning video games.

Do you think that one hour of playing video games is better than one hour of television?
-Again depends on age but yes.

Can violent video games actually take control of a person and cause them to do irrational things that they would not otherwise do?
-No i do not think so and i wont until i see irrisputible proof.

What kind of video games do you play?
-FPS/MMORPG/RPG/MMO mainly

Do you think that the ESRB rating system is accurate, or do you think that it really doesn't tell you anything about the content of the game?
-I think it is pretty well done but the ratings should be more detailed.

Do you think that in most cases, the more intense the game, the better storyline it has? Do these games usually address moral/ethical issues?
-No i think it depends on the maker of the game and the series/genre it is in.

Do you think that many video games require a longer playing time, and the usual parential set one-hour limit does not allow you to get anything done?
-Well some games have saving points which makes it a pain sometimes but i think a hour limit might give the kids better time managment skills.