The public’s perception of video games and what the research actually shows is a big issue for children, teens, and parents. Video games are being preserved as one of the top influencers for violence. Even though, ninety percent of boys and forty percent of girls play video games not all video games are harmful. Some people blame video games on anti-social acts, but according to a 2001 Surgeon General’s report, the strongest risk factors for these crimes are more centered on mental stability and the quality of home life, not media exposure (451). People believe that violent video games lead to them becoming violent in their everyday life. Research has shown only when coupled with other real-world influences, do violent video games become harmful to the game players. People say that playing video games is socially isolating, there has been a shift towards the globalizations of video game play. Although the gamer might be alone in his/her room this still might be playing online with multiple gamers (453). For example, Xbox live is like its own social network. There are many myths as to why video games are corrupting our youth today, but through research all these myths are proven to be wrong.
People may object that video games are a major influence on children’s violence. But parents are a major influence in children’s violence, because 83 % of parents purchase violent video games for their children (452). David Grossman argues that because the military uses games in training the generations of young people who play these games are being brutalized and conditioned to be aggressive in everyday life (452). But if you watch teens and children play these games you can see that they understand fake from reality. They enter a “magic circle” when playing these games then after the come back to reality and understand that it was just a game. Video games are sometimes played way too often, but it’s just like if a girl went shopping every day or a boy played a sport every day. It is just a way for teens and children to escape real life, just like the generation before them did when they played Gameboys or Zelda.
The public’s perception of video games is a very logical one; I had the same perceptions myself. However, the public must learn that not every violence related activity should be linked to video games. One of the sections discusses video games and military training. David Grossman says, “…because the military uses games in training, the generation of young people who play such games are similarly being brutalized and conditioned to be aggressive in their everyday social interactions. This may be true in some small cases, but most boys playing these video games are typical teenagers or young adults. Their morals and understandings have already been set for the most part, and they understand that this is just a video game. When the article says, “…games are perhaps the only medium that allows us to experience guilt over the actions of fictional characters,” this is very true. Some “gamers” are so involved in their characters that the actions happening in the game can actually cause real life stress to the player. I think one part where the article falls short is in its discussion about social interactions. It covers that players like to play with family members and friends, but most of the time games are single player or they are on “live”. I do not think Jenkins fully persuaded his audience in this topic—most people believe that one is not being very social when they are playing video games all of the time. The overall article is written with much logos. There are many facts and statistics, which are important in helping to change the perspective of the average gamer, or the average parent of a gamer. Many people have formed their opinions, which Jenkins does an excellent job of bolding, but through his logos I believe he was successfully able to give people a better understanding of the truth and the facts.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe Video Games are just another source of recreation that can entertain us like any other tv shows or movie would do. But there is a point where it's values could be questioned. There are uncountable numbers of games enterting the markekt everyday. Most of them are plotted with criminalism. Therefore, it involves violence. Undoubetedly, violent video games could be mentally harmful to any child under certain age line. Even if, people's perception about Video games being the major influence on Children's violence,may be factually proven wrong,I still think certain violent video games have the ablity to corrupt a child's innerself and it can have a negetive impact on children.
ReplyDeleteTo my experience,video games are and always have been contributers to violent personalities. It may not be the only cause (i.e. troubled homes) but it is still a factor. It says on page 453, "Much video game play is social." This may be true because of x-box live, but the key word is "much." Many other games are meant to be played alone and can take days or even weeks to finish. I would bet that the dedicated "gamer" would have no problem forgetting the real world for days at a time to play his or her games.
ReplyDeleteI have always believed that video games contributes to the violent activities of children and teens today. Jenkins state " If there is a consensus emerging around this research, it is that violent video games may be one risk factor." (451) This shows that not only could a troubled home be the reason for violent acts but video games can be the reason as well.
ReplyDeleteBaleigh
Video games do contribute to violence in children. For instance, the case of Daniel Petric, a young teen who became obsessed with Halo 3 a game involved with killing others, so obsessed that his parents decided to take his game away due to obsession and his increased aggression due to the game. Some time later, he stole the game and his fathers gun from a locked box. He shot both parents, killing his mother. Now if that doesnt show that video games create violence, i dont know what does. Just because not all children may go to the extent of killing their parents, most children do gain some violence and incentive to do violent acts due to video games.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that children who participate in gaming do have a violent, hidden personality. Video games with violence allows children, teens, and even adults to participate in a fantasy world that is far from a fantasy at all. Violent games are something I do not agree in. Children have lost the value of life with this new technology. What used to be outside play has now turned into an online world were people are trapped behind a screen. Parents should not be promoting this behavior because it only will lead into emotional problems that they will have to face with their children.
ReplyDeleteI agree and disagree with these articles. I believe the first article only focused on the negative affects of video gaming and what harm it is causing, never highlighting it reason for existence or the good aspects of the games. Although it did not give two opinions on the matter it did contain, great supporting facts that backed up what the article was entailing. I do believe that harsh video games can have a negative affect on the youth and affect their thinking habits. I also believe that parents should monitor the the content in which their child is watching, and monitor their behavior based on the influences the child encounters. Video games should be played by the appropriate ages that are outline on the boxes, because lets face it, the video game market is only getting larger so parents can only do their best to protect their children but still allowing them to gain some exposure.
ReplyDeleteThe second article I favored a bit more than the first article. I favored this article because it highlighted the negative and positive affects video games have on the youth. In the positive light, video gaming does enhance social skills and friendships, as the article stated, majority of video gamers are not playing alone. I also agree with that facts that video games are a good way to give a bits of exposure to children to prepare them for the real world.