Violent Games or Violent People

There are alot of people that claim violent video games cause agression in young boys. But do the video games cause the aggression or do aggressive children seek out the violent games. I think it is the latter. Every one knows that when your frustrated you will tend to hit things. So if you have a short fuse than violent video games could help relax you. However if you are a calm person by nature and never show any aggression I think that you'd be less likely to play games with violence. Its simple logic.
So what do you think? Do you agree with my hypothesis that violence is an escape. Or do you believe that video games "brainwash" children into violence?

Interesting post. I feel at times violent with WindWaker and it's not that violent. Kids, I cannot see how playing extreme violence video games can't produce violent moods. Yet I have Not discouraged my Son from playing them when younger. Just never thought of it's possible negative effects.

Dallas

I agree with you on the latter. I'm a relatively calm person and I play all kinds of violent video games, like the GTA games, God of War, and numerous FPS, and I still am not a violent person. Well I'm not to anyone except my brother....

I do believe that it is people who are initially violent or people that are easily led to do things by anything around them, including video games, peer pressure, movies, and maybe even books (extremists in that case) that cause "violent behavior" after playing them, and they should be more careful about what they put around them.

I also believe people who try to futher restrict video games or even ban them should just piss off!

[edit on 8/20/2005 by hatchedcross]

[edit on 8/20/2005 by hatchedcross]

So what do you think? Do you agree with my hypothesis that violence is an escape. Or do you believe that video games "brainwash" children into violence?

Video games are just that: Games.

The problem is that such a large percentage of older humans have no imagination or ability to visualize, and so video games to them are seen as "things children play with" and so if there is violence in a particular game, they feel the need (or sense an opportunity) to be righteous and to preach against video games in the name of "the children". Usually anything done in the name of "the children" is done for show and is done by self-righteous people.

Murders on television are commonplace, and I would say that these are far more influential on young minds. See, when a kid sees a murder on TV, they are absorbing it with the idea that "This is how the world is". During TV watching, your brain is in 'receive' mode. ...When a kid chooses to shoot someone in a videogame, however, they know they are in control. This is why video games are actually great tools to teach kids that their choices have consequences. A child knows when they are playing a video game.

The real reason video games are hated by some people is because video games teach people how to interact with their environment and how to make choices, whereas TV turns them into obedient, receive-only drones. If you were trying to create empowered children, would you want them making goal-driven choices in an interactive simulative environment or vegging out watch another stupid gangsta music video (organized glorification of violence, made for kids) or brain-mushing cartoons?

Violent people will prefer tactile outlets for their violence and it is easy to observe kids when they are learning such rules as "be nice to the animals, Johnny", "Don't stab others with knives, Johnny" and other accepted codes of a peaceful society. If a kid breaks these rules of society or acts out violently, they can be helped, but in fact, I'd recommend video games as the best therapy for such a chld. Give them something they have control over (a joystick doesn't kill anyone) and thereby help them to gain more control over themselves.

This question, of violence in video games, seems to boil down to this: "Do children understand that polygons are not people?" ...I'd say the answer is yes, but in the interests of non-bias reporting, I'm gonna go play GTA: San Andreas for a little while and report back later.


[edit on 20-8-2005 by smallpeeps]

Exactly... I believe just like you... Ok, It's bad to "kill" poples... But is it better to smoke... No, and nobody is accusing them for anything... And in my opinion you may play as much as you like, as long as you remember that killing is always wrong... Now, i remembered a case in Finland... two young boys had killed two other humans... Everybody accused the games that they were playing... Now, one of the relativies of the one(s) who died said that he had played those games as long as he could remember... But he wasn't a killer... And he wasn't one because he had always learned that killing is wrong...

Originally posted by Vegemite

Do the video games cause the aggression or do aggressive children seek out the violent games?

It's both. Human nature has a violent aspect to it, by nature. Part of it is a survival mechanism. If you think at the microscale ... the "violence" of a white blood cell engulfing an invading bacteria or virus is quite substantial, yet it is necessary to survive.

The same is true at the macro scale ... we need to periodically defend ourselves our our contry against invaders.

Capturing this sensation into a "game" is what these videogames do. However, I do agree, that the modern videogame is quite explicit compared to the things we did when I was a kid (such as playing Wumpus, pac-man, donkey-kong, and Ultima V).

If you consider the plots of some of these games, they are just as violent (killing dragons and so on) as they are nowadays. Only, today, we actually see a 3-D video of a sword cutting off a dragon's head complete with spurting dragon blood, and sound effects. Some people may even have 3-D VR goggles for a fuller effect.

What we are getting to, is not the chicken or the egg, but the difference between reality and fantasy.

In ancient times, say the days of Homer, people would tell stories and act out famous battles, or fictional battles against their enemies. Their children would likely take wooden swords and play out these fantasies.

Our children today have fancier toys ... however, the desire of Hollywood and computer animators to make things more "realistic" has gotten to the point of ludricrousness. Do we REALLY need to see a super-slo-mo of someone's head getting chopped off like in Gladiator?

Do we REALLY need to see Duke Nuken running around the subterranean computer jungles blowing away "bad guys?"

I don't know, but that's the world in front of us.

Now, aggressiveness can be passed on in many ways.

Children with agressive parents tend to be more agressive. Children with very weak parents also can become agressive out of an opposite mechanism.

Children that are not supervised, and who do not communicate much or at all with their parents about these kinds of subjects, who are not taught what a reasonable and acceptable manner is, may not know the difference.

It is these children that, when they see the videogames or movies, may enter a temporary state of a hyperactivity, when they might be prone to carrying out violent actions.

If they do not have good influences in their lives to diffuse these emotions, they may turn to the dark side, like Vader.

If they have good parents that talk with them and calm them down, not beat them, or tell them to go rob a bank or sell some crack, then they will learn the difference between good and bad.

Truth is it's about the community, the education, and the communication, not only the videogames.

video games keep people happy and keep there brains thinking.there is no truth in video games making people go crazy.there crazy because they are.aggression is a chemical in the brain that some have more than others.i like the invention of video games its has made people think more and that cant be a bad thing.....

You can have my violent video games when you pry them from my cold dead hands!