Just saw this on Yahoo news and I figured it might be interesting to some folks here... On a slightly related matter - I remember a conversation I had with an old video tape distributor in Sweden who told me that rape and attacks on women dropped dramatically when vhs (porn films in particular) was first launched over there. Is the same happening with games? "Kamy Akhavan, managing editor at ProCon.org, said while sales of video games have quadrupled from 1995-2008, the arrest rate for juvenile murders fell 71.9 percent and the arrest rate for all juvenile violent crimes declined 49.3 percent in that period. "It seems fair for parents to argue that their kids shouldn't play those games, but it also seems fair to argue that those games have not caused our society to become more violent," said Akhavan" Does anyone question these statistics?
Sounds similar to most of the (credible) research I've heard about on the subject. However, I think it might be easy for one to come to the conclusion from those statistics that adolescents are venting their anger on videogames instead of doing it in real life. I don't think there's much evidence to support that hypothesis. Instead, I think it might just be due to the fact that videogames give kids something to do - so maybe they can tolerate the world around them a little better and aren't so inclined to go out and kill people. That's just a guess, though.
As humans, we are more civil and less violent than we have been at any point in history given the number of people on the earth. I'm just looking at the numbers here. It's awful to quantify violence, I know. Almost makes it trivial. I do believe it is the PARENTS RESPONSIBILITY to shield their children from content they deem to be inappropriate. If they fail to do so or don't even talk to them, in depth, about the topic, then they fail as a parent. "But my kid does whatever he/she wants now, I have no control." Then you should have taught them what you believe to be proper values as a child, back when they were so easily able to be indoctrinated. There are really only 3 focal points to "blame" for any given child's upbringing; Parents, Schools, Society. The PARENTS play the most important role in any child's development. This is why I believe parenting should be licensed(not as stringently as you're probably thinking). Bottom Line Is: Spend some quality time with your kid(s). Second Bottom Line Is: Games don't make kids violent, lack of active parenting does.
Where does that article get it's source?? Also, the data behind those statistics could be derived through factors that have no way any relation to videogames. Just another bullshit article.
What other factors? Kids smoke more weed nowadays and can't be bothered to go out? Most children are now born paralysed from the neck down? I do agree that the stats are open to question until we can verify them, but, if they are accurate, then what other 'phenomena' that keeps kids indoors (more than ever before) has slowly creeped up in the last 15 years? I'm stumped if I can think of anything else that might be the cause. It's mostly the 'source' of the stats I'm puzzling over. Does 'browsing the internet' = playing videogames?
Things like violent crime, rape, teen pregnancies, juvenile deliquentcy, and the like are more closely tied to economic cycles than anything else. People who blame society's problems on violent games, movies, wrestling, are full of crap. I tend to find they're usually people like Pat Robertson, Jack Thompson, or others who are trying to lead bookselling tours thinly disguised as "moral crusades."
[old joke]Playing games doesn't make kids violent, and if anyone disagrees with me then I'll smash their face in[/old joke]
Yes & no! Whilst I don't disagree that it's vitally important that parents take an active part in their children's upbringing, take time out of the daily schedule to spend "quality" time with their children etc, I feel that this is a complete oversimplification. It simply suits us to believe that monsters are created rather than born. We would like to think that the last mass murderer was abused as a child and locked in a cupboard under the stairs and only fed what the rest of the family wouldn't touch. It's convenient. It's often the case that people are indeed pushed to the brink by others, but in most cases where children are violent it's against other children because they were bullied or ostracized by their peers. In the UK we have just seen 2 children accused of attempted murder against 2 other young children. It would appear that in that instance the parents really were a massive contributing factor, but it's not always the case and you'd be mistaken to believe so. There are plenty of cases and sufficient evidence to suggest that violent children are just as likely to come from loving and God fearing home lives. I'd be really surprised if you had children. That would be my first reaction to the above. One simple expression of it is watching my own 5 year old son at play. We made a decision not to buy any toy guns. We thought it would curb his interest, but did it hell. Not only are children influenced by what they see on television and films, computer games etc, but also children around them. We couldn't believe it when we sat and watched our 3 year old son fashion a gun out of Duplo bricks to hand to his friend who'd come over with a water pistol! It's already out there! The genie is out of the bottle, you cannot put it back even with the best of parenting or a sterile vacuum of an environment. "Indoctrinated" - Wow! I love your vision of parenting! That's some word to use. I wish you well with it whenever you get the opportunity and suspect you'll look back on that and think "did I really say that?" I question the validity of your first statement regarding human being more peaceful, less violent and more civil. What numbers were you looking at? Where was the source? Head_in_the_sand.com? Since the end of World War II I'd struggle to think of a single year where wars were not fought, genocide committed or horrible acts carried out by one series of people against another series of people right up to the present day. Just because they are not shouted about and listed each day on CNN doesn't mean they are not on going. I've been watching in horror as the venue for the 2016 Olympics has exploded into violence (for example). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article6881528.ece In the UK we are teetering on the brink of yet more troubles in Ireland, which in reality have dwindled on an international scale, but continue to erupt locally. They are barely keeping a lid on the small, but violent splinter groups determined to undermine the peace process. According to WHO (World Health Organisation) 1.6million people are killed each year through violence. They say that their statistics are just the tip of the iceberg: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/pr73/en/index.html Where exactly in the World are we more civilized now? Down your street, in your town? I think the most shocking statistic is (again from WHO) is that in the last century an estimated 191 million people lost their lives due to violent conflict on the face of our planet. Well over 50% of them were civilians. So, just like your theories on parental attitudes, I suggest you rethink your notions regarding violence and civility in the World.
Exactly. If someone has a good and stable living situation, they are alot less likely to decide to commit armed robbery or other things like that. By contrast if someone has nothing and no reasonable way of getting anything they may become violent to obtain something. Afterall they have little left to lose. I do think there could be merit in decreased problems with Kids and increased video game playing as any activity that keeps kids from having nothing to do but get into trouble will have that effect.
