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Violent Games Good for Kids
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So that's what's wrong with me (Score:5, Funny)
by principio on Thursday September 26, @05:23PM (#4339581)
(User #558251 Info | Last Journal: Monday August 12, @11:53PM)
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I knew I should have spent more time playing video games and less time studying.
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Whew! (Score:3, Funny)
by JUSTONEMORELATTE on Thursday September 26, @05:24PM (#4339589)
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I'm sure the folks over at The Army [americasarmy.com]
are glad to hear this one!
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Single validation not enough (Score:2, Insightful)
by Amadaeus on Thursday September 26, @05:24PM (#4339592)
(User #526475 Info | http://www.amadaeus.net/)
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Repeated beatings of the gaming industry can't be rescued by a single validation.
What really needs to be done is that society must realize that not all disasterous things int he world can be blamed on the gaming industry. When that happens, then it will be a true validation of pc/console gaming.
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- Dual approach. by Lemmy Caution (Score:3) Thursday September 26, @05:29PM
Re:Single validation not enough (Score:4, Insightful)
by Amazing Quantum Man on Thursday September 26, @05:31PM (#4339651)
(User #458715 Info | http://www.geocities.com/theLICC)
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The problem is that Mommy and Daddy need someone to blame when little Johnny (or Eric or Dylan) goes on a shooting rampage.
Now, it's probably not Mom and Dad's fault either. Little Johnny is plenty old enough to know right from wrong and that killing his schoolmates is WRONG.
But there is a very human need to find a "reason", and video games are a convenient scapegoat. Besides, then some politician can call for banning them in order to be seen "DOING SOMETHING!!! ANYTHING!!!". After all, he has to think of the children(tm).
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They are right (Score:2, Funny)
by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 26, @05:25PM (#4339595)
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They havn't warped me.
--Inmate # 1268358 Walla Walla State Pen., WA
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Don't believe it? (Score:5, Funny)
by FreshMeat-BWG on Thursday September 26, @05:25PM (#4339598)
(User #541411 Info | http://www.risecom.net/~Goodwyn)
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For anyone who doesn't believe this: Sit through a two-hour long meeting with a manager and then go play twenty minutes of GTA3. Feeling better aren't you?
Good for kids and adults!
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Another way to scare parents. :) (Score:1)
by Bamafan77 on Thursday September 26, @05:25PM (#4339603)
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Conclusion:
If you don't let Timmy get rid of excess agression by playing Street Fighter Epsilon 7, his chances of dragon punching his sister in the throat increases exponentially.
Capcom and Tecmo should really use quotes from this report in their upcoming advertising. ;)
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- SHOJUKEN!@ by mekkab (Score:2) Thursday September 26, @05:33PM
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When I was a kid... (Score:4, Funny)
by kbielefe (8mzpyhfu8001@sneakemail.com) on Thursday September 26, @05:27PM (#4339614)
(User #606566 Info | http://slashdot.org/~kbielefe | Last Journal: Thursday September 26, @10:20PM)
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When I was a kid I released my agression by chopping wood and mowing lawns. Nothing like violently chopping the heads off of 1 million blades of grass to relieve stress.
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Shouldn't it be (Score:1)
by thoolie on Thursday September 26, @05:28PM (#4339619)
(User #442789 Info | http://www.texxelle.com/)
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violent games good kids as well as adults that are in touch with there younger side? I know manyt people that play RTCW and UT that are over the age of 30. I don't think that the games are any better for young people than for the older or visa versa. But remember, the games are only good for the kids if they are being played, if a game is being eaten, it could have some negative results ;-)
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Re:Shouldn't it be (Score:5, Insightful)
by stratjakt on Thursday September 26, @05:40PM (#4339732)
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Actually the lions share of the market is over 18.
RTCW and GTA3 arent designed for little kids. If they were targetting my 9 year old, they'd be doing a piss-poor job.
He couldn't care less about the titles I enjoy.
I mean, how much money does the average 5-10 year old have in his/her pocket? Richie-Rich aside, its not enough to buy a new game every week.
New as in full MSRP on release day, they dont make money when you pick up Warcraft II BattleChest for 4.99 at babbages.
The video game industry didn't surpass the movie industry in gross sales on little Billy's allowance.
That's the reason there are so many 'Mature' games.
All this "good/bad for your kids" debate does is misdirect the public.
Video games aren't "kids entertainment", any more than all movies are "kids entertainment".
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| - Re:Shouldn't it be by abradsn (Score:1) Thursday September 26, @05:52PM
Re:Shouldn't it be (Score:5, Informative)
by stratjakt on Thursday September 26, @06:02PM (#4339916)
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You mean like this?
http://www.nielsenmedia.com/newsreleases/1999/home tech.html
I wont bother you with actually reading it, here's the opening paragraph.
NEW YORK, MAY 13, 1999 – Young teens are the biggest users of video game systems – right? Not according to a new survey of home technology from Nielsen Media Research which shows nearly 75% of the 63 million people using video game systems in the U.S. are 18 years old or older (18+). The most recent data show that 25% of video game system users - 15.6 million persons - are teens (persons 12-17), 40% of users - 25.2 million persons - are in the 18 - 34 age bracket, and 34% - 21.4 million persons - are 35+.
Of course NIELSEN wouldnt know anything about entertainment demographics, would they?
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- Re:Shouldn't it be by cpeterso (Score:2) Thursday September 26, @07:32PM
- Kids, pirated, no pay by phorm (Score:2) Thursday September 26, @10:46PM
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Poppycock (Score:2, Insightful)
by drhairston on Thursday September 26, @05:30PM (#4339637)
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Have these researchers for a moment stopped to consider that hours spent glued to some machine instead of interacting with ones peers is the cause of "anxieties", "anger", and "aggression"? While there may exist a threshold for healthy computer gaming, I am certain that I have met many young men who have exceeded it.
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- Re:Poppycock by Teknon (Score:1) Thursday September 26, @05:35PM
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The games are even better! (Score:1, Troll)
by nizo on Thursday September 26, @05:30PM (#4339638)
(User #81281 Info | http://slashdot.org/)
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Experts on childhood and adolescence have long recognised the importance of violent fantasy play in overcoming anxieties, processing anger, and providing outlets for aggression. Not even in my wildest imaginings did I ever think up running around chainsawing people; good thing we have computers around to help augment our violent fantasy capabilities. Not to mention a verion of DOOM where you hire lawyers to sue the baddys into prison instead of blasting them with a shotgun probably wouldn't sell as well.
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It's only a game (Score:1)
by rohar on Thursday September 26, @05:33PM (#4339667)
(User #253766 Info | http://www.deadpenguin.com/)
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Kids have always played aggressive games. I don't think that it matters whether it's a video game or sports.
Games don't create psychopaths and cause a kid to bring a gun to school. Parents (or lack of) do that.
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Violent games do not exist (Score:4, Funny)
by Slashdolt on Thursday September 26, @05:33PM (#4339668)
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When I used to play chess, I would often find myself getting very angry. I'm generally a fairly passive person, but when playing chess, I would just plain get mad. In fact, I would sometimes get so mad that I felt like hitting someone, but I never did.
Anyway, that's somewhat beside the point. "Violent" implies that you are doing something to someone. Nobody gets hurt when I sit down and play "Return to Wolfenstein" on my computer. No real Nazis die. My health doesn't deteriorate, and I generally don't even eat any real chicken dinners while playing. When I play a videogame that simulates violence, I often find myself relieved of lots of stress built up over the workday. When I play chess, I get really stressed and want to hurt people.
Obviously, chess is bad, and games with simulated violence are good.
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Good? (Score:1)
by ackthpt on Thursday September 26, @05:34PM (#4339672)
(User #218170 Info | http://www.dragonswest.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday May 02, @12:22PM)
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Damn... guess I'd better stop playing all those edu-tainment games, which taught me strategy and how to manage resources, and get on the bandwagon of blood, gore and guns galore.
*sigh*
I just want to be of presidential timber...
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This shouldn't be taken as a "victory" for games.. (Score:1)
by CurtisRWC (curtis AT faac DOT net) on Thursday September 26, @05:35PM (#4339677)
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This has very little to do about games, even though that's the slant that's being put on it. It also applies to books, movies, television, music, and theater. It also applies to non-fiction as well. I mean, how would world history look if we cut out all the bloody parts?
Still, I am glad that at least one more group has validated my addiction to GTA3 and Crimsonland.
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Hrm. (Score:2, Interesting)
by gTsiros on Thursday September 26, @05:35PM (#4339682)
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Anger by itself is indication of inability to deal with an issue presented. "Things should not be this way". Having anger is wrong in the first place and "channeling" it to breaking stuff/killing sprites is not going to solve the issue. That is the first Part of the discussion.
On the other hand, if by punching the wall one manages to set aside his anger for a while and allows logic* to work to solve the problem at hand, then punching something is a good way to get rid of one's _anger_ (but not the problem).
It is a quick hack, if one can say that.
*:let's not deal with what is logic right now, but let's assume anger does not allow logic to work and also let's assume that this is a Bad Thing(tm). I think these assumptions are logical.
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- Re:Hrm. by Wolfier (Score:2) Thursday September 26, @06:11PM
- Re:Hrm. by gTsiros (Score:1) Thursday September 26, @09:32PM
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catharsis (Score:2)
by Scrameustache on Thursday September 26, @05:35PM (#4339683)
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I keep saying it: people need catharsis.
We can deny our violent impulses and try to supress them, but they will only come back up twisted and exgagerated.
I personally feel that fraggin on a screen is much more healthy than slapping people silly at the grocerie store : )
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Re:catharsis (Score:4, Insightful)
by MarcoAtWork on Thursday September 26, @06:05PM (#4339942)
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personally playing video games doesn't really give me any feeling of catharsis, it just makes me feel drained...
Best cure for stress etc. is some serious physical activity, go for a 5k+ run, for a 20k+ bike, 750m+ swim and after you finish, you'll feel tired *but* relaxed, due to the endorphines going around in your body.
Human beings are not designed to have a workday where they get up, sit in a car/transit for an hour, sit 8 hours in a cubicle, sit again 1 hour in a car/transit, sit 3 hours watching TV or playing computer games and then sleep: no wonder obesity, stress and depression are at an all time high...
I just wish somebody did a study where they took two control groups of adults, and got one of them on videogames for 2 hours a day and another on *hard* physical exercise (not the 1mph 'walking' some people consider 'exercise') for 2 hours a day, and see if after a couple of months the exercising group isn't in much better shape/balance (physically, mentally and emotionally) than the first group.
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| - Re:catharsis by Starknight (Score:1) Thursday September 26, @06:53PM
- Re:catharsis by Scrameustache (Score:2) Thursday September 26, @10:59PM
- Re:catharsis by MarcoAtWork (Score:2) Friday September 27, @10:29AM
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Tired of this topic (Score:2, Funny)
by sw155kn1f3 on Thursday September 26, @05:35PM (#4339686)
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*bang* *bang* /me shoots down the poster and damn psychologists along with this rusty topic
*feeling better now*
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It's not the violence (Score:2)
by Qrlx (ian_loves_you at hotmail) on Thursday September 26, @05:37PM (#4339707)
(User #258924 Info | Last Journal: Friday August 30, @08:13PM)
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It's not the violence that's bad for you . It's sitting in front of your computer/tv for hours on end delevoping poor vision and carpal tunnel syndrome.
It may have been un-PC to play Cowboys and Indians when we were kids, but noone ever passed laws making it illegal. That's probably because running around outside chasing your friends around is exactly what's best for kids. Sitting in front of a 27" TV playing Mario Kart isn't as healthy a thing to do.
There was a great anecdote I heard one time about some mothers who decided that they wouldn't be getting their children war toys for Christmas one year. As the kids eagerly opened their presents, their mothers were pleased that the kids could have such fun without violence. One kid received a wooden train; he promptly picked up the caboose, cradled in his hand like a revolver, and pointed at his friend "Bang! Bang!"
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Re:It's not the violence (Score:5, Informative)
by Theaetetus (drose@wbur.buYEATS.edu minus poet) on Thursday September 26, @06:08PM (#4339962)
(User #590071 Info | http://www-gap.dcs.s...ians/Theaetetus.html | Last Journal: Sunday August 11, @11:06PM)
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It's not the violence that's bad for you . It's sitting in front of your computer/tv for hours on end delevoping poor vision and carpal tunnel syndrome.
As a short aside - as I and many other pianists/keyboardists know, sitting at a keyboard properly will not cause carpal tunnel syndrome. Don't use a wrist-rest - they encourage you to drop your wrists about three inches lower than they should be. Your wrists should be high enough that there's a straight line down the back of your hand from your knuckles to the upper side of your elbow - if the line has to bend upwards at your wrists, your wrists are too low.
It may have been un-PC to play Cowboys and Indians when we were kids, but noone ever passed laws making it illegal.
That's probably because running around outside chasing your friends around is exactly what's best for kids. Sitting in front of a 27" TV playing Mario Kart isn't as healthy a thing to do.
There was a great anecdote I heard one time about some mothers who decided that they wouldn't be getting their children war toys for Christmas one year. As the kids eagerly opened their presents, their mothers were pleased that the kids could have such fun without violence. One kid received a wooden train; he promptly picked up the caboose, cradled in his hand like a revolver, and pointed at his friend "Bang! Bang!"
Re: "No one ever passed laws making it illegal"...
Remember those stories a few years ago about zero-tolerance policies in schools [about.com] and kindergartners getting suspended for pointing their fingers like guns on the playgrounds?
My favorite is this one [nandotimes.com]:
JONESBORO, Ark. (January 31, 2001 7:10 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - An 8-year-old boy was suspended from school for three days after pointing a breaded chicken finger at a teacher and saying, "Pow, pow, pow."
-T
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Railgun Rampage (Score:1)
by SlugLord ((sluglord) (at) (bigfoot.com)) on Thursday September 26, @05:37PM (#4339710)
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I always thought violent video games made kids more violent. After all, when they act out killing everything in sight, they immediately run out and buy a railgun at Walmart, right?
It's good to see that at least somebody recognizes that kids know the difference between video games and real life.
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I agree with the scholars, but this needs saying.. (Score:2, Funny)
by grungebox on Thursday September 26, @05:38PM (#4339713)
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Man, I want to punch that stupid California Congressman for proposing a law that makes it a crime to buy M-rated games if you're under 17! I want to cut seventy-four times with a rusty razor then dunk him in a vat of citric acid and hear him scream in pain! This whole issue makes me want to rip his limbs off, blend them into a fine paste, and force that disgusting mush down his throat! Oh, and I haven't started with what I'm going to do to his friends and family! Muwahahahaha! I thirst for blood!!! In other news, I just bought Grand Theft Auto III.
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This is dumb (Score:5, Insightful)
by FortKnox on Thursday September 26, @05:38PM (#4339717)
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Parents making a decision, you just need to know one thing:
Does your child easily descriminate between fantasy and reality?
If he/she can, then games aren't going to have a detrimental effect.
If he/she can't, start the conselling early. Maybe you can make a difference if you start now.
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Re:This is dumb (Score:4, Insightful)
by Theodore Logan on Thursday September 26, @07:08PM (#4340385)
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Parents making a decision, you just need to know one thing:
Does your child easily descriminate between fantasy and reality?
Interesting that the world is always black and white on Slashdot.
If he/she can, then games aren't going to have a detrimental effect.
You just pulled this one out of your arse, didn't you? Or can you back it up somehow? Can you cite any studies? Why do you find it so obvious that healthy children might not become more aggressive by constantly viewing and engaging in virtual violence? You just say that "it's dumb," but for what reason we are never told.
It says a lot about the ability of most of the Slashdot crowd to grasp the complexity of any problem that isn't hard science that this comment was modded up.
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| - Re: Religion is the problem by benzapp (Score:1) Thursday September 26, @09:37PM
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Total opposite? (Score:4, Interesting)
by unicron on Thursday September 26, @05:38PM (#4339720)
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Personally, I see some games making people more angry and edgy. Take, for example, Counter-Strike. I've been at lan parties where people have gotten seriously pissed off while playing this game, even to the point of violence more than once. And almost everytime it's the same thing: Someone says the way in which they died doesn't count because of any number of complete bullshit reasons(awp shot, camping, even accusations of cheating).
Even I'm guilty of this. I get midly pissed off if I own someone and they go "luck" or "won't happen again". I've seen people that shout "BS" after every single death, it's pretty fucking sad.
Not every game is going to relieve stress. If you're serious about the game, and you're not playing up to your usual standard for whatever reason, you're very quick to anger. It's not very theraputic if cs is giving you a pissed-off anxiety attack.
P.S. Camping with the awp=sniping(fair, and expected). Camping with the mp5=camping(cheap).
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What's Really goin on (Score:1)
by W.Mandamus on Thursday September 26, @05:39PM (#4339725)
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I haven't read the briefs but normally any form of content based regulation would fall afoul of the 1st amendment. There is however one loophole that allows for some regulation of speech when the welfare of children is directly involved. Basically the Supreme Court has said that kiddy porn does not fall under the first amendment. On the other hand more normal porn does not fall under this exemption. What it seems that the government is trying to do is make a good of the children case over violent video games. I wish them luck, last year the supreme court made it quite clear that they welfare of the child only applied to actually kiddie porn (as opposed to simulated), I doubt the court will expand the exception to violent video games.
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This study might come in handy (Score:2)
by Theodore Logan on Thursday September 26, @05:41PM (#4339741)
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don'tchathink? [slashdot.org]
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And...? (Score:2)
by raehl on Thursday September 26, @05:41PM (#4339746)
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While I doubt the laws will be tremendously effective considering my childhood access to R rated movies despite parental disapproval, I don't see the basis for the legal challenge here.
It seems silly to argue that a video game company or retail store's right to sell a product to a child is greater than that child's parent's right to not allow their child to buy that product.
This isn't to say I think restricting access to video games is going to have any positive affects whatsoever, but that doesn't mean that decision should be taken away from parents.
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Well... (Score:1)
by 5lash (djandy@blueyonder. c o . uk) on Thursday September 26, @05:42PM (#4339755)
(User #589953 Info | http://www.andyapple.cjb.net/)
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...I'm 16, which means (fortunately) i cant drive yet. Because when i'm going through one of my "lets play GTA for 10 hours a day" phases, while i'm walking around town all i can think about is "hey there's an unattended cop car", "Omg its a Beast GTS!". And even when i'm in the car with my parents, i really want them to drive up on the pavement and mow some peds for extra cash...Now this doesn't mean i'm actually goin to start stealing cars, but maybe someone who had thought about joy riding, but would never really do it, could be tipped over the edge by games like GTA and Carmageddon.
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Ender's Game (Score:1)
by _Sambo (ender@waldenpond.uk) on Thursday September 26, @05:44PM (#4339771)
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This is also a great way to train our youngsters for the impending international cybernetic wars of the 2030's.
The "Army of One" slogan for this year's Armed Forces recruiting campaign will be consumated by a competition between the greatest FPS gamers in the world... Of course, the North Koreans will win.
On a more serious note. This may be a reality. I can't wait to see. (Hope I live that long)
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I'm sorry folks, but this is utter crap. (Score:1)
by jkosturko on Thursday September 26, @05:44PM (#4339781)
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I'm sorry folks, but this is utter crap. I'm not saying that I'm opposed to a good round of quake, but if a kid has a stress issue that they need to deal with, retreating into a fantasy world where's its ok to pelt someone with rockets is not the way to do it. When my kids squabble, I take them both in hand and say "settle this", then I usually leave the room. As a result, they have remarkably few serious problems.
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well... (Score:1)
by trybywrench on Thursday September 26, @05:45PM (#4339784)
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If violent games don't produce a mentality more able to accept and justify killing then why is the Army using one to get people to join?
The military is the closest legal enviorment where you can regulate like in a FPS... maybe a capture the flag game would be a closer approximation but still.
To quench some of the flames, i have been playing FPS type games for a long time and am definately not a violent person. So i know they affect people differently.
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Video games != violent behavior. (Score:2)
by scharkalvin on Thursday September 26, @05:45PM (#4339786)
(User #72228 Info | http://www.qsl.net/wa2mze)
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After the High School shootings in where the kids involved said they had been playing 'Doom' there was a backlash against such video games. Now the studies say it didn't matter. Well I have to believe that those kids were screwed up to begin with and the video games had nothing to do with it. They also claimed that playing doom sharpened their killing skills. Since when does a keyboard, mouse, or joystick handle like a shotgun?
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Double edged sword - need to be careful (Score:1)
by MrMeanie on Thursday September 26, @05:46PM (#4339796)
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We all need a way to vent anger, and computer games provide a good way of doing it. However, you wouldn't want to allow young children to play 18 rated games (e.g. 8 year old playing Soldier of Fortune 2), that wouldn't be good at all (That game is seriously fucked up).
Theres nothing wrong with a bit of cartoon violence, or the old shoot em ups you see in arcades, though. These things were part of my staple diet when I had an Atari ST in the early 90s. [nostalgia] I miss those games. [/nostalgia]
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I've been saying this for years. (Score:3, Interesting)
by TellarHK (tellarhk.hotmail@com) on Thursday September 26, @05:46PM (#4339797)
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I grew up with condemned shows like the A-Team, and Airwolf. Shows that people said were too violent for kids. Were kids in the 80's as violent as ones now? Hell no, and it's because the kids growing up just after I did had crap like Captain Planet and other spoon-fed pablum created to make everyone love and respect eachother.
I've got -nothing- wrong with love and respect, great things to have. But those aren't taught by TV, they're taught be experience. When I watched action-oriented TV, I got the adrenaline rush -and- the easy comedown before the credits rolled. Great way to get rid of tension.
Hell, consider those old shows the violence version of masturbation. Probably fits.
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Anger Processor-o-Matic (Score:2)
by jukal on Thursday September 26, @05:46PM (#4339801)
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- Slicing a troll in Ultima online [uo.com], score 3:
- Driving over an innocent in GTA III [rockstargames.com], score: 30, extra 15 for ending the victim's pain with shotgun.
- Creating you own game to plan and execute the murder of your teacher, score 99, extra 1 for doing it with a chainsaw.
Is that what they wanted say?
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I have to admit... (Score:2)
by silvaran (silvaran AT hotmail DOT com) on Thursday September 26, @05:48PM (#4339813)
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I find GTA3 an excellent vent for agression... you can beat people up, fire a rocket launcher at them, etc. But I know the difference from right and wrong (at least I should). I wonder if younger kids still might get the wrong idea. In any case, I wouldn't let my 6-year-old play a game like Grand Theft Auto 3.
In general, the longer kids spend playing video games inside, the less they're out getting into fights and robbing stores (I met a 17-year-old on the bus who just got out of juvenile detention for attempted robbery of a gas station). Why go out and beat someone up when you just did it for the past four hours with your favorite fighting game? Just don't set the skill level too high...
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Please... (Score:3, Informative)
by dh003i (heinrich@rochestD ... .com minus distro) on Thursday September 26, @05:50PM (#4339832)
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Such general statements as "violent games" good/bad for people are absurd.
It depends on the person.
Some people will use it as a stress reliever. Its good for those people.
Others will get too into it and become hyper-competitive; it'll make them stressed, and they'll get up tight. Probably bad for those people.
Point is, it depends on the person.
One person derives please from that which causes pain in another. For example, while some people may love cottage cheese and it brings them pleasure, it makes me sick.
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DDR meets Quake = Happy Healthy Kids! (Score:1)
by Genjurosan on Thursday September 26, @05:51PM (#4339839)
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This will make everyone happy. Dancing rocket toting virtual killers. Good for the heart, good for the brain, good for the kids, good for the USofA! I'm all for it.
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Perhaps, but look at the bigger picture (Score:2, Interesting)
by geiss on Thursday September 26, @05:52PM (#4339841)
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Perhaps that's a valid positive aspect of violence in video games. But what about the negatives: that it desensitizes us to violence, and we even grow to enjoy it?
Take television as an example. When I look around in the U.S., I see a nation of television addicts, whose priorities, interests, and cultural views are largely influenced by what they absorb watching television. One inevitable aspect of watching a lot of TV is witnessing violence. This might provide a cathartic outlet for some of us, but I think it also trains us to accept, expect, and even enjoy such violence... after all, if people didn't enjoy it, it wouldn't sell, so it wouldn't be on TV. Now, maybe adults can separate reality from fantasy (I personally don't believe this, but it is arguable), but can kids? From my experience, they are *drastically* less adept at this than adults, and I think adults forget this (until they have kids of their own, and then begin to take a conservative viewpoint on it - for a reason).
Video games are in the same boat. Violent video games also desensitize people to what real-life acts of violence - such as murder and war - mean. Violence becomes glorified; it gets associated with fun, recreation, pleasure, endorfins.
I'm not saying that what this study says is wrong; I'm sure that video-game violence is a cathartic outlet and can sometimes play a positive role. But that's only one aspect of it; we have to look at the big picture.
Now, I know a lot of you slashdotters love video games, and I expect to get ripped for this one... but please, you don't have to dismember me - let's keep the discussion fair and mature, ok?
Ryan Geiss
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Aggression is our ONLY advantage (Score:4, Interesting)
by gelfling on Thursday September 26, @05:52PM (#4339843)
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People ARE violent. Games are not going to mitigate or ameliorate that. You know why we are violent? Because for 2 million years we've killed, eaten and dominated all comers.
Our ONLY evolutionary advantage is not big brains or stereoscopic vision or opposable thumbs. It's aggression. It's our unquenchable lust to be the last one standing, dripping with someone else's blood.
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Where's the study about parental responsibility? (Score:2, Insightful)
by marian on Thursday September 26, @05:52PM (#4339847)
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This is a pretty classic example of people trying to pass the buck on who is responsible for their children and what they do. Regardless of whether violent images in video games harm, help or do nothing at all to children, the responsibility for deciding what is appropriate for each child and the consequences of that choice lies with the parents. If your kid has no friends and spends 12 hours a day in front of the tv, IT IS YOUR FAULT not the broadcasters who provide the shows. YOU should be monitoring what your child watches, just like YOU should be monitoring what your child does online. Passing the buck by enacting more useless and unenforceable legislation merely provides additional opportunity for lawsuits and does nothing at all for the children who are so easily used as examples of what is "wrong" with each industry. Those kids need involved parents, not more laws that regulate what they can do/see/say/think.
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Computer games has no effects on people !!! (Score:2, Funny)
by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 26, @05:55PM (#4339862)
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Computer games don't affect kids.
If Pac Man affected us as kids, we would all be running around in
darkened rooms, munching pills, and listening to repetitive music.
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this isn't good (Score:1)
by outsider007 on Thursday September 26, @05:57PM (#4339879)
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If there turns out to be a medical benefit to playing violent video games then we might have to worry about them being regulated by the FDA :(
yes some children probably shouldn't be playing quake, it depends on the personality type I guess. that's what parenting is for anyway.
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Fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck (Score:2)
by PD (See website for current e-mail address) on Thursday September 26, @05:58PM (#4339885)
(User #9577 Info | http://www.pdrap.org/ | Last Journal: Monday January 21, @03:40PM)
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Trust me, I am not a troll...
I've always thought that cursing was a cathartic release. Get a little built up rage, let out a good string of 4 letter words, and you feel much better. You don't kick the dog as often.
It might not be proven that these games are good for kids, but it seems to be an intuitive conclusion. Doing violent things in fantasy is always preferable to doing violent things in real life.
A lot of things that uppity people label as "bad" are made worse if you ban them! Now we can tie this entire thread into everything from porn to alcohol and drugs. Quit banning things! There's a REASON people seek an escape from real life! Sometimes that reason is to deflect seriously unsocial behaviors into a harmless fantasy world.
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I'll Fess Up (Score:1)
by J3M on Thursday September 26, @05:59PM (#4339901)
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I let my kids (10 and 6) play violent games. I recently purchased Turok: Evolution for the GameCube. I had no problems letting my kids play it, even though is was rated Mature. Both of my children know that it's not real because I've explained to them how games work, and more importantly, why you can't go around killing people for real. Hell, I've had a similiar conversation with them regarding TV and movies. My point, it's up to the parents to raise their children knowing wrong from right, virtual from real, etc.. I think we might just play some deathmatch tonight ...
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NEIN! (Score:4, Funny)
by Sj0 on Thursday September 26, @06:00PM (#4339903)
(User #472011 Info | http://powerusr.sphosting.com/ | Last Journal: Monday February 11, @02:42PM)
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NO!
One should only supress emotions such as anger and hatred, so they can stoke a fire inside you, rather than making you look angry, until you destroy the world in a fit of rage! DEATH TO INFIDELS!!! DEATH TO NON INFIDELS!!! Oh. I feel better now. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Supression, not control, is the answer!
Ask me, three time serial-killer killcount award winner SJ Zero!
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- Re:NEIN! by cvd6262 (Score:1) Thursday September 26, @08:13PM
- Re:NEIN! by Sj0 (Score:2) Friday September 27, @08:12AM
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"Venting" or Catharsis (Score:4, Informative)
by Tony.Tang (slashdot.sleek@hn@org) on Thursday September 26, @06:00PM (#4339908)
(User #164961 Info | http://www.sfu.ca/~tonyt/ | Last Journal: Thursday October 11, @06:59AM)
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"Experts on childhood and adolescence have long recognised the importance of violent fantasy play in overcoming anxieties, processing anger, and providing outlets for aggression."
I would really like to know who these "experts" are. This notion of "playing out fantasies" or "venting of aggression" in the psychological literature is known as catharsis. Any first year psychology student SINCE the time of Freud is taught that the notion of catharsis is false [google.ca].
Note: I am not saying that the group is wrong in what it is doing; only that the reporter is claiming results that have been demonstrated to be false for quite some time.
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Other research says venting makes more anger (Score:2, Informative)
by budGibson on Thursday September 26, @06:03PM (#4339924)
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The idea is that venting provides a sort of release so that people will not have to take out their rage on others. However, recent evidence by Bushman (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 6, 2002; not available on-line for free) suggests that venting actually increases anger. He ran an experiment in which he angered subjects, then distracted them to think about something else or allowed them to hit a punching bag to "vent" their anger. The punching bag group became more, not less, angry.
Having them punch a bag may have kept the focus of their anger more fully in mind. It may have also raised their physical arousal level (a correlate of anger) allowing them to better maintain their anger level.
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that's right (Score:1, Funny)
by fredopalus on Thursday September 26, @06:07PM (#4339955)
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Otherwise you would have kids running around with rocket launchers all the time. Where they would get them from, I don't know.
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Great book about this (Score:2)
by legLess on Thursday September 26, @06:08PM (#4339964)
(User #127550 Info | http://send-email-to-legless-at-eudoramail.com/)
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James Morrow wrote a beautiful novel called The Wine of Violence [powells.com] partly about the cathartic effects of violent fantasy. Morrow is probably the best satirical writer in English, and one of the best since Jonathan Swift.
Briefly, a spaceship returning to Earth stumbles upon a planet where people live in harmony inside a walled city. There's no violence, physical or psychological, at all. Periodically these people go to special temples and live out their most violent fantasies in virtual reality; the ecto-plasmic by-product of this fantasy is called "noctus" and it pours out to surround the walls of the city.
See, the wastelands around the city are populated by the brain-eaters, humanoids who indulge their violent tendancies to the extreme. Problematically, the crew of the ship must convince the peaceful city-folk to wage war on the brain-eaters so they can return to their ship and escape.
This plot is mostly a hanger for Morrow's explorations of the nature of humanity and violence. Morrow's other writings [powells.com] are also fascinating. He's one of three or four SF authors I'll buy in hardback 'cause I can't wait for paper. :)
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Phew. (Score:1)
by digitalsynapse on Thursday September 26, @06:09PM (#4339967)
(User #446428 Info | http://www.dukkha.net/)
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Thank goodness video games are helpful to development and what not.
I was afraid that all of my raving and pill popping had something to do with all of the Pacman I played as a child.
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think first (Score:1)
by IronicParadox on Thursday September 26, @06:12PM (#4339989)
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(I'm sure I'll get a bunch of flames, but here goes) ...sure games are important, and I've spent many hours on 'em, but these realistic aggression games are harmful for young children. Why were the nazis able to watch thousands die a horrid death? Why were prison guards able to do unimaginable things through the ages...were they warped? (maybe), but the truth is they were DESENITIZED to the inhuman acts they were performing. How do you do that? Expose them to this stuff over and over. Who are the 'darkest' criminals? The ones that have seen the worst acts and it doesn't faze them anymore. Children cannot differentiate between reality and fantasy like we can. Let a child play hours of doom and he won't care that he just ran over your dog.
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Violent Games Good for Kids
