Do you think that video games encourage youth to use aggression?
 

Since its beginnings in 1970s, the video game industry has experienced tremendous growth. This explosion of the video game industry has had many people questioning the detrimental effects of video games. The main concern is with the violence within these games.

Thus, do you think that video games encourage youth to use aggression? Do you think that besides the concern over negative effects, video games have positive effects on development?

im 17 i'v grown up with video games with lots of violence the only time i wanna beat someone up is during hockey :p

Kind of a bizarre first post for a new member from the UK, but I'll bite.

NO. Poor parenting, not teaching your kids right from wrong is one of the biggest causes. People are always looking to blame something or someone else for their mistakes. A little personal responsibility goes a long way. Video games, music, knives, guns etc. take the blame for irresponsible actions.

I'm not sure about the violence. But I'm a seasoned HALO3 veteran and now when someone cheeses me off I wanna drop a fast t-bag.

Yes!!!!
However, it's only one of so many things that have decayed the moral structure of society since I've been around.

Yes, but I agree you can't just blame the video games like already mentioned, it is lack of parental involvement, you turn on the t.v and it is all right in front of you night and day from the t.v programs to the news. Hard to get away from it. This is life.

I have played videogames my entire life. I still have my sega master system and every worthy system since. Currently i am using my PS3 to type this post. I am the most passive person i know, even if you punched me in the face, i would not fight back. Some people are just born more violent than others. others it is the way they were raised. do you think somalian pirates play GTA: Somalia edition
http://canreef.com/vbulletin/picture...pictureid=2640
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and so they became more prone to violence. Poverty and lack of a supporting community are suspect, as for violence in a first world country greed and lust for power are the culprits. the media just makes the world look more violent now but in actuality we were clubbing each other to death since the dawn of man.
sorry to say this but beliefs also get more people killed than any other reason. dont "believe" have an idea.

nope I don't realy think so.. it has been showen that most hard core video players tent to actualy leant more towards being introverts. but thats why I don't think so. I remember when we were kids we used to play "cowboys and indians" and other games like this where we used realistic looking guns and shot our buddies. we used to throw rocks at what ever, cherry bomb the niebours mail box, poop bombs, ect.. in school we used to get into a lot of fights. but we never played video games.. i have raised two kids that are long goon from home and have two that are going to be here for a while. so I saw the state of kids about 10 to 15 years ago and I am seeing them now and I see less violance than whan I was a kid.

one thing I am noticking is that kids don't have the same sence of honnor as we did. ie. letting the guy you just knocked down get up befor you knock him down again, and "one on one" ect but I think this a more an issue of kids from broken homes and parrents that have to both work full time (although there is no way around that one some times).

so to blame all this on a video game is kinnda stupid, but some people will try find an excuse to blame instead of looking at themselves.

kinda like when Twisted sister was sued claiming there song caused some parent's kid to kill themselve.

Steve

Guns don't kill people, people do. Same thing here.

If you use videos games as a babysitter and don't teach kids proper morals they will likely be screwed up a little. More often than not parents blame everything but themselves as reasons why their kids are bad.

Think about it, if someone actually thinks parts of a video game, movie or whatever is real enough that they will act out parts of it thinking that it's OK to do so then that person is pretty stupid. Stupidity is a relative term, you can only learn what you are taught so if kids don't learn right or wrong properly then they simply don't know any better. And yes if you use video games as a means of teaching this then yeah perhaps it could cause violence but it's hardly the result of the game.

The answer isn't to shelter kids but rather teach them. Very rarely do kids act out in violence as a result of too much attention from parents.

+1 We used to play fairly violent and graphic video games as kids and didn't turn out bad. Violence in video games can be an outlet and actually fun. It is fun to be bad in a way that doesn't actually hurt somebody else. Our parents taught us wrong from right and we knew it was pretend and you don't do that in the real world.

The problem these days is that kids can just get away with whatever they want and only get a slap on the wrist. Commit an actual crime and there are barely any consequences for youth. Parents either don't interact with their kids or let the TV/xBox etc. be the babysitter. Also, to many parents these days have this stupid touchy feely parenting style where they want to be their child's friend. Reality is that you aren't their friend, you're their parent which is a much more important job with much more responsibility. It is up to the parents to be the responsible party and discipline the kids and teach them wrong from right.

My honest belief is that parenting should be licensed. You may laugh but we have to get a license to drive a car. What requires more responsibility; driving a vehicle or creating well adjusted humans that aren't antisocial irresponsible sociopaths?

I think this post is kinda random for a first post to a reef board. What's up??

Probably a grad student doing some sort of research and using a bunch of boards to do that :) Either that or maybe someone from one of those dumb ban videogame and TV violence groups trying to start a debate :lol:

Personally I do believe that making more forms of violence accessible through casual media might not necessarily CAUSE violence but may make people more apathetic to violence or less likely to be disturbed by it. But if you want to look at a more important factor you might look at how the increase in the divorce rate or the decrease in the amount of time kids spend with their parents leads to more social dysfunction, including violence I guess.

IMO bottom line is your tv/game system is not a baby sitter. if this is where your children are learning their life lessons then maybe you should look at the parents and their neglect. if no one is there to teach them right from wrong how will they know.

I have been a gamer for years and find it a good way to blow off steam . however i had parents very involved in my youth. played sports almost everyday.

when i was being raised and i started to annoy the folks it was " go outside and find something to do" now adays its " go sit infront of the tv and play video games. "

+1

+1 for anyone saying that guns don't kill people people kill people.
+1 for anyone saying that gaming systems are poor replacements for real parenting.
+1 for anyone saying that gaming systems create indifference to violence and violent situations.
+1 for anyone saying that often this argument or do video games cause violence is used to pass the blame to the game manufacturer from the irresponsible parent.
But also IMO the game manufacturers should have the right to sell the games. In any free society people should be allowed to do what they want to them selves or anyone willing to accept the price, whether that price is monetary, physically, or psychologically based. As long as they are not doing harm to others, or property that should be there personal choice to an extent. When you start to regulate and legislate the morality of the people bad things always happen. People look to laws and legislation too often an have to realize that the power to the change the world only lies within your own hands in most cases. This quote is from the Simpsons episode "the Springfield Connection" where Marge becomes a police officer seems to fit quite well.

Lisa Simpson: Mom, I know your intentions are good but aren't the police the protective force that maintains the status quo for the wealthy elite? Don't you think we ought to attack the roots of social problems instead of jamming people into overcrowded prisons?
Marge: [pauses] Look Lisa, it's McGriff, the Crime Dog!
[uses a hand puppet]
Marge: Hey, Lisa, help me bite crime, ruff, ruff!

I think we often forget that failure and change are basic parts of human nature and too quickly look to governments and corporations to sooth our fears. When really violence and criminals IMO are not a problem directly, they are a symptom. If you continue to treat symptoms, and never look for a cause you can really be doing harm, in this case to society. And i don't know if the parenting license model would work either. I know of a bunch of rich and or powerful people who basically abuse our current system of vehicle licensing, especially when most of the penalties are monetarily based. And I'm also not going to advocate the government taking peoples children. I'm not sure about everywhere in Canada, but here our BC child protection doesn't seem to be all that interested in truly protecting children.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma Gandhi

I would be more worried about the effect on kids under the power of mind altering drugs and using violent video games.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-d...-our-children/
Here is something on the marketing apparatus that sells parents and their children everything from video games to junk food.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/consuming-kids/

Man kind has been killing each other before we were even humans, and WAY BEFORE video games were invented. I don't think Adolf Hitler killed 17 million innocent people because he played Grand Theft Auto:State of Palestine. You also realize that it can be argued that the single largest proprietor of murder through out history is religion, please leave my violent video games out of this :lol:.
Levi

(btw off topic, the RROD on my xbox 360 has caused me some serious sleep deprivation I keep having odd Halo 3 dreams lol)

+1 I agree religion has caused a large majority of wars since the dawn of time. Humans are also violent by nature people seem to forget that we are animals too.

I don't think video games are contributing to violence at all, I think they contribute to stupidity in some individuals and addiction in others, but it's idiot drivers, stupid politicans, lame *ss jail sentences for criminals, and idiots who think that hard core criminals can change their evil ways, now I have got to get back to NHL 09.:biggrin:

This thread was most likely started by a bot, not a real Canreef member.

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Do video games cause aggression in kids? I doubt it, but as my kids start to pick up the controller I will probably ensure that the games they play are rated for their age.

I think a really bad influence is when kids see programming and commercials on TV that are not related to their age. Commercials for WWF, Ultimate fighting and programming where people hit each other could confuse young minds. I'm talking ages 1 to 7 here, I'm guessing after 8 years of age a kid will have a better grasp of reality vs fantasy.

I don't think video games cause aggression in all, but some consider it their own little world. Sometimes their own world will break into ours. That has nothing to do with the video gane thoughm that has to do with the psychological well being of the gamer.

Violence in this day and age is not like it was 10 years ago, most of the violent acts in the papers have some relation to groups and such, not individuals. So I'd say its got more to do with envirioment, parenting, and peer pressure. I can confim 1 case of peer pressure, where 3 youths killed a friend of mine running a shop, because one of his friends said, "Have you ever killed a man", well he has now, and is doing time for it as an adult.

You notice I say gamer? because it is not just restricted to the youth. I remember reading many years back as a adult gamer commited suicide because his "everquest" play had been killed.

That is why it please me as a LFS owner that parents are updating me with some cases that their children are enjoying their tanks more than video games and TV.

Just my opinion.

Ken

I'm going to ask my girlfriend this question.She works on the online fifa game as a electrical engineer for EA sports