Is the Violence Getting Worse

Violence in schools?

There is a lot of speculation in consideration of the “violence in games,” but then again school systems want to insert games as part of their curriculum! Can you believe that? I mean they want to implement games like Railroad Tycoon or Simcity.

[310dodo]

Piss off
violence in games isnt the problem
if kids act out or playing M games...
its the parents fault!!

when N64 was out my mom would not let me own Turok
because it was M
is she a evil mom? no!!!!
i was 10!!!!

now that I am over 21 I buy what I want
but I thank my mom for trying to "parent" me

[WeskerChildReborned]

I've been playing rated M games since i was young and i didn't ever think of doing any of the things.

[mep69]

Eh ? Two disagrees ?? 2 people doubt your murderous impulses lol

I don't know how you can disagree with that though :/

I played and watched 15's and 18's when i was 9 and I'm fine.

Most problems are usually caused by the child's background, aslong as they know it's wrong they will turn out fine. If they have bad parents that are uncaring things may not turn out so well, just depends on their psyche.

[lastdual]

Don't trust the Wesker Child. He's clearly planning to infect us all with a bio-terror weapon.

(it's because daddy Wesker let him play M-rated games)

[Tonester925]

I've been trying to preach this for a while. That's just like when the News tries to say that Rap music makes kids go out and shoot people.

I've been listening to Rap since I was born and I've never wanted to kill anyone because I was raised correctly and I have morals.

I remember when my mom said that I couldn't play GTA 3 because you could pick up prostitues. I didn't even care for all that (even though I picked up a few....just to get health though!) lol

The thing is video games do not alter your mind to do evil things if you have a strong and independent one.

I hate when I turn on the news and see "Violence in Video Game Causes *Blah Blah Blah*"

Now that I'm 21 and I look back at the games that I've played when I was younger, GTA 3, Carmageddon, Mortal Kombat, etc.. I realized that I'm maybe more resilient to Graphic/Bloody content. Where someone else would close their eyes and run, I would stay to see what happened. Maybe violent video games made me tougher?

[aliengmr]

Disagree with only the last part. Game violence and real violence are 2 different things. Folks tried to say that video games were used in the military to desensitize soldiers to violence. This is false. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can reproduce real life violence, and the taking of a life. To try and equate the two is beyond ignorant. (that remark isn't directed at you Tonester, so take no offense.)

[Tonester925]

@aliengmr No offense taken but what I meant by that I can watch something on Ogrish (or whatever it's called) Ex: someone getting beheaded, and the video won't stay in my mind for the rest of the day. I won't be traumatized or have to take sleeping pills to be able to go to sleep. Or I can watch "Scary Movies" and the sight of the blood and killings won't make me nauseous.

NOW yes in real life, face to face with a situation it's a way different thing. I mean't graphic/bloody content in media not in life.

I don't know how I would react if I seen someone in real life get beheaded or blown up by a grenade and I was there.

[crimsonfox]

Video games don't make you tougher in real life. That's just stupid

[Ser]

^ This man has the right of it. Well said.

[Lord_Sloth]

Nope. I play some of the most violent games around but I'm generally a very meek person.

[NYC_Gamer]

The world has always been filled with violence way before video games existed

[WeskerChildReborned]

Yea like in movies or music.

[stevenhiggster]

Long before that as well, in books, art and plays. People just like to pick on video games because its an easy target which they don't properly understand.

[Kurt Russell]

More like as in war... War has kind of been around a while, about the same time as humans I would hazard a guess. Video games, movies and books have nothing to do with war - only greed and self titlement does.

[Lord_Sloth]

Ever hear of Gladiators?

[Danniel1]

Maybe children are more vulnerable to suggestion from violent video games; unfortunately there is an almost complete lack of serious research around the concept just conjecture by journalists and the political right.

Video games aren't MORE violent in my opinion just graphically more detailed, Mortal Kombat was letting me rip spines out decades ago it just looked like shit.

I certainly don't like the concept that video game violence should be toned down, if people are worried about their children being exposed then don't let them purchase games outside their age range. That is the responsibility of a parent.

[fallacious]

I think the real question is: Is the journalism getting worse?

[HonestDragon]

Totally agree with you. I think that this guy is riding a bandwagon that has long since been disbanded. Sure you get blips of idiots who try to blame movies, television, and video games for violent outbursts in society, but the evidence that comes up results in the person or persons involved to be mentally disturbed or should have been on medication.

It's like they are trying to show that human error isn't real or that we can't think for ourselves so we let pop culture do that for us. Just a bad article overall.

[DeadIIIRed]

That's asking too much for parents today to restrict a kid's gaming because then they would actually have to spend quality time with them GASP!

[aliengmr]

Lets take a look at history. Video games have been around since the 80's and ever since youth violence has been on the decline. Lets go back 100 years. Seem we never needed video games as an excuse to kill eachother at epic rates.

Call me crazy, but I have always know the difference between real violence and game violence.

When my son was 1yo I got him a Vtech laptop. The idea was he would grow into it and by 3 or 4 be able to use it as intended. By the time he 2 he knew the entire alphabet. At 2 1/2 he began navigating through different games. They want to introduce games into school, I'm all for it.

As a parent and also a gamer I am well aware what is appropriate for my son. I also give the younger generation the credit they deserve instead of playing the "my gen was better, this gen is messed up" card everytime some new doohicky comes out.

There NO evidence video game violence has any effect on real world violence, period. If anything, you could prove the opposite is true. At least then you have actual data to back it up.

I am all for less violence in some games, but not because I think its harmful. Instead, I don't think it should be a marketing tool in some cases. The quality of this article is very poor and does nothing to add to a very old debate.

[TekoIie]

Games are really good for teaching kids. I actually learnt english faster thanks to Gameboy games and the subtitles. The one that sticks out in my head the most being pokemon :D

[ChipChipperson]

Is the stupidity of these articles getting dumber?

[omarzy]

Video game violence never affected me, but the correlation between violence in video games/movies/anything is painfully evident. It does not even have to be physical abuse. Verbal abuse can be picked up at young ages, certain bad attitudes, or absorbing dangerous ideology. Violence shown to children in media/gaming or whatever does have an impact, but it is not an epidemic.

[Hicken]

I agreed on accident.

That correlation is not positive. That is to say: one does not cause the other. What has an impact is children experiencing these things without the teaching or parenting to show them how to deal with it.

[NoFanboyRequired]

I've been playing violent games pretty much my whole life. Starting out on the 64. Do you see me killing people? No!

Videogames have nothing to do with behavior. Parents do, and the people around the child that may be bad influences.

I'm really getting sick of seeing crap like this.

[omarzy]

Video games can have everything to do with behavior. All media can affect behavior. Violence in modern media is somewhat part of modern culture in certain places, and culture is completely anthropological which can explain how ones own environment and what one is exposed to can have an effect on ones psyche. Look up some studies online. Plenty of studies have been done and shown anger or aggression of sorts from exposure to violence video games. You cannot honestly believe that a parent is completely responsible for a childs behavior if they keep buying them M rated games and R movies. That is what we would call being indirectly responsible, but they true culprit would be whatever the child was exposed to. Ones environment can shape the minds of anybody, and if ones environment is violence then they have a tendency to have some aggressive behavior. Video games have been proven to contribute to desensitization to violence, and many studies have racked the volunteers and shown increases in aggression. It is completely scientific, and completely common knowledge. Some people like to come up with arguments based solely on extremes like murder, but it is not always murder that can be absorbed from violence in any form of media. Please look up some studies. They are at the least very interesting.

[aliengmr]

@omerzy

Wrong. In fact there are NO studies conclusively linking violent video games to aggression. There is a theory that says people with serious mental illness who are predisposed to aggression could be effected, but it wasn't tested.

Its a common misconception that there is a verifiable link between violent video games and aggression. There is also NO evidence that violent video games cause desensitization either.

I have read the studies, the serious ones all say the same thing, inconclusive.

[omarzy]

@aliengmr. Then we read different studies. This link is not a full study, but a publishing of results. http://articles.cnn.com/200...

Took 2 seconds to look this up. This stuff is all over the place, and five minutes in any psychology will provide plenty of proof. We are human, and it is basic knowledge that ones environment and ones daily activities affect the development of the brain. We as humans react to what happens in our lives and we react to everything we are exposed to, and if what we are exposed to sends images of violence and indecency then we will pick that up. Just look at certain neighborhoods and the crime rate for each one. neighborhoods with high crime rates have those rates because everyone lives in that environment and absorbs that behavior. The people they live with affect each other negatively with violence and they pick it up, but a neighborhood two miles away has a very low crime rate because that is how the community is. Almost everyone behaves in a way so the rest follow. You think violence is a gene so the babies in these bad areas come out as gang members? No, they become gang members or whatever because that is the reality that surrounds them. Humans are animal, apes to b exact, and our brains are delicate things that can react to anything. What the brain is exposed to can influence how it develops. There is a correlation to violence or whatever and media. One of the biggest pieces of evidence realizing that we are human.

edit: http://healthland.time.com/... The violence does not even have to be very long lasting for all cases to prove that violence arises in these people.

[ApolloTheBoss]

God I hate people like this. Especially FOX News. When violence gets worse and you've got no one else, blame it on the video games.

[NoFanboyRequired]

Yes. Yes it is... AND ITS AWESOME! :D
Who gives a crap what the media thinks? They just have their heads so far up their asses, they don't even know.

People kill people. Not videogames..

[ninjahunter]

If you think video games are bad at how their getting, go watch elfen lied. youl think these are my little pony games.

[taquito]

movies have more realistic violence as well, it is the evolution of tech, it keeps getting better, but also, more acurate which can sometimes be a lot to take in for younger audiences.

if i had kids (i dont, and dont want to) they certainly would not play m rated games until they were 14 or so, by then they are pretty much who they are anyway imo

parents need to lay the foundation of responsibility, right and wrong, ect way before then.

dont blame video games, blame the morons who keep shooting out kids

there should be STRICT lisceneing procedures before anyone is allowed to breed

i have to get a liscence to go fishing or have a garage sale, but any idiot/drug addict, pedophile, serial killer, rapist, drunk, sociopath, felon, anyone is allowed to have kids

[StrawberryDiesel420]

we mock what we don't understand...

[HonestDragon]

"There is a lot of speculation in relation to “violence in games,” but at the same time, school systems want to insert games as part of their curriculum!"

Me: Oh, the horror! Tell me more!

"Can you believe that? I mean they want to implement games like Railroad Tycoon or Sim-city."

Me: How dare schools try to use simulation games to help kids understand computers and different programs on them! It's not like recognizing buttons on a keyboard or symbols on a computer will help them later on in life!

"What if that same child is learning using video games and he/she does get addicted to violent video games? What happens then? Will they come into school toting a .22 Caliber gun and shoot the bully that pushed them in the hallway?"

Me: Yeah! Wait, what? Seriously, the jokes will end here.

I know there are irresponsible parents and morons who let kids game way too early, especially with titles like Call of Duty and Resident Evil. Thankfully there are responsible employees who don't let kids buy these games without adult consent. However, I think a better question to the last statement would be, "Where did the kid get the gun?"

The execution scene in Skyrim is rather tame, but it's nothing new that you or I probably saw by accident as kids with all of those action or horror movies our parents watched.

"Is it the child's fault or are the parents responsible?"

Me: Of course the parents are responsible. Hell, an older sibling or legal guardian are responsible. If they say kids can't watch rated R movies, then rated M games should be under "cannot play".

"You mean to tell me that if your son or your daughter isn’t begging for a game you’re not going to buy it for him (or her) with you’re ID?"

Me: If it's rated M, I won't. They can play Mario Kart 7 all they want, but they are not going to be playing Mortal Kombat. For that matter, I've already decided that I'm not going expose my kids to video games because I have seen how kids are these days with games. They are a huge pain that won't shut up about getting Madden or Battlefield!

"I think games should have a heavier restriction. I think that games should have a tad less blatant violence and more strategic gameplay. I think developers should re-think how they are conveying the content of their video games. Maybe putting a stronger advisory mention? Maybe teaching adults and children that games ARE NOT REAL. It’s similar to a warning label on a cigarette pack."

Me after I facepalm: Heavier restriction? Okay, let's put that logic into play with music, movies, and television. None of these can ever mention or show anything with sex, violence, or drugs and if they do then the people behind will all get fined. How about that?

No! The video game industry already does enough to teach people about the ESRB ratings and policies of stores when selling particular games to consumers. Believe it or not, there are a lot of strategic games out there. And a "stronger advisory mention"? Front cover, look to the bottom left. Back cover, look to the bottom right. There is your advisory in plain sight with full detail!

This article is pointless and conveys nothing helpful. In short, ladies and gentlemen, don't beat a dead horse because it isn't going anywhere no matter how hard you try.

[BitbyDeath]

I don't think anything has topped Rockstars ManHunt yet, that was truly gruesome.

[deletingthis34675334]

This article is stupid and the writer is an idiot.

[HalfNerdHalfAmazing]

If u ask me violence in games makes it more fun

[zeph94]

Played vice city when I was like 12, didnt change me any I just had fun. Gran Turismo on the other hand is probably the reason I tend to....drive quickly.

[DivineAssault]

Try looking online or at the news... Its just as bad so games wont make a difference.. Music is about violence sometimes too.. Thats why theres a rating system on games..

[MiamiACR21]

Violence isn't getting worse, gaming 'journalists' have just run out of things to write about.

[Tzuno]

you know what thes little effect on games can make a game even more good. Yes to violence and blood in games imagine mortal kombat without blood oh come on.

[BattleTorn]

well, technically, the voilence is getting better.

[FCOLitsjustagame]

Ofcourse its getting worse, thats what happens when you put a Rating system in place. Now they can just rate it mature and do whatever they want. Same thing happened in movies and TV. Once there was the TV rating system you started seeing the butts and the cussing because after all it is a late hour Mature show.

Not that I personally have a problem with either the violence or the butts/cussing. Its just how things are. With the rating system the producers now have permission to do what they want as long as they get it rated correctly for the audience they (claim) to want (though we all know kids get the games...its a big wink wink....though useful for parents that actually parent).