Video Games Made Me Kill
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Now days with so many violent video games coming out and the youth snatching them up we have to ask are we creating killers? You hear about those cases where kids are on trial for some horrific crime and they will blame the video games or the heavy metal music. So can playing video games make you kill? What do part of gaming crosses over into real life?
Studies show that kids may blame games once they are caught after all we have to blame something right but in fact gaming really doesn't have a part in the violence. In the last number of years the sale of violent games has gone way up yet according to the FBI statistics (from 1997 to 2006) violent crimes committed by Juveniles that were arrested has fallen by 20% and homicides dropped by 2/3's. Yet gaming sales have jumped to $11.7 Billion from 1996 to 2006.
A sociologist out of the University of Southern California, Karen Sternheimer states that while bloody games may equate real life crimes its not the violence but they measure the aggression.
Now The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has placed ratings on games, kinda like how movies are rated. The rating system is as follows
ESRB Rating Symbols
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EARLY CHILDHOOD Titles rated EC (Early Childhood) have content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate. |
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EVERYONE Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language. |
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EVERYONE 10+ Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes. |
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TEEN Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language. |
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MATURE Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language. |
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ADULTS ONLY Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity. |
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RATING PENDING Titles listed as RP (Rating Pending) have been submitted to the ESRB and are awaiting final rating. (This symbol appears only in advertising prior to a game's release.) |
So what are your thoughts? Should manufactures be held more liable for video games? Do you think that games cause more violence in the youth? If your a parent do you allow your child(ren) to play violent video games and if so do you have rules?
- 1694 reads
A very easy answer to this is just to look at the millions upon millions of people who play games and DONT kill anyone.....I honestly cant believe people still bring this up as some kind of valid argument nowadays.
Our society unfortunately has a habit of blaming everyone before yourself or your own, and I think its no different here. I remember some kid hanged himself over World Of Warcraft years ago(I think his account was deleted) and the mother kept on blaming "That dang game" for his death. I don't wanna sound like a jerk but your kid shouldnt have had the idea to kill himself over a game if you raised him right you know.
It almost always goes back to the parents. If your kid is a psycho or sociopath, you're the one who messed up somewhere along the way....don't try and make the rest of us suffer because of it
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As a mom of three teen boys I will say my kids do love video games. Yes they do have and play some violent games (the M 17+ games). To be honest I'm more worried about the sexual content and the language then the violence. I guess because I feel my kids have well rounded lives and they are level headed. I also think there is a huge difference if your kid is killing a alien or monster vs a human.
Do I think that video games can create a killer, nope. I think the child has to have some sorta mental defect or what ever you want to call it prior to ever playing a video game. Now if your child does have a mental defect then yeah maybe it could play a roll but if you know your child has that then I think you need to seek help.
There are games that sometimes my kids want and I'm unsure of them. In those cases we rent the games, I let them play them and then decide before I make the purchase. Plus I make sure my kids balance a healthy life and activity vs sitting in front of a video game 24/7.