Why not Video Games?

[coupeman]

Parenting is what you need to blame and not video games.

I'm 34 and grew up playing video games, including violent ones on PC and then xbox and playstation, etc. Grew up really loving Counterstrike and I cannot tell you how many hours I played that game.

But growing up I was very involved in outdoor activities even in the summer here in AZ. Played a lot of sports, had a lot of friends, and also had a lot of chores and responsibilities. Video games were my "escape" from life at the end of the day when I had some time to kill vs watching some tv show. With commercials! Haha.

I have zero issues to admit I still play video games to this day, granted now a lot less with 4,14,15 year old, but I still play them and have NEVER wanted/envisioned to use a firearm other than defense of myself or others.

Parents who don't parent their kids properly are the problem. No way am I a perfect parent, but no way in hell am I going to let any of my kids sit and play video games non-stop like it's their job. Get out of the house and get a life kiddo.

My parents aren't even big gun people (3 shotguns, 1 pistol) I found the love of guns myself thru video games and movies, and then finally getting to own/shoot/train with them kinda made it come full circle.

Just my opinion.

[QuietM4]

I don't know how many hookers/cops/innocent bystanders I’ve killed in GTA V, but’s it’s A LOT. Never killed anyone in real life. Video games don’t make you violent, spoons don’t make you fat.

[Chumpwagon]

I hear that D&D makes kids into satanic cultists with just one d16 roll.

It was a d20 roll.

[Tim McBride]

I hear that D&D makes kids into satanic cultists with just one d16 roll.

D&D, d16 ???

Dungeons and Dragons
D16 would be a 16 sided dice.
The 80s, pre videogame, moral panic.

[Basher]

RE: moral panic. As a youth, my mother always “pre-screened” movies and such. She swore up and down, based on trailers and reviews, that Bruce Almighty was sacrilegious, and that Harry Potter glorified witchcraft and black magic. Turns out, after actually seeing both, that these were great movies. Moral panic, indeed!

To top things off, my playing video games, violent and otherwise, kept me from doing drugs and a whole host of other stupid things in my youth that actually WOULD have screwed me over the rest of my life due to legal consequences if I’d done something stupid. I know a LOT of overall good people who won’t ever reach their full potential because of choices they made in life. I avoided them because I was too busy playing games (among other activities). So in reality, video games probably spared me from the grief that so many blame them for.

So chew on that a while.

[Tim McBride]

Which of Western, Judeo-Christian moral codes are being violated by video games?

[Basher]

Yup, those darn moral codes, lets pick and choose the ones that we want to obey or practice. Let everyone pick what they want.

Hey, now you’re starting to sound like someone who believes in a freedom loving society, just like the founding fathers wanted! Yay!

Ethics and morals are a tricky thing, because everybody develops their own code for them as they go throughout life. Society has established what it considers the proper code of morals and ethics as stated in law, but lots of people disagree with laws. Most still follow them because they don’t want to deal with the consequences of breaking the law, and for the most part, that’s a good thing. But sometimes laws are unethical.

Anyway, I see your point, I really do. Some things in life can be habit-forming or even addictive, yes. But outright banning them isn’t often the right answer. Just because someone can’t hold their liquor doesn’t mean that everyone else should be denied the right to enjoy it. We’d need a (wait for it) completely tyrannical government, a police or nanny state, in order to do that, and those are the very forms of “government” that the 2A was created to protect us from!

So no matter how hard you complain, you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. If they ban video games, millions of criminals of all ages would literally be created overnight driving an illegal game trade, and realistically, the problems we face today will continue regardless because games aren’t the problem. I don’t know how many more times we have to say it before it sinks in for you, but it’s the truth whether you believe it or not. If games WERE the problem, then EVERYBODY who played them would snap at some point and go on a wild killing spree, and that simply won’t happen.

[shooter444]

Basher,... as you stated, and I agree, just because some folks can't handle their liquor, doesn't mean a form of prohibition on those who can handle it should happen.

But,... just as their are those who can't handle their booze, I believe their are some with tweaked minds that can't handle reality vs video games.

And, again,... not everyone should pay the price for the actions of a few. That is a political ploy used by those in power who wish to acquire,...more!

jmo

[Azrckcrawler]

Video games are popular because of the massive entertainment to cost ratio. A single $60 game can provide thousands of hours of entertainment. For those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s there is no equivalent. Dont get me wrong, i dont agree with playing video game 24/7 but in a free society people are free to do stuff you wont like.

Honestly the only proposal I have heard that would make a difference without infringement would be eliminating the scrubbing of your juevinille record. We have a background check system but are short circulating it by allowing troubled youth to get a clean slate at 18.

[paulgt2164]

I grew up playing video games, back in the days of original Doom, Wolfenstein, etc. Occasionally play them now (PC and Xbox.)

However, I was raised with traditional values, so I understood the difference between the video game, real life, and the ramifications and realities of each.

However, these days kids are raised differently. Some kids are raised by Grand Theft Auto, etc.

A former employer was dating a woman with a ~12 year old son. This kid spent 90% of his waking hours playing Grand Theft Auto, as well as other online violent/crime based video games. This kid could sling racial slurs, profanity, and crap-talk like no other - it was disturbing what this kid was telling other people online. Him and his friends would go out of their way to try to harass/shame/degrade other kids online whether they were playing a game, chatting, etc. When not playing video games he was whiny, irritated, unmotivated, and social incapable. Both the parents (divorced) didn't want to be "the uncool parent" so they just let this kid do these things unchecked.

My wife is a teacher (one of the good ones) and she sees identical behavior in middle school aged kids who lead the same lifestyle.

Violent movies and music isn't near as altering as it isn't anywhere near as interactive and engaging as the online games. 12 year olds sitting in front of a screen for 8 hours a day playing games where you are rewarded for killing, stealing, raping, and assaulting other players is a giant issue. You can't compare today's video games to those of yesteryear. The technology and immersion is these days is crazy compared to early "violent" games like the original Doom, etc. When you factor in the interaction with other people through multiplayer - it becomes a separate reality for some people - especially children.

Video games don't carry the blame - the parents being disinterested, and allowing their kids to play these games when young is the problem. They allow the kids to spend 4+ hours a day, online, exposed to a variety of people playing as well. They don't moderate, limit, or teach the kids the difference between the real world and consequence and the "virtual" world where anything goes and is often celebrated. It is disturbing how many young kids I see playing violent games on phones/tablets when out in public - and the parents are not paying attention/don't care because it keeps the kids busy.

[Tim McBride]

Grand Theft Auto V has sold 90 million copies in the U.S.
In 2017(2018 numbers won't be out till September ), there were 17,284 murders in the US.

.01% rate if you tried to directly correlate the two.

The current per capita murder rate is much lower then the mid 70s to 90s rates. It's around the late 60s rate.

Keep believing what the media is selling...

[bwareaware]

This kind of s*** is as stupid as blaming the guns for the shootings. If you’re that effected by a video game you have a mental issue. Can’t separate fantasy from reality.

[paulgt2164]

Grand Theft Auto V has sold 90 million copies in the U.S.
In 2017(2018 numbers won't be out till September ), there were 17,284 murders in the US.

.01% rate if you tried to directly correlate the two.

The current per capita murder rate is much lower then the mid 70s to 90s rates. It's around the late 60s rate.

Keep believing what the media is selling...

I am assuming you are replying to my post so....

I am not believing what the media is selling, I don't do "media." - I am just going off personal experience here. Perhaps you missed the point of my post as I clearly stated - I am not blaming GTA. I am blaming the parents for allowing children to play these games non-stop with no moderation and allowing it to interrupt normal social development and inset a disconnect between reality and what happens in the game. Parenting in the 60s/70s/80s is drastically different than it is now. It is a generational and technological shift.

[Tim McBride]

Grand Theft Auto V has sold 90 million copies in the U.S.
In 2017(2018 numbers won't be out till September ), there were 17,284 murders in the US.

.01% rate if you tried to directly correlate the two.

The current per capita murder rate is much lower then the mid 70s to 90s rates. It's around the late 60s rate.

Keep believing what the media is selling...

I am assuming you are replying to my post so....

I am not believing what the media is selling, I don't do "media." - I am just going off personal experience here. Perhaps you missed the point of my post as I clearly stated - I am not blaming GTA. I am blaming the parents for allowing children to play these games non-stop with no moderation and allowing it to interrupt normal social development and inset a disconnect between reality and what happens in the game. Parenting in the 60s/70s/80s is drastically different than it is now. It is a generational and technological shift.

The 70s and 80s had a much higher per capita murder rate than today. So what is your point?

[redj]

After reading all the posts on this thread it appears we have two basic differences of opinions.

Those that play these games think they have no effect whatsoever on those that play them regardless of their age. It actually seems like they are offended others think so.

Then we have those that don't play these games and think they do have some kind of effect.
I guess I am in the latter group.

As graphic as some of these games are , you would have to be in La La Land not to believe they can have an effect on children that set and play them for hours on end.