Here we go again - Video Games Kill Brain Cells
12-03-02, 07:56 AM
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Here we go again - Video Games Kill Brain Cells
Here is yet another article blaming video games for childrens violent behavoir. Why is it that every time teenagers act out violently, tv and games are the first to be blamed? Also, noted in this article is another plug for GTA3. They even mention that the game is rated mature and that mature rated games are the fastest selling, yet kids under 17 shouldn't be playing these games anyways. 
12-03-02, 09:08 AM
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Mathews said he tested 19 teens that were diagnosed with DBD and compared their brain scans to 19 normal teens.
Perhaps they should have handed the DBD kids machine guns and let them loose on society to complete the study.
12-03-02, 09:10 AM
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Do you actually think the media is going to blame the real people who cause children to get violent, themselves? A kid can turn on the news every night and watch stories about how people have been killed. They can flip over to CourTV and see a real trial where people describe murders.
Here's a sobering thought: Is it really the video games that are making the kids violent, or is it the parents who let their kids play these games?
Here's a sobering thought: Is it really the video games that are making the kids violent, or is it the parents who let their kids play these games?
12-03-02, 01:14 PM
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Captain, that's not a strong argument. It's just two statements (violence existing before videogames and violence existing after videogames) that just happen to be fact.
Another example of a noncausal argument: There was violence before guns were invented. Therefore, guns aren't the cause of violence.
Another example of a noncausal argument: There was violence before guns were invented. Therefore, guns aren't the cause of violence.
12-03-02, 03:15 PM
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Originally posted by Captain Harlock
Here's a startling revelation.....
THERE WAS VIOLENCE EVEN BEFORE VIDEO GAMES WERE INVENTED!!
Shocking!! Isn't it.
Here's a startling revelation.....
THERE WAS VIOLENCE EVEN BEFORE VIDEO GAMES WERE INVENTED!!
Shocking!! Isn't it.
12-03-02, 03:29 PM
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What a horribly unconvincing study. What about kids without DBD? What about games that aren't "violent"? What about the effects on the frontal lobe of the brain other forms of media have?
12-03-02, 03:59 PM
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Originally posted by lesterlong
Yeah but there wasn't much of it. Kids in the 50s weren't blowing each other's heads off. I'm not saying video games cause violence I'm saying every source of media has caused an increase amount of violence in youth today. Everyone says "well that kid must of been screwed up in the head long before he played GTA3" well yeah maybe he was but it was because of what he was exposed to through various media outlets (music, television, movies, games) Kids never used to kill each other when your parents were in school.
Yeah but there wasn't much of it. Kids in the 50s weren't blowing each other's heads off. I'm not saying video games cause violence I'm saying every source of media has caused an increase amount of violence in youth today. Everyone says "well that kid must of been screwed up in the head long before he played GTA3" well yeah maybe he was but it was because of what he was exposed to through various media outlets (music, television, movies, games) Kids never used to kill each other when your parents were in school.
Video games, news, movies, the internet.....what are we really getting at here? If a kid takes an AK-47 and blows away his buddies then there's got to be something more than video games at work. Did they contribute? They might have. But to blame video games is treating the symptom and not the cause of the disease. When John Lennon was killed, Mark David Chapman said he got the idea after he read "The Catcher In The Rye". Now I never read the book but I'm pretty sure no where in the text it says "Kill John Lennon". When the NYPD looked at his pyschological profile, guess what they found? He was one messed up individual.
There's a concept called "hysterical contagia". It essentially means that once an idea is seeded in society's conciousness it will spread and grow unchecked. Such a concept gave rise to the Salem witchtrials and more recently to the McCarthey hearings on Communism in the 1950's. Is video gaming becoming the next witch hunt? It's too early to tell. But it seems there's no shortage of people like Senator Joseph Lieberman of Ct. who are ready to proclaim themselves leaders in the fight against the pixelated corruption of morals.
Yes there does seem to be an inordinate amount of kids blowing each other away. But I still don't think it's the fault of Doom or Quake 3. I still say that alot of these tragedies could have been prevented if the parents took a more active role in a childs life. Unfortunatley the break down of the family has had a more profound impact on the nations children than the proliferation of simulated video game violence. And as well meaning as these social scientists, doctors and politicians are, they can't legislate or prescribe "good parenting".
12-03-02, 04:20 PM
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Originally posted by Captain Harlock
You have to also remember that there are more news outlets today than ever in before. So now you're hearing about violence in schools more.
Video games, news, movies, the internet.....what are we really getting at here? If a kid takes an AK-47 and blows away his buddies then there's got to be something more than video games at work. Did they contribute? They might have. But to blame video games is treating the symptom and not the cause of the disease. When John Lennon was killed, Mark David Chapman said he got the idea after he read "The Catcher In The Rye". Now I never read the book but I'm pretty sure no where in the text it says "Kill John Lennon". When the NYPD looked at his pyschological profile, guess what they found? He was one messed up individual.
There's a concept called "hysterical contagia". It essentially means that once an idea is seeded in society's conciousness it will spread and grow unchecked. Such a concept gave rise to the Salem witchtrials and more recently to the McCarthey hearings on Communism in the 1950's. Is video gaming becoming the next witch hunt? It's too early to tell. But it seems there's no shortage of people like Senator Joseph Lieberman of Ct. who are ready to proclaim themselves leaders in the fight against the pixelated corruption of morals.
Yes there does seem to be an inordinate amount of kids blowing each other away. But I still don't think it's the fault of Doom or Quake 3. I still say that alot of these tragedies could have been prevented if the parents took a more active role in a childs life. Unfortunatley the break down of the family has had a more profound impact on the nations children than the proliferation of simulated video game violence. And as well meaning as these social scientists, doctors and politicians are, they can't legislate or prescribe "good parenting".
You have to also remember that there are more news outlets today than ever in before. So now you're hearing about violence in schools more.
Video games, news, movies, the internet.....what are we really getting at here? If a kid takes an AK-47 and blows away his buddies then there's got to be something more than video games at work. Did they contribute? They might have. But to blame video games is treating the symptom and not the cause of the disease. When John Lennon was killed, Mark David Chapman said he got the idea after he read "The Catcher In The Rye". Now I never read the book but I'm pretty sure no where in the text it says "Kill John Lennon". When the NYPD looked at his pyschological profile, guess what they found? He was one messed up individual.
There's a concept called "hysterical contagia". It essentially means that once an idea is seeded in society's conciousness it will spread and grow unchecked. Such a concept gave rise to the Salem witchtrials and more recently to the McCarthey hearings on Communism in the 1950's. Is video gaming becoming the next witch hunt? It's too early to tell. But it seems there's no shortage of people like Senator Joseph Lieberman of Ct. who are ready to proclaim themselves leaders in the fight against the pixelated corruption of morals.
Yes there does seem to be an inordinate amount of kids blowing each other away. But I still don't think it's the fault of Doom or Quake 3. I still say that alot of these tragedies could have been prevented if the parents took a more active role in a childs life. Unfortunatley the break down of the family has had a more profound impact on the nations children than the proliferation of simulated video game violence. And as well meaning as these social scientists, doctors and politicians are, they can't legislate or prescribe "good parenting".
uhm yeah what he said!
I would add more, but there is no way my thoughts can come across as clearly as above
Last edited by squidget; 12-03-02 at 04:57 PM.
12-03-02, 04:56 PM
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scapegoat scapegoat scapegoat scapegoat scapegoat scapegoat
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
this is all OPRAH'S fault. that dumb b!itch and LIBERALS have spent the last 50+ years trying to find SOMETHING to blame all their problems on.
1. drugs
2. alcohol
3. Music
4. TV
5. Movies
6. Books (harry potter)
7. Guns
8. Cars
9. Motorcycles
10. the internet
11. Video Games
12. Wet floors
13. Squeaky hinges
14. etc, etc
INSTEAD of holding THEMSELVES responsible
INSTEAD of punishing their kids, setting boundaries, and frequent monitioring
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
scapegoat scapegoat scapegoat scapegoat scapegoat scapegoat
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is NOT to say that Videogames are OK. I would argue, and have, that Videogames are NOT the best thing to let developing children do for hours on end. Moderation is the key!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
this is all OPRAH'S fault. that dumb b!itch and LIBERALS have spent the last 50+ years trying to find SOMETHING to blame all their problems on.
1. drugs
2. alcohol
3. Music
4. TV
5. Movies
6. Books (harry potter)
7. Guns
8. Cars
9. Motorcycles
10. the internet
11. Video Games
12. Wet floors
13. Squeaky hinges
14. etc, etc
INSTEAD of holding THEMSELVES responsible
INSTEAD of punishing their kids, setting boundaries, and frequent monitioring
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
scapegoat scapegoat scapegoat scapegoat scapegoat scapegoat
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is NOT to say that Videogames are OK. I would argue, and have, that Videogames are NOT the best thing to let developing children do for hours on end. Moderation is the key!
Last edited by jasonr114; 12-03-02 at 04:59 PM.
