Attention Parents: San Andreas Is Not Responsible For Your Kid's Psychosis (1431 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: 1.82 on 44 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Lechuga (View user info) at 2005-01-07 14:49:12 EST
Family gatherings that I attend often result with my family getting into one giant moral discussion. Since all but my Uncle Danny and I are avid bible-thumpers, him and I end up hanging out and playing his vintage Les Paul Guitars in his attic. Most gatherings are held at his house, because it's the biggest, and he likes having people over.
Tonight's entrée of discussion included such topics of "Separation of Church and State," "God in the Classroom," and, "Violent Video games." Since I was upstairs with Danny most of the night, I only got to hear the "Violent Video Games" discussion. Upon coming downstairs, I was immediately, against my will, involved in the discussion.
"You're almost 19, what's you opinion on violent video games, you being young and all?" they asked. I simply said that it's not the video game developer's fault that kids are violent; it's the parent's fault. Violent screams and otherworldly noises of disgust followed my comment, as disagreement to any opinion is grounds for execution. I followed my comment with "Hey, you know, Developers are out to make MONEY, not appease concerned parents. This is why games have ratings."
They retorted with things that I've heard before, including, but not limited to "These games shouldn't be available at all, they don't teach kids values!" "What benefit do you get out of playing these games?" The explanations go on and on. My side of the argument includes such things as responsibility, choice, intelligence, and respect.
Responsibility: It's the responsibility of the parent to make sure their kid isn't playing something inappropriate for their age level. If you're 13, and you're playing Devil May Cry, chances are you don't really have a parent who's paying too much attention to what you're doing. One way to make sure your kid is playing something appropriate for their age group is to play it yourself. If you, the parent, think it's too violent, take it away. You probably bought it anyway.
Choice: You as the parent have the choice to either ignore what your kid is doing, or get involved with their life. If turning a blind eye to what your kid is doing and saying "He'll work out in the end, even if he's a little bit strange now," is your way of parenting, chances are your kid might turn out a little bit stranger than you'd like. Or, if you look at what they're playing, maybe even play it with them, you'd have a grasp on what's good and what's not.
Intelligence: F-Zero X is a relatively non-violent game. Doom 3 isn't. If your child is playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for 6 hours a day, and is beginning to beat on kids at school, there's probably something wrong. But when the time comes when you say, "Fuck, I have no idea why little Timmy would kill 60 of his classmates and steal a car, damn!" It's probably your fault. Gradually, as your kids mature, they'll realize that stealing a cop car and shooting down police helicopters is wrong.
Respect: If you know your child enough that you have power over them, then you have the ability to control them. Having them borrow "Painkiller" and installing it on your computer without telling you might give you a clue that it's a little bit too violent for your taste. If you tell your runt "No," and they disobey, there's a good chance that you don't have a lot of respect from them.
My point is, if parents would take some semblance of responsibility, and get involved with their kid's lives, there might be less school violence, etc. Sure, there would still be people like Joe Lieberman and Jerry Falwell to bitch, but that's never going to change.
Yes, I realize that I'm generalizing, however, from watching most of my friend's parents, things like this happen all the time. Young kids pick up violent video game, and are influenced by its language, violence, subject matter, etc. Sure they're fun. Yes, they're entertaining. I would jump at the chance to play them. But, it might be more beneficial to keep them out of kid's hands.
For my final point, I don't think that violent video games should be banned. I think that stores, parents, consumers, just PEOPLE, not bureaucrats, should be in charge of setting up what's right and what's wrong for little people. Rating systems were designed to protect people, and they should be followed. Not to the letter, but by discretion. They're there to give you an idea of what to expect, not a final opinion.
I'm old enough to know the difference, but an 11 year old is not.
User Reviews
Submitted by Oleannder (user info) at 2005-01-08 11:27:23 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Too true!! I'm a bit old to have played the truly violent games as a child, sure we had Atari & then the first Nintendo but the games were not like they are now (how do you compare Asteriods with House of the Dead?). But I agree with you totally.
My parental units did allow us to watch horror films at a very young age. I remember being around 5 or 6 and for some reason my mother allowed us to watch a movie that involved a giant grizzly bear ripping apart a whole boy scout troup before squeezing a man so hard that blood poured out of his eyes. I think I can honestly say that fucked me up pretty good.
For another example, a good friend from highschool has a mother who runs a daycare for children under 5 from her home. One day after school (10 years ago) we went back to her place only to find a group of little kids sitting around watching 'The Crow'. How messed up is that? Parents: please check on what your kid is up to in daycare & try not to dump your little ones off in one that will only be showing movies all day unless you are wanting to raise a violent killing machine.
Submitted by ACIDTRIP (user info) at 2005-01-08 10:56:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Say Amen brothers and sisters
Submitted by Pharathyse (user info) at 2005-01-08 10:33:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
My sentiments exactly. It's nice to see someone defend their possition on an issue with a bit of thought and dignity instead of simply attacking the opposing point of view.
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2005-01-08 05:54:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
You brilliantly summed up the conservative-libertarian viewpoint. Responsibility for your actions, holding people accountable. Letting people make their own choices, and holding them accountable for wrong choices.
Submitted by CookieLass (user info) at 2005-01-08 02:07:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by kochier (user info) at 2005-01-08 02:06:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
screw the parents, they more violent anyway (what's that anime called, where the parents force the kids ot fight, i think battle royale)
Submitted by kochier (user info) at 2005-01-08 02:05:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Lechuga (user info) at 2005-01-08 01:56:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by 1Point21Gigawatts (user info) at 2005-01-07 17:32:48 (#)
Ranking: 2
Holy shit I would commit suicide in your family.
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Thanks, Doug.
Submitted by The_Walrus (user info) at 2005-01-07 23:56:23 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
kill kill kill
Submitted by Mr.JackassFrost (user info) at 2005-01-07 23:22:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by vettesrule88 (user info) at 2005-01-07 22:58:06 (#)
Ranking: 2
my main problem with liberals
no personal responsibility
its all someone elses fault, if a kid shoots someone its the video games, if a minority is poor its the white mans oppression, if someone goes on an office rampage, tis the gun manufacturers fault
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Thank Jebus someone finally put it in easy words for the liberals to understand.
Submitted by Auf-Der-Maur (user info) at 2005-01-07 23:09:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Couldnt have put it better myself
Submitted by vettesrule88 (user info) at 2005-01-07 22:58:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
my main problem with liberals
no personal responsibility
its all someone elses fault, if a kid shoots someone its the video games, if a minority is poor its the white mans oppression, if someone goes on an office rampage, tis the gun manufacturers fault
go lechuga
Submitted by Socialist_Joe (user info) at 2005-01-07 22:06:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
meh
Submitted by Shizae (user info) at 2005-01-07 21:15:37 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I played Duke Nukem 3D when I was 7, and Doom and Blood around there too. When Half Life and then Counterstrike came out, I played those too, but I don't go on random violent rampages killing people.
Submitted by Girlwithaclue (user info) at 2005-01-07 19:51:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 For people taking responsibility for their own actions.
If more people would sweep their own doorstep before pointing the finger at someone else, we would be a healthier society as a whole.
That is all...........
Submitted by chipolatte (user info) at 2005-01-07 19:21:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
This sounds like a school report. If I wanted to be preached to, I'd go to Church...
Submitted by IronChef (user info) at 2005-01-07 18:19:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for Painkiller.
Submitted by Kazzerax (user info) at 2005-01-07 17:54:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No comment nessasary.
Submitted by Stin (user info) at 2005-01-07 17:52:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Hell yeah.
Submitted by 1Point21Gigawatts (user info) at 2005-01-07 17:32:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Holy shit I would commit suicide in your family.
Submitted by TimeCop (user info) at 2005-01-07 17:16:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I watched "It" before I was even in school. I've been playing video games my entire life. And I'm relatively non-violent. A lady in our school district tried to blame the movie "Red Dawn" on her son's beating of a Russian foreign-exchange student. She dropped the suit when it was shown in court that her husband believes all Russians are commies and told his son to beat the shit out of the kid.
Submitted by Adona (user info) at 2005-01-07 16:52:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for the NoFx reference and making this point. Parents need to take responsibility for their children.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-01-07 16:47:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Thank you very much!
I've been playing every goddamn violent game that came out since I was like 7. If games made kids violent, I'd be a goddamn serial kiler by now; the kind that rips out their victims' eyelids out with a needle and some fishing wire before raping them in the nose.
On second thought, maybe I am kinda violent...
Submitted by professorfuckface (user info) at 2005-01-07 16:39:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Except for a couple, postal 2 being the only one I can remember, australia has the same games as the US does. We don't have metal detectors outside our schools and we don't have school shootings. It isn't the games that are causing kids to become more violent, American citizens are inbuilt with violent traits. It's your fucked up, gun worshipping society, not the games. Only in America would a kid translate a gun in a game to a gun in his dad's sock draw.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-01-07 16:27:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Wiggles (user info) at 2005-01-07 16:16:34 (#)
Ranking: 1
Good point, but keep in mind that many single parents with low incomes work two jobs and are unable to properly supervise their children in matters like this.
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GOOD POINT
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2005-01-07 16:26:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Uh, you're preaching to the converted here. Well-written and well-reasoned argument though. +2 for you!
Submitted by Wiggles (user info) at 2005-01-07 16:16:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Good point, but keep in mind that many single parents with low incomes work two jobs and are unable to properly supervise their children in matters like this.
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2005-01-07 16:12:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by tinactin (user info) at 2005-01-07 15:15:05 (#)
Ranking: 2
At 11 I knew murder and stealing cars was wrong.
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It is?
Submitted by ruthless (user info) at 2005-01-07 15:35:05 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
A sane and logical arguement. Very nice!
I agree. Everything is relative.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-01-07 15:26:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
sorry for the long reviews...
you know why i am pissed? right before i read this post i had read this article
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/07/tv.fearfactor.lawsuit.ap/index.html
WTF? I hope he loses and gets laughed out of court. Fucking idiot.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-01-07 15:24:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
i am such a flip flopper!!
okay well.. back when i was young <insert age joke here> we had GI Joe, thunder cats, smurfs, transformers, mario brothers, duck hunt, megaman ...
GI Joe for instance... you could say that it is violent. I mean, you never saw blood or
anything. But compared to what is acceptable these days it was pansy-assed.
These days I am shocked at what is considered acceptable for young teens. Between
MTV, video games, and the internet kids are exposed to way more than they have
ever been.
I am not a parent so I can't imagine what it's like to raise a child in this day and age.
I remember when the clinton/lewinsky scandal was all over the front pages of our local
newspaper. Now we have to block our children from reading the newspaper? Or
is that the norm these days?
Submitted by RyuFu (user info) at 2005-01-07 15:22:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
A-FUCKING-MEN.
But for the record, I was drawing Jason (Voorhies) killing people with chainsaws loong before I came in contact with Mortal Kombat. That would put me in the 8-year-old range. By the time I was 11 I was a seasoned fantasy violence pro, as well as an amateur masturbator.
At 23, I have yet to assault anyone with or without a weapon. The point is, age is a fucking random number and it is up to the parent to determine if their kid is ready to take on the graphic video games out there. I think if I had have kid and he can write me a coherent 3-page paper on why I should let him Grand Theft Auto: Big Manzana, chances are he'll be mature enough to handle the fake violence. If the violence transfers to school, it's partially the kid's fault for not knowing the difference between fantasy and reality and mostly the parent's fault for not knowing what their kid can handle.
Back to work, good show.l
Submitted by tinactin (user info) at 2005-01-07 15:15:05 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
At 11 I knew murder and stealing cars was wrong.
Call me ahead of my time.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-01-07 15:13:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
<thinks to herself...
I wonder what 6 straight hours of video game violence has on the child's psyche?
It must have some negative effect.
Watching porn for 6 hours straight would bring out the animal urges in you... why not
violence? But not enough that you would go about raping people. because you know better.
Although it could be a catalyst if you had a pre existing problem. So you cannot
lay blame on the porn industry.Parents will blame the video games because they do not want
to see where they failed. Parents are stupid and will give their child, who is in detention
more often than not, a game rated "mature" although he is not mature mentally>
The blame falls on the parents. People look towards society to raise their kids.
And when something happens, the parents are so quick to lay blame on everyone else.
How often do you hear someone say "it was my fault. I would rather watch soap operas than
keep an eyeon little timmy. if i had only been a good parent he would not have shot up his classroom!"
You don't. It is always everyone else's fault.
now you got me all pissed off at stupid people... what are you going to do to rectify that???
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-01-07 15:13:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by DamianD (user info) at 2005-01-07 15:09:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
It is not always just the parents fault. Apart from your parents; friends and general enviroment and more affect on a child than any computer game ever could.
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2005-01-07 15:05:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
SINNER!!!!!!
Submitted by Ainkara (user info) at 2005-01-07 15:01:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-01-07 15:00:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Had this same discussion with a bunch of folks at our christmas party, I eventually got tired of arguing with them told em I was going to the bar then found other people to talk to
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2005-01-07 14:59:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"t's the responsibility of the parent to make sure their kid isn't playing something inappropriate for their age level."
Amen!
Good post.
Submitted by Hadooken (user info) at 2005-01-07 14:56:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
right on. people in general have become way to lazy to handle their responisibilities as not only parents, but humans in general. its time people take ownership of their lives and stop relying on everything being done for them.
Submitted by domenad (user info) at 2005-01-07 14:53:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Thank you, thank you. I hear the same dumbass questions all the time. "How come one kid plays a violent game and doesn't hurt anyone, but another kid goes nuts?" BECAUSE THE KID IS FUCKED UP!
Submitted by maiorano84 (user info) at 2005-01-07 14:52:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I kill eleven year-olds with my chainsaw. It's funnier in real life.
Submitted by knucklesnelson (user info) at 2005-01-07 14:51:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Good point. They always blame video games when a kid goes on a nut. God forbid you blame the parent.